Selvans
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| Selvans | |
|---|---|
God of boundaries | |
 Bronze Selvans statuette in Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, Cortona, IT | |
| Etruscan | 𐌀𐌅𐌋𐌄𐌔 |
In Etruscan mythology and religion, Selvans is god of the woodlands and boundaries, including sacred boundaries.[1][2]
He is possibly cognate with Roman Silvanus. A dedication of a statue refers to him as Selvans Tularia (Selvans of the bounderies).[1][3][2] On a probable boundary stone from Bosnia he is referred to by the epithet Selvans Sanchuneta. This may connect him to Sancus, the Italic god of sacred oaths.[2] His name is 10th on the list of 16 gods on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver (a bronze model of a sheep’s liver used as a reference or teaching tool for divination).[3] Votive inscriptions from the liver show that he was a popular god in Etruria.[1]
Only one certain representation of Selvans has been found, alongside a statue of Culśanś. He is portrayed as a naked youth wearing a cap made of a bear’s or a cat's hide and high boots.[1][2] This contrasts from the Roman Silvanus, who is usually shown as a bearded man.[1]
See also
[edit source]References
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 Thomson de Grummond, Nancy (2006). The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70687-1.
- 1 2 3 4 De Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006). Etruscan myth, sacred history, and legend. Philadelphia, PA : University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-931707-86-2. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- 1 2 The Etruscan World, Routledge. Routledge. 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-67308-2.
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