VOTIVE RELIGION
Most cultic inscriptions are votive dedications (made in fulfilment of a vow) on vases or bronze figurines, naming gods and donors, perhaps denoting a purpose such as clen cecha, “on behalf of a son” (ET OB 3.2).
Standardized formulae appeared in the seventh century, such as Mini muluvanice or mi mulu followed by the donor’s name (“X has offered me”, Bagnasco Gianni 1996: passim). Men, women, rulers and even freed persons could make votive dedications, even the notorious Vibenna brothers, condottieri involved in the history of Rome of the sixth century BCE (who inscribed votive dedications at the Veil Portonaccio shrine). While some figurines represent gods with unequivocal attributes (e.g. a janiform or double-headed image of Culsans, the Etruscan equivalent of Janus, the Roman god of openings, beginnings and passages), others portray worshippers gesturing with their hands or extending gifts. A wide array of offerings, obviously personal selections, could be donated (Edlund-Berry 2004).After 400 BCE, dedication of figurines and statues increased; around 300 BCE, terracotta anatomical models began to be offered in great numbers (Cornelia 2004; Turfa 2004a). Five out of thousands are inscribed: two uterus models dedicated to Vea (Demeter) at Vulci, a heart dedicated by a woman to Menrva at Lavinium, and a fragmentary knee at Veil Campetti. At Tarquinia (Ara della Regina) a knee incised alce:vel:tiples·. (“Vel Tiples dedicated”, ET Ta 3.5), demonstrates the egalitarian nature of the state cult (possibly of Artemis); Tiples’s name, Diphilos, identifies him as a freedman of Greek origin (Turfa 2004a: 363; 2006e).