User:Bethgrips/Tivr

Tivr, also known as Tiv, Tiur, and Tiu, is a relatively unknown Etruscan deity[8]. Though there is a depiction of a male figure that is believed to be Tivr on a mirror dating from Todi dating to 325 BCE, it is generally accepted that Tivr is a female goddess associated with the moon. The name Tivr is believed to be associated with both “moon” and “month”, possibly due to their connection from lunar cycles[6].

Known Depictions
Though the female moon deity labeled as Tivr appears on only two known artifacts, these pieces are significant as they provide both a depiction and an inscription: visually on a mirror from an unknown location dating to ca. 3rd century BCE and written on the back of the Piacenza Liver discovered near Piacenza in Northern Italy and dating to the late 2nd century BCE (Middle/Hellenistic period)[5,6]. The mirror depicting Tivr as a female dating to the 3rd century BCE was privately owned and has been sold on the art market by the British auction house Christie’s to a private buyer[3]. The scene depicts Tivr seated on the left, with a winged Lasa standing center, and Turan, the Etruscan counterpart to Venus, seated on the right[Fig 1]. All three are identified by inscriptions appearing above them. The Lasa is depicted fully nude other than her shoes, decorated with a geometric necklace and a wide fillet in her hair and holding an agrarian wand known as a thyrsus used to symbolize prosperity. Both Turan and Tivr are also nude but covered with a himation draped across the waist and over the left shoulder. The two are wearing slippers, collar necklaces, and fillets of differing thicknesses. The mirror is additionally decorated with crescent moons above the figures and Orientalizing details beneath, including a palmette.

Possible Male Gender
At present, there only one known mirror engraving that possibly depicts Tivr, or a similar lunar deity, as male. This mirror, found at Perugia and dated ca. 325 BCE, depicts siblings Pultuke, Elinai, and Kaster as the main illustration, with Kaster emptying a patera and thus completing a ritual sacrifice[2, Fig. 2]. The lower register depicts a youthful Hercle sitting atop flames, a possible reference to an unknown myth. The upper register depicts a chariot driver and horses, a motif typically associated with the sun. However, unlike most chariot depictions, this mirror shows two horses rather than four and a youthful male driver lacking an aureole[5]. This cosmic deity is believed to be a lunar god, possibly Tivr, showing the setting moon sinking below the horizon; the horses are relaxed and off-duty based on their removed reins, signifying the ritualistic night coming to an end.

Association with Other Deities
Due to lack of artifacts, it is unknown as to whether or not Tivr is regularly appears with other specific Etruscan deities.

Cult Following and Piacenza Liver Depiction
Though there are no known votive inscriptions of Tivr, her name is one of two inscribed on the back of the Piacenza Liver, the other being Usil, the god of the sun. It is therefore very possible for her to have had a cult following. This anatomically-sized bronze model of a sheep’s liver was most likely used to teach divination; the front visceral side featured a border 16 compartments symbolizing the heavens and 24 individual interior boxes, all containing the names of deities[1]. Of the 42 different names on the Piacenza Liver, only Usil and Tivr are depicted on the back venal side, possibly because of their significant spheres of night and day[5,7]. Tivr no known Roma or Greek counterpart, but can be compared to Roman Luna and Greek Selene, as they are similar female deities specifically dedicated to the moon.