God Mithras Research Articles

Mithra and the Evil Eye: Another Interpretation of the Mithraic Bas-Reliefs

The ritual tympanum of the god Mithra has no clear interpretation to date. In particular, the animals under the bull remain mysterious. If they have been considered as representations of certain constellations, this esoteric hypothesis remains disputed. Could the god Mithra, symbol of the Roman army, be attracted by the stars? Another hypothesis is to consider this religion as pragmatic. These small animals would be familiar to the Romans. They would symbolise trust. To understand Mithra, don't we have to change our way of seeing the Roman mentality?

MITRAIZAM NA PROSTORU JUŽNE SRBIJE – ISTORIJSKE OKOLNOSTI

The cult of Persian god Mithra, the Invincible Sun god, was the most significant and present cult in the Roman Empire. Epigraph and archeological evidence of worship of Mithra was recorded in all provinces of this huge Empire on three continents. Cult monuments were discovered in that way even on the territory of modern south Serbia, i.e. parts of the Roman provinces Upper Moesia and Thrace. This paper describes six such monuments: two votive altars with inscriptions from Osmakovo near Pirot and Ravna and four relief icons capturing tauroctonia from Ragodeš and Rasnica near Pirot, Ražanj near Aleksinac and Mramor near Niš. The aim of the paper is to emphasise certain historical circumstances of the growth of Mithraism in south Serbia taking the analyses of these monumetns into consideration. This region is seen as favorable for the spread of this eastern religion for numerous reasons. It is a rich mine region, the intersection of many imporant Roman roads on the Balkans and the main camp of some military units. All these circumstances resulted in the significant presence of the cult of Mithra. The period of the growth of Mithraism stretches from the middle of the 2nd century to the middle of the 3rd century, which is clearly confirmed by epighraph vows. The iconographic analysis of relief stones reveals that they belong to the Danube type and that Mithraism reaches south Serbia from lower Podunavlje through the Roman limes on the river. The lower frieze with side scenes from the Mithra cult legend points to the religious centres in Dacia as models in making the icons.

Al-Watsiniya fi al-katsulikiyah (al-bahts fi romziyu al-sholib)

The cross is a symbol that is well known among the public as a symbol of Christianity. Every sect in Christianity has a distinctive cross that distinguishes one from another. The Catholic and Protestant crosses are distinguished by the presence of a corpus or statue of Jesus hanging on it. Catholics use a corpus on their crosses, whereas Protestants are just plain crosses without any statues. Researchers will trace deeper into the history of the cross in pre-Christian times who rejected the presence of the symbol of the cross because this symbol was only attached to people who had committed grave sins. So that the researcher will use a historical methodology with an approach to the manuscript literature related to the cross. The results found by researchers that the meaning of the cross for Catholics today is taken from the meaning of the Pagan people because most Catholic teachings have been influence and interfered with by the teachings of Paganism. The meaning of the cross as a symbol of the resurrection and atonement for sins by Jesus is like the god Bacchus in Pagan. In addition, the use of the cross in Catholic religious rituals is not much different from the worship of Pagan gods who also use the cross. In fact, the cross is a symbol of the god Mithra or the sun god who was later transformed into a symbol of God’s love through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

A Contribution to the Study of the Cult of the God Mithra in Moesia Superior: Findings from the Middle and Southern Morava Valley

A Contribution to the Study of the Cult of the God Mithra in Moesia Superior: Findings from the Middle and Southern Morava Valley

Mitra-Mithra-Mithras: The Roman Mithras and His Indo-Iranian Background

Summary One of the key questions in the studies of the Roman cult of Mithras has been, since the works of F. Cumont, the question about the religious historical origin of the cult – regarding which there is no consensus to this day. Theories about the origin of the cult can be divided into three groups: (1) the so-called “strong” Iranian thesis, according to which the cult was imported from Iran; (2) the so-called “weak” Iranian thesis, claiming that just a few, mostly irrelevant elements of the cult originated in Iran; (3) a radical stance that there is no consistency between the Roman cult of Mithras and the Iranian cult of Mithra and what the two have in common is simply the similar name of a god. The author of this presentation has studied comparatively the character of Mitra in Indian religious literature, that of Mithra in Iranian religious and mythological texts as well as in Iranian religious iconography, and Mithras in the cult devoted to him in Rome, and has concluded that the radical belief common in current Mithras studies, according to which Mithras is connected with Mitra and Mithra only by them having similar names, is just as erroneous as the “strong” Iranian thesis defended by F. Cumont and G. Widengren. Although it is certain that the Roman cult of Mithras is not a cult imported from Iran, but a new cult that originated in the Roman Empire, the author of this presentation maintains that the Roman cult of Mithras contains a series of motifs that can be found both in the Vedas and in Iranian mythological texts: connection of Mitra/Mithras with friendship and a contract of friendship; certain military traits; connection with cosmogony and the cosmic order; connection with light, the Sun and the chariot of Sol; the role of the god as a giver of water and fertility; the idea of a sacrifice that stimulates fertility. Based on the sources linked to the Roman Mithras, in particular the iconography, it may be claimed that a large part of these motifs did not have a peripheral role in the mythology connected with the cult, but they carried an important, maybe even a central role. As the previously mentioned motifs were already interrelated in India and Iran, the author of this presentation believes that their coexistence in the mythology of the Roman cult of Mithras cannot be a coincidence but testifies to the wider Indo-Iranian background of the central figure of the cult, the god Mithras, which should not be ignored even if the Roman cult of Mithras is viewed as a new cult that evolved in the Roman Empire and within the context of the Greco-Roman religion.

Panorámica historiográfica de los estudios sobre el Mitra védico, avéstico y romano

Resumen: El interés que ha suscitado la figura del dios Mitra ha dejado como reflejo estudios que se remontan al periodo romano. Sin embargo, a partir del Renaci­miento el descubrimiento casual de piezas escul­tóricas de asunto mitraico, atrajo el interés de in­vestigadores que indagaron en sus escritos sobre la identidad de la divinidad que aparecía matando un toro. Durante los siglos XVI al XVIII, la temática solar y la identificación del Mitraísmo se convirtió en el contenido de estos estudios. A partir del s. XIX, empieza a tomar forma una investigación de carácter más científico sobre la cuestión mitraica, que encontrará su nacimiento formal con los tra­bajos de F. Cumont a principios del s. XX. Este si­glo pasado ha sido el que ha visto florecer el mayor y más profundo volumen de estudios desentrañan­do los misterios vinculados al dios Mitra, tanto en su vertiente de divinidad de los panteones védicos y avésticos, como en el ámbito del culto mistérico desarrollado en el marco del Imperio Romano. En los comienzos del siglo XXI, todavía permanecen abiertas algunas hipótesis iniciales, pero sí se cons­tata una vitalidad en los estudios para la compren­sión global del Mitraísmo.Palabras clave: Mitra, Mitraísmo, Avesta, Veda, Cumont.Abstract: One mark of the interest attached to the god Mithra is the line of studies dating back to the Ro­man period. It was, however, during the Renais­sance that the accidental discovery of sculptural pieces of a Mithraic subject attracted the interest of researchers, who sought to identify the bull-ki­lling divinity. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, this field of research re-oriented itself to the solar theme and the identification of Mithraism. In the 19th century, it took on a scientific nature, and the landmark the studies of F. Cumont saw the light of day in early 20th century. As the century progres­sed ambitious in-depth studies flourished, unra­velling the mysteries linked to the cult of the god Mithra, both in terms of the divinity of the Vedic and Avestan pantheons and of the sphere of the mystery cult established in the context of the Ro­man Empire. At the beginning of the 21st century, some initial hypotheses remain open, but the vi­tality of studies pursuing a global understanding of Mithraism remains unchallenged.Key words: Mithra, Mithraism, Avesta, Veda, Cumont.

Palabras persas en el mitraísmo: la construcción de una imagen oriental del culto mitraico = Persian Words in Mithraism: The Construction of an Oriental Image of Mithraic Cult

La cuestión de la procedencia oriental del culto mitraico se ha sostenido tradicionalmente en el propio origen persa del dios Mitra y por la presencia de otros testimonios en el culto vinculados con este territorio. El análisis en profundidad de las evidencias epigráficas en torno a la palabra “nama” nos permiten establecer la hipótesis de un empleo tardío de este término y por tanto permiten señalar un uso interesado para fomentar una representación oriental del culto mitraico romano.The question of the western origin of the Mithraic cult has been supported traditionally by the own Persian origin of the god Mithra and by the presence of other testimonies in the worship linked by this territory. The analysis of the epigraphic evidence concerning the word "nama" allow us to establish the hypothesis of a late incorporation of this expression and therefore they allow to indicate a use interested to promote an oriental representation of the Roman Mithraic cult.

El dios que nace de la roca. Aspectos comparativos del mito del nacimiento de Mitra

This article aims to improve and complete some reconstructive proposals already existing that relate the myth of the Roman God Mithras' birth from a rock with other traditions, namely some Hittite myths or some legends from Minor Asia. By including data from Hittite Theogony and Rig- Veda and integrating them in a set together with the iconographic information from Roman Mithraism and Sassanid Persia, I propose an Indo-European origin for the myth of the God born from a rock.

Un dono inatteso. Memorie iraniche nei Magi cristianizzati

Iranian Magi are a constant presence in the imagination of the Christianized West. In the Gospel of Matthew (2, 1-12) an episode is introduced which will soon become one of the most celebrated motives in the art and literature of ancient, medieval and modern Christianity. This episode will come to the point of becoming, mainly in Rome, the central theme of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God in the Child Jesus. The expectation of a Saviour, of a restored Saośyant, is part of the royal ideology both Christian and Iranian, and finds its fulfillment in the symbolism of light. According to Philostratus the Parthian kings depicted their gods in sidereal appearance. That is because they had a heavenly and igneous origin themselves: Ammianus Marcellinus transcribes the epithet that designated the “King of Kings” Sāpuhr as offspring of a divine descent consubstantial with the stars and the two luminaries. A “Lord of the world” was expected in the whole ancient East and had become an object of veneration also in Rome in the form of a mysterious sidus Augustum . Tiridates, king of Armenia, went to Rome in 66 a. D. with a cortege of Magi to worship the mithrized emperor Nero. According to the models expressing sacred royalty king Mithridates Eupator was an incarnation of the god Mithra and like Mithra was born in a cave from a star fallen from the sky. These conceptions will be found in an important Christian text, the Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum , according to which the Persian Magi used to ascend every year the “Mount of Victories” waiting for a star which carried in itself the image of a child and which was to be the sign of the Great King’s birth.

Uccidere il dio. Presenze iraniche nel Battistero di Parma e oltre

The Manichean Cosmogony and its links to the Iranian God Mithra are the starting points in studying some specific representations of the Romanesque church art. The devotion to Mithra, which is widely spread in the Hellenistic world, assumed shapes and uses of a mysteric religion. The art of its cult areas, the Mithraea, influenced Christian art, not only in its origins. An example are the sculptured figures on the portal of the Baptistry in Parma, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, where the episode of the celestial apotheosis of Mithra, linked to its astrological background, relives.

A new proposition for redating the Mithraic tauroctony scene

Assuming that the figures of the central icon of the Mithraic cult – the scene of tauroctony (bull slaying) – represent equatorial constellations at the time when the spring equinox was placed somewhere between Taurus and Aries, it is difficult to explain why some equatorial constellations (Orion and Libra) were not included in the Mithraic icons A simulation of the sky at the times in which the spring equinox was in the constellation of Taurus, only a small area of spring equinox positions permits to exclude these two constellations, with all other representations of equatorial constellations (Taurus, Canis Minor, Hydra, Crater, Corvus, Scorpio) included. These positions of the spring equinox occurred at the beginning of the age of Taurus, and included Gemini as an equatorial constellation. Two of the main figures in the Mithraic icons are two identical figures, usually represented on the each side of the bull, wearing phrygian caps and holding torches. Their names, Cautes and Cautopates, and their looks may indicate that they represent the constellation of Gemini. In that case the main icon of Mithraic religion could represent an event that happened around 4000 BC, when the spring equinox entered the constellation of Taurus. Also, this position of equator contains Perseus as an equatorial constellation. Ulansey suggested that the god Mithras is identified with the constellation Perseus. In that case, all figures in the main scene would be equatorial constellations.

Noé en Mérida (<em>Augusta Emérita</em>)

For a long time, a relief, preserved in the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano in Merida (Badajoz, Spain) has been considered to be a representation of the oriental god Mithras Saxigenus and, therefore, as another witness of the oriental cults in the ancient capital of Lusitânia. Although some authors interpreted it differently, as a funeral banquet with a portrait of the dead person, nobody has yet proposed the Christian interpretation presented here: the image of Noah emerging from the Ark, shown on the front of a sarcophagus lid, and the representation of a celestial banquet celebrating the salvation of the dead. The piece is dated to the last quarter of the 3rd century AD and thus is the first archaeological evidence of Christianity in the colonia Augusta Emerita</em.

Zum Ursprung de Götter Mitra und Varuna

AbstractNo Abstract

The end of Mithraism

Mithraism, the Roman cult to the Persian mystery god Mithras, had a special following in the army–and a matchingly broad distribution across the Empire. The singularly uniform class of Mithraic temples came to an end in several ways, by abandonment, burning, deliberate destruction, even by planned and careful sealing. Comparison of these circumstances can shed light on the different ways in which pagan worship came to cease.

The origins of the Mithraic mysteries: cosmology and salvation in the ancient world

This book sets forth an entirely new explanation of the meaning of one of the most popular religions of the Romans. The so-called of Mithraism began to spread in the Roman Empire in the first century CE, reached its peak in the third century, and finally succumbed to Christianity at the end of the fourth century. At its height, the cult could be found the Black Sea to the mountains of Scotland, and it was evidently one of the principle competitors of early Christianity. Yet because of the great secrecy surrounding the practice of Mithraism almost nothing is known about the beliefs of the cult. The dominant theory about Mithraism has held it to derive from the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism. In this groundbreaking work, however, David Ulansey argues its true origins lie in ancient astronomy and cosmology. All the iconography of the god Mithras, he shows, clearly correlates with contemporary representations of Perseus and the constellations that surround him. Based on this discovery, Ulansey constructs a fascinating and persuasive hypothesis concerning the time and place in which the mystery cult arose, and the events that stimulated its expression.

Éléments de l'Iran et du Proche-Orient anciens dans l'art scythe

Animal-style art developed in the Eurasian steppelands between the VIth and IVth centuries B.C. It was characterised by the prevalence of zoomorphic images interpreted in a definite stylistic manner. Some of the iconographic traits and entire compositions were borrowed by the Scythians from the fine arts of the Ancient Orient. However, the perception of Near Eastern elements was conditioned by the Scythians' ideology. The animal style in art reflected their world-view and can be regarded as an individual sign system. Among the method of analysing their semantics, the mythological one has been successfully employed by a number of Soviet researchers. Scythian mythology can be reconstructed on several levels : 1. Scythian proper, based on the use of data on the Scythian religion supplied by the Greek authors ; 2. Indo-Iranian, based on a system analysis of spiritual culture as part of the Indo-Iranian one (Scythian belonged to the Indo-Iranian family of peoples) ; 3. Indo-European, based on using data about Indo-European mythology (Scythians belonged to the Indo- European community) ; 4. Universal, based on using universal mythologemes and notions common to all of mankind at the mythological stage of thinking. This method makes it possible to explain some of peculiar features of scythian art and discover the semantics of individual images and compositions. Representational units and invariant elements of Scythian art correspond to fixed formulas, clichés, epithets of mythological and folklore texts. The zoomorphic images stem from the zoomorphic symbolics of thinking common to the Indo-Iranians and the rest of the Indo-Europeans. The images of the horse, as solar symbol, reflect formulas linked to the god Mithra ; the pairs of opposing horses, images of twins linked with the cult of the world tree and mother goddess ; the image of a three-headed serpent, the combat of the forefather-hero against the serpent ; a combat between two horses, the cult of the water god Tishtriya ; the scene of tearing a hoofed animal by a beast of prey, a symbolic reflection of the rebirth of nature in springtime, the day of spring equinox, linked with the victory of the god substituted by the king at the coronation. Entire compositions reconstruct the universal image of the world : the Chertomlyk Vase and the pectoral from the Tolstaya Mogila, the head-dress of a Saka king from Issyk Barrow and those of Scythian queens symbolise a cosmogramme with the world tree in the centre attached to the Scythian social and cosmogonie system, and make it possible to draw important conclusions on the sacral roles of the king and the queen.