Reposted by Judith Herrin
Judith Herrin
@judithherrin.bsky.social
436 followers 44 following 50 posts
Historian: especially of Early Christendom, the Middle Ages, Byzantium, Ravenna, and the role of women.
Historian: especially of Early Christendom, the Middle Ages, Byzantium, Ravenna, and the role of women.
![Silver and gilt pyxis (box with lid), part of a group of three items known as the Bolsena silver. The bands of ornament on the box and alternate leaves on the pointed lid have gilding. The inscription written on the side of the cylindrical box in Etruscan must have been added subsequently. It reads śuthina, meaning "of [for] the tomb" suggesting that the objects were acquired by an Etruscan and buried with him.
The pyxis itself was originally manufactured as a luxury item in Apulia (southern Italy), likely in a Greek workshop. Marking an item as śuthina served a religious function in Etruscan burial practices. It legally and spiritually designated the luxury object as property of the deceased and the underworld deities. Once marked "for the tomb," the item was consecrated and could never be reused or stolen for the world of the living.
Height: with cover 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm)
Apulian, possibly Tarentine, early 3rd c. BCE, Met Museum (03.24.6)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4gvknr7shvnikz4ymbtf7wye/bafkreiexikki45tndpnkqzmuho7upuipfuz2tpsaisahsflgje2etyc4ue)
