The Etruscans were a highly advanced society, but not one that took great efforts to preserve their written texts. Archaeologists have come across a significant inscribed slab they believe could provide a great deal of information about the deities the people of the time worshiped.
The 4-foot-tall sandstone stele weighs in at about 500 pounds and dates back to the 6th century BCE. It was discovered at a site northeast of Florence, Italy in the base of an Etruscan temple.
Written on the piece are about 70 characters, including punctuation, making it among the largest examples of text ever found. In addition to potentially providing inroads to the understanding of Etruscan religious beliefs and practices, the inscription could help scholars expand their knowledge of the society’s language.
To date, most written words have been found on small funerary objects, and due to the limited space and subject matter, have provided only a glimpse of Etruscan communications.
