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Moon Over Pyrgi: Catha, an Etruscan Lunar Goddess?

July 2008 (112.3)
Article

Moon Over Pyrgi: Catha, an Etruscan Lunar Goddess?

112.3
Nancy T. de Grummond
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Relatively little has been written about Etruscan deities of the moon. This article explores the imagery of Etruscan lunar divinities and argues for recognition of a moon goddess at Pyrgi named Catha. A group of antefixes long recognized as astral or cosmic, from the 20-celled building in the Etruscan sanctuary at Pyrgi, includes a female figure with two horses, proposed here as an image of Catha. The paper considers implications for the cult of Catha at Pyrgi as consort of the sun god Śuri and as a goddess of the sea and the moon, perhaps associated with childbirth.

More articles like this: 
Etruscan
Iconography
Pottery
Religion/Cult
Small Finds
Italy > Lazio

Moon Over Pyrgi: Catha, an Etruscan Lunar Goddess?

By Nancy T. de Grummond

American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 112, No. 3 (July 2008), pp. 419–428

DOI: 10.3764/aja.112.3.419

© 2008 Archaeological Institute of America

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