the iguvine inscriptions
DESCRIPTION
The Iguvine Tablets are a series of seven bronze tablets discovered at Gubbio (ancient Iguvium), Italy, in the year 1444. Currently housed in the Civic Museum of the Palazzo dei Consoli in Gubbio, they are also known as the Eugubian Tablets or Eugubine Tables. The earliest tablets were probably written in the 3rd century BC in the native Umbrian alphabet, the latest in the 1st century BC in the Latin alphabet. The tablets contain religious inscriptions that memorialize the acts and rites of the Atiedian Brethren, a group of 12 priests of Jupiter with important municipal functions at Iguvium. They are written in the Umbrian language, and are by far the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, closely related to Latin. They shed light on the grammar of this ancient dead language, and also on the religious practices of the ancient peoples of Italy, including the archaic religion of the Romans.TRANSCRIPT
