Tinia

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Tinia
sky god
Terracotta bust of Tinia from 300–250 BCE
SymbolThunderbolt
Personal information
ConsortUni
ChildrenHercle and Menrva
Equivalents
Greek equivalentZeus
Roman equivalentJupiter
Egyptian equivalentAmun
Tinia on a Roman as from Etruria

Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or Tina) was the

sky god and the highest deity in Etruscan religion, equivalent to the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus.[1]

However, a primary source from the Roman Varro states that Veltha, not Tins, was the supreme deity of the Etruscans.[2] This has led some scholars to conclude that they were assimilated, but this is speculation.[3]

Tinia was the husband of Uni and the father of Hercle. Like many other Etruscan deities, his name is gender neutral.[4]

The

Etruscans had a group of nine gods who had the power of hurling thunderbolts; they were called Novensiles by the Romans.[5] Of thunderbolts there were eleven sorts, of which Tinia wielded three.[5]

Tinia was sometimes represented with a beard or sometimes as youthful and beardless.[3] In terms of symbolism, Tinia has the thunderbolt.[3][4] Tinia's thunderbolts could be red or blood coloured.[6]

Like Selvans[3] and possibly Laran,[7] Tinia also protected boundaries. His name appears as the guarantor on three boundary stones with identical inscriptions found in Tunisia, originally placed there by the Etruscan colonists.[3]

Some of Tinia's possible

haruspicy. These inscriptions have been transcribed as Tin Cilens, Tin Θuf and Tinś Θne. There have been a number of suggestions as to their meaning, but the Etruscan language
is poorly understood and there is no scholarly consensus for the translation.

Inscriptions

TINSCVIL inscription on foreleg

Tinia appears in several inscriptions, including:

See also

References

  1. ^ de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend, page 53
  2. ^ Varro, De lingua Latina V.46.
  3. ^ a b c d e The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press. 2006.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ a b Dennis, George (1848). The cities and cemeteries of Etruria: Vol.I. London.
  6. ^ Nancy T. de Grummond, "Thunder versus Lightning in Etruria," Etruscan Studies, 2016, 19(2), 183-207.
  7. .
  8. ISBN 9780719009020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
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