Uni () is the ancient goddess of marriage, fertility, family, and women in Etruscan religion and myth, and was the patron goddess of Perugia. She is identified as the Etruscan equivalent of Juno in Roman mythology, and Hera in Greek mythology. As the supreme goddess of the Etruscan pantheon, she is part of the Etruscan trinity, an original precursor to the Capitoline Triad, made up of her husband Tinia, the god of the sky, and daughter Menrva, the goddess of wisdom.
She is often depicted with a goatskin cloak and sandals whilst holding a shield, similarly to Juno Sospita, wearing a bridal veil, or completely nude.
Livy states (Book V, Ab Urbe Condita) that Juno was an Etruscan goddess of the Veientes, who was adopted ceremonially into the Roman pantheon when Veii was sacked in 396 BC. This seems to refer to Uni. She also appears on the Liver of Piacenza.
Etymology
The name Uni is of uncertain etymology, however may be related to an Indo-European root iuni meaning "young", and other mixed media artworks. In other depictions of this myth, deities such as Menrva, Turan, and Mean - the goddess of victory - are present as part of an animated crowd bearing witness to the adoption.
Depiction of this myth in which the adoption process features an adult Hercle, and an obliging Uni is widely acknowledged as having developed entirely in Etruria. (golden apple) which had been presented at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Where Elcsntre could not easily choose between the three goddesses, they then resorted to bribing him. Etruscan interpretation of the specific offerings presented is not clear due to the lack of written sources, and various different representations on a number of mirrors, however there are common representations of Menrva's and Turan's gifts in alignment with their Greek counterparts. Menrva's spear and a wreath are often depicted, as representative of offered glory in battle. Turan is often depicted holding branches of flowers and displaying her body, Further, it was suggested by Vitruvius that these such temples should have been located on the most elevated sites of the town, and spread apart from one another.
Cult
Uni was worshipped both individually at dedicated shrines, and alongside other deities as part of large public sanctuaries throughout Etruria. Established cults to Uni worshipped her status as a supreme goddess of family and reproduction.
thumb|Copy of the Pyrgi tablets.
Shrine at Pyrgi
As part of a large Tuscan style temple, the north-located shrine at Pyrgi dedicated to Uni was built in approximately 500 BC, and neighboured a smaller Greek temple. Compared to other locations, the cult of worship dedicated to Uni at Pyrgi held close resemblance to traditional Greek worship sanctuaries; at least 300 votive objects were dedicated there, alongside animal bones suggestive of sacrifice. Additionally, two bowls made by the Etruscan Spurinas designated vota to Uni alongside Tinia and Thesan. The dedication came from the ruler of Caere, in gratitude for her support of his reign. The shorter of the Etruscan inscriptions outlines distinct annual rituals which took place to ensure the ongoing purity of the temple.
Poggio Colla
An Etruscan sanctuary at Poggio Colla, located near the town of Vicchio in the Mugello region of northern Tuscany, was part of an ongoing archaeological project run from 1995 until 2015 by the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project and Poggio Colla Field School (PCFS). Excavations over the 21-season project potentially suggested Uni as the nominal deity of the area, with the uncovering of a bucchero vase depicting a, potentially sacred, birth scene, ritual behaviour at west of the sanctuary's network, and other dedications made by women. In 2015, the Vicchio Stele was excavated from a temple on site, and recovered as one of the longest recorded sacred Etruscan texts thus far. this phase predated stone architecture, and was characterised by huts. Inscriptions on the edges of the stele were written in a form of “pseudo-boustrophedon”, and where it may mention a goddess presiding over birth, potentially connecting her as the patron divinity of the cult at Poggio Colla, along with brief mention of her consort Tinia. Part of the text which has been deciphered seems to display requirements of practice for the cult, demanding two objects of something for Tinia, “in the place of Uni”. Etrusca disciplina divided the Heavens into sixteen different cosmological regions. Reflected in the Piacenza Liver, deities were assigned respective ‘houses’ where labels were inscribed into the sixteen sections of the bronze work. Etruscan temples held no unified orientation; temples dedicated to Uni have commonly been found to be oriented southwest, and dedications to Tinia oriented south, unlike Greek temples which have been found to all be usually directed east. Where the temple of Fontanile di Legnisina dedicated to Uni found in Vulci, is located in the fixed terrestrial region number 10, and its entrance is opposite to region number 2 rather than 4, the non-corresponding position by two regions is explained by this theory of a “rotating Etruscan heaven”. Similarly, at Pyrgi, the orientation of a temple belonging to Uni is southeast. This positioning places it in fixed terrestrial regions 10 and 11 where opposite to the entrance, Uni's heavenly region number 4 is still evident in the terrestrial region number 2 to allow for seasonal fluctuation.