(Sept. 8, 2022) About 6,000 Etruscan underground room tombs have been found on the top of the long Monterozzi Hill across the valley from the ancient Etruscan city of Tarquina. This city controlled large river Maria valley and was located 60 km (37 miles) north of Rome. 

The tombs date to between 650 BCE and 310 BCE. The tombs of Orcus date to about 490 BCE with Orcus 1 being built slightly earlier than Orcus 2. Only a few tombs have writing but the existence of this writing indicates that these tombs were open to the public for some period of time, possibly during a multi-week funeral rite. Their images were not to impress the gods but were to impress the neighbors.

The tomb of Orcus was discovered in 1868 tomb in the area of the Monterozzi necropolis by a French army officer whose unit was stationed there by Napoleon III to protect the Pope (first reported in English by Dennis 883, page 345 who based it on an earlier Italian paper). The multi-room tomb lay just under an existing modern cemetery. At that time, Tarquinia was already well known for its then estimated 200 Etruscan tombs.

Some frescoes existed in fragments, and that a portion of the ceiling in between the two main spaces had collapsed, perhaps in antiquity. No grave goods were ever reported suggesting they were looted sometime earlier. This also makes the dating of the tomb dependent on the style and pigment chemistry of the frescos (Guerriero, Aug. 2015).

References

(Sept. 8, 2022) The texts and images in the tomb of so-called Orcus 1 tell a story when viewed clockwise from the tombs entrance. The story's first scene is shown on the right. "Controllers" are the mid-layer deities of the Ancient Pagan Paradigm.

Translation in Akkadian (Text Med 18.1)

1. ARu  Ne'u  :  Pu  E  Lâšu  A : (Med 18.1.1)
2. Gi  ELu .... (Med 18.1.2)

In English

1. The Controllers (Ayu, Eagle Vultures) are being affected : Openings are not from their influences :
2. High energy .... 

The rightmost image in the scene is the life power goddess Ayu (Inanna, Ishtar, Hathor) who is identified by her snake skin hat having a network pattern revealed by its scales. She is responsible for editing the network by removing and adding network links. She seems to be holding a young plant stem spurting fluid which likely corresponds to a network link. Another sign of her life power is that she is tanned from the sun because she is the feminine power compliment to the sun god Hu. 

The leftmost image is the middle layer motion-power hermaphrodite deity Thu who is wearing the laurel crown to indicate their divine role as a motion deity. The fast-growing laurel tree (Laurus nobilis) is also called the Bay Laurel because its bay leaves are a spice having a unique odor and taste. Either because of its fast growth or because of its aroma this tree has been associated with speed and motion. It was placed on the heads of Greek runners to indicate they were the fastest. They were a champion and from that the laurel crown came to indicate any sort of victor. The hair of Thu has both masculine and feminine components relative to Italian culture with long side hair (feminine) and short back hair (masculine). That this image represents the hermaphrodite deity Thu is provided by a painting in a different tomb called the Tomb of Shields who is “associating” with unknown deity or demon.

(Updated March 30, 2024) The next image clockwise around the room shows the blinding of Cyclops who is an agent of the motion source and full moon god Su. The god Su is often represented as an "eye."

Translation in Akkadian (Text Med 19.2)

1. Bu  UBa  Gi  U
2. U'a  UZa  Tu  E

In English

1. Nourishments are when the patrollers (planets) are energized.
2. Misery is not from frustration with astrology-magic

Cyclops is the motion power demon while Skadi mentioned earlier is the life-growth power demon. In Greek “Cyclops” is written two ways: Κύκλωπες (KUKL’PEZ) and Κύκλωψ (KUKL’Š). These are:

1. KUKL’PEZ (Κύκλωπες): Cyclops - as Akkadian K.UK.L’..P it means “agent of the weaver of astrological-power openings.” The /ez/ ending indicates it is a noun in Greek.
2. KUKL’Š (Κύκλωψ): Cyclops – as Akkadian K.UK.L’..Š it means ”agent of the weaver of  astrological-power correspondences”

The earliest mentions of Cyclops in Greek literature are in Hesiod and Homer both dating to about this same time of 500 BCE. Hesiod's "Theogony" states that cyclopses were the sons of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth) who were also the parents of the moon, sun, and planets. The cyclops in Homer are portrayed as shepherds in Sicily. The shepherd analogy is significant because an Akkadian an epithet for magic crafter is "shepherd." Emotions were one source of motion powers with the other being the astrological night sky represented by Su.