What is Etruscan civilization?
{{Infobox country | conventional_long_name = Etruscan civilization | image_map = Etruscan civilization map.png | status = [[City-state|City-states]] | life_span = 900 BC–27 BC | s1 = Roman Kingdom{{!}}'''753 BC:'''<br /> Roman Kingdom | s2 = Roman Empire{{!}}'''27 BC:'''<br /> Roman Empire }} [[File:Etruscan civilization map.png|thumb|right|300px|Map showing the Etruscan civilization]] [[File:Perugia, Museo archeologico Nazionale dell'Umbria, cippo di Perugia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cippus Perusinus. 3rd-2nd century BC, the tablet has 46 lines of Etruscan text]] [[File:Etruscan votive heads IV-II century BC.jpg|thumb|right|Etruscan votive heads IV-II century BC found in various sanctuaries of Etruria]] [[File:Etruscan riders BM 3-2.jpg|thumb|248px|Etruscan riders, silver panel 540/520BC, from Castel San Marino, near [[Perugia]]]] The '''Etruscan civilization''' lasted from about 900 [[BC]] to 27 BC and was a [[culture]] in [[wikt:ancient|ancient]] [[Italy]]. The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]s called the people ''Etrusci'' or ''Tusci''. The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] called them ''Tyrrhenoi'' or ''Tyrrsenoi''. The Etruscans called themselves ''Rasenna''. The Etruscan civilization began in [[pre-history]]. They lived in an area which included modern [[Tuscany]], but was larger. At their height, they had three confederacies (like modern [[state]]s): Etruria, Latinum and the Po Valley, and [[Campania]]. The Etruscans ruled [[Rome]] until 396 BC. == Language == Not much is known about the [[Etruscan language]]. Not much of its [[writing]] survives. Most what survives is from engravings on [[tombstone]]s. The Etruscans used an [[alphabet]] similar to those in [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenicia]] and [[Greek alphabet|Greece]].<ref>Rix, Helmut 2008. Etruscan, in ''The ancient languages of Europe'', Roger D. Woodard (ed) Cambridge University Press, pp. 141-164.</ref> The language is related to the Tyrrhenian [[language family]] and is not cl