The Late Sasanian Treasury of Qouri Qaleh Cave: Votive Offerings for a Mithra Temple in Kermanshah, Western Iran

Abstract

ABSTRACTDue to the small amount of evidence and artefacts associated with the cult of Mithraism, the study of this topic is a very complex issue. According to the current archaeological data, it would seem that evidence of Mithraism in Iran is often manifested in caves and in most cases as symbolic illustrations of Mithra on artefacts. The discovery of silver vessels related to late Sasanian period, in Qouri Qaleh near Paveh, decorated with a hawk catching a bird, birds, lions and a phoenix (senmerv), suggests that they were offered to a Mithra temple located in a cave, in an area where most of the known Mithra temples in Iran are located. Sasanian and Arab-Tabarian coins have also been found in the cave, suggesting that the cave might have been a Mithra temple occupied from the late Sasanian period until probably the second century Hegira. The widespread Arab domination and the expansion of Islam were probably the major reasons for its abandonment.