Editing Nethuns

{{Short description|Etruscan water god}}
In [[Etruscan mythology]], '''Nethuns'''<ref>The transliteration "Nathuns" was used in the early twentieth century.</ref> was [[Tutelary deity|the god]] of [[water well|well]]s, later expanded to all [[water]], including the [[sea]]. The name "Nethuns" is likely [[cognate]] with that of the Celtic god [[Nechtan (mythology)|Nechtan]] and the Persian and Vedic gods sharing the name [[Apam Napat]], perhaps all based on the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] word ''*népōts'' "nephew, grandson." In this case, Etruscan may have borrowed the [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] name ''*Nehtuns'' (Roman [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]],<ref>Helmut Rix, "Etruscan," in ''The Ancient Languages of Europe'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 163.</ref> who was originally a god of water).

Nethuns is mentioned on the [[Liver of Piacenza|Piacenza liver]], a third-century BC bronze model of a sheep's liver used for divinatory rites called [[haruspicy]], as ''Neθ'', an abbreviation for his full name.<ref>L.B. van der Meer, ''The Bronze Liver of Piacenza: Analysis of a Polytheistic Structure'' (1987).</ref> As a patron god his profile, wearing a ''[[Cetus|ketos]]'' (sea monster) headdress, appears on a coin of [[Vetulonia]],<ref>One of the [[Etruscan dodecapolis]], in northern [[Etruria]].</ref> circa 215 – 211 BC; he is accompanied by his [[trident]] between two dolphins.<ref>[http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=78765 An illustrated example.]</ref>

<small>NETHUNS</small> is engraved on a bronze Etruscan mirror in the [[Vatican Museums|Museo Gregoriano in the Vatican]].<ref>Noted by George Dennis, ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London) 1848, a time when Nethuns and Neptune were not yet securely linked. ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Periods/Roman/Archaic/Etruscan/_Texts/DENETR*/Introduction/1.html On-line text])</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
* ''Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicum'', VII (Zurich and Munich:Artemis) 1994. The basic professional reference.<!--not yet consulted for this article-->

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[[Category:Etruscan gods]]
[[Category:Water gods]]


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