Etruscan art depicted the twin gods of sleep and death

In the ancient world, the transition from life to the afterlife was often viewed as a gentle handoff between siblings. A bronze sculpture from roughly 400 BCE depicts the Greek gods Hypnos and Thanatos, the personifications of sleep and death, carrying the fallen hero Sarpedon from the battlefield of the Trojan War. This intricate piece originally served as a handle for a cista, a cylindrical bronze box used by the Etruscans to store precious personal items like mirrors or jewelry.