Daily life

What did Etruscans enjoy to do with their leisure time? The Etruscans enjoyed playing and watching games like chess, backgammon, wrestling, running, boxing, and horse racing. What did the Etruscans love to do the best? The Etruscans loved music and dancing best. The Etruscans had a strong sense of social order What does social order mean? Social Order: the way groups of people are classed.

Who controlled most of the land? A few wealthy families owned most of the land and most of the enslaved people tended the land and did other work.

Religious Beliefs

Were the Etruscans Monotheistic or Polytheistic? The Etruscans had many gods, most of whom were modeled after the Greeks. What were the Etruscans belief on the universe? The Etruscans believed the universe was divided into provinces with each province ruled by different gods. The Etruscans also believed humans were powerless before the gods so they wanted to please their gods.

They discovered what the gods willed through a priestly group of aristocrats called soothsayers What is a soothsayers? Soothsayer: people who can predict events. Soothsayers read certain omens, or signs of what is to happen.

Tombs of Gold

What happened when Etruscan nobles died? When an Etruscan noble died, a great banquet was held, and two of the noble’s slaves fought one another to the death. The dead were buried in tombs beneath the ground called catacombs.

What were the Etruscans belief on death? The Etruscans believed that life after death lasted longer and was more important than life on Earth. What did the Etruscan fill their tombs with? They filled their tombs with works of art and treasures of gold, silver, bronze, and ivory.

Because of this, Etruscan tombs are known as “tombs of gold.” Outside each Etruscan city was a necropolis, or cemetery, made up of acres of these tombs.