The Egyptian grotto, as the Isis-Tomb of Vulci was called when it was discovered in the nineteenth century, is one of the most prominent tombs of the orientalising period in Etruria. Friederike Bubenheimer-Erhart presents in this volume many important documents of the time, on the basis of which she undertakes a fundamental reconstruction of this Etruscan sepulchre. She also addresses a number of aspects, which characterise the beginning of archaeology as an academic discipline, and she explains the special relevance of Egyptian artefacts found in the soil of ancient Etruria for the contemporary history of the Papal States.