Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



has the points about it indicating a helmet. 

 On one the owl goddess stands in the middle, 

 flill front, flanked by a sphinx and a bird- 

 headed quadruped, both in profile and seated. 

 This trio of winged gods has a strong hieratic 

 look, not so suggestive of Egypt as Assyria, 

 like other Etruscan works of art. One thinks 

 of the bird-winged angels carrying souls, which 

 are found on the famous Harpy Tomb from 

 Lycia now in the British Museum. According 

 to the ancients the Etruscans came to Italy 

 from that part of the world. 



Seals like these were in common use to 

 guard coffers and rooms from being opened, 

 or to mark an animal or object for sacrifice, to 

 identify objects or to certify ownership, or 

 else they were used as signatures in the way 

 common to the East ; they are found in great 

 numbers in old Etruscan strongholds like 

 Clusium. There can be little doubt that 

 winged figures on seals, such as griffons, bird- 

 headed human figures, human-headed beasts 

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