Saul cutting the oxen to pieces poses as Mithras Tauroctonos in this painting, which adorns the mantelpiece of Henry II’s bedroom at the Château d’Écouen near Paris.
In Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, the grieving Darius binds the eunuch Tireus by the light of Mithras to reveal the truth about his captive wife Statira, a solemn appeal that leads to unexpected praise for Alexander’s honor and restraint.
I’m working on this inscription, and I’m not sure if you’ve understood and translated it correctly. If you assume that the person dedicating the altar was Terentius Priscus Eucheta, son of Publius, it means that the word "curante" is not followed or preceded by any word in the ablative case. I think that Manfred Clauss’s idea (Cultores Mithrae, p. 20-21) that the altar was dedicated by Terentius Priscus "under the supervision/guidance of Eucheta" (Eucheta curante) is a better interpretation. The suggested translation then would be: "Terentius Priscus, son of Publius, dedicated (or presented as a gift according to the vow) to the god Invictus Nabarze, under the guidance of Eucheta and together with other worshipers."
I’m excited to finally have my copy of ‘Ritual and Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras’ by @peter.mark.adams! The book is now officially available. Feel free to share your thoughts—I’d love to hear what you all think!
Restoring the Mysteries: A Conversation with Peter Mark Adams on his new book ‘Ritual & Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras’.
Behzad Bolout
I love the idea of this book and I’m looking forward to to buy and read it.
Only one thing looking at the text above there seems to be no mention of the origin of Mithraism, which is Iran and has nothing to do with Zoroastrianism,
In fact, the prophet Zoraostara raised against it.
And instead of looking for toots in europe it all goes to mystic Persia & Iran where it developed and during Parthian wars and trades took over Rome.
The roman version has local signs and philosophy then after the birth of Mithras goes to its original Persian form.
The Parthian belief and religion (Mithras) was wiped out after Sassanians took over.
Thank god that their religion lived in in Roman empire (so we can discover its doctrine.
Which later wiped out by christianity.
Dear Behzad,
You are, of course quite right.
That said, the earliest account of the tauroctony that exactly matches the more famous frescoes and sculptures of the Roman era is that described in the Epic of Gilgamesh circa 2,000 BCE - and even that is likely to be a relatively ’late’ account of an already ancient oral tradition).
The gods Mitra, Varuna and Indra are all cited in the famous Hittite - Mitanni peace treaty circa 1,380 BCE. These people appear to have entered Anatolia circa 2,000 BCE, the Hittites by way of the Caucasus.
The earliest image of what looks like the tauroctony appears on a ring of King Saussatar (Shaushtatar) of Mitanni from the fifteenth century BCE.
Of course our understanding of the origins of the Hittite and Mitanni leaves something to be desired, but they appear to have entered the culturally Luwian zone of Anatolia sometime in the second millennium BCE. Certainly in the case of the Hittites they tended to assimilate themselves to the Luwian pantheon and language in their religious rites. All of this is, admittedly, somewhat foggy - the decipherment of Luwian hieroglyphics is still ongoing.
For the Hellenistic Age it is clear that the syncretism arising from the Greek, native Anatolian and Persian influence gave rise to a rich cultural mix and that the Hellenistic Kingdoms (who claimed ancestry from Cyrus, Darius & Alexander) acknowledged Mithras as Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes.
The native Carian dynasty, the Hekatomnids, were appointed Persian satraps for south west Anatolia, adopted Persian monumental architecture (at Labraunda) where they also conducted sacred banquets in purpose built Andron (which are neither a Greek nor a Roman tradition) and whose layout is identical to the later mithraea of the Roman Empire.
As far as the transmission of the cult to Rome goes I agree that this was entirely due to the Parthian king, Tiridates I, soujourn in Rome under Nero in 66 CE.
I conjecture that the introduction of the cult to the Roman elite was part of the process of underwriting the political settlement between Rome and Parthia over Armenia - Mitra / Mithras was, after all, the god of treaties and agreements par excellence.
That said we still have the early attestation concerning the Cilician pirates celebrating secret mystery rites of Mithras in the first century BCE.
Beneath all of these ’royal’ goings on we know that trade routes connected vast swathes of the Near/Middle East with Europe and Asia and as far as Afghanistan - how early? Certainly by the Bronze Age; but if the evidence of the Amber, Lapis Lazuli and Obsidian trades are anything to go by long, long before.
So yes, the Cult of Mithras was introduced to the Roman elite by the Parthian King of Armenia - but the roots and question of ultimate origins remain far from clear.
I do hope that you enjoy the book - hopefully it will (fingers crossed) be emerging from the printers in the next week or so.
Thank you for taking an interest in my work, I do hope that you find the book of interest.
Very best,
Peter Mark Adams
Author
Dion Chrysostom, c. 100 A.D., a philosophical writer under the emperors Nerva and Trajan, composed a series of discourses or essays (λόγοι) on various subjects, in one of which he reports concerning the doctrines and practices of the magi.
