Daily Gazette/7

Membre d’une association d’histoire et d’archéologie.

This collective volume explores the ways ancient peoples interacted with divine powers through prayer, magic, and the interpretation of the stars. Drawing on evidence from Mesopotamia to Late Antiquity, it situates these practices within broader religious and cosmological systems.

An Esoteric Interpretation of the Mithraic Tauroctony and the Solar Path of the Soul (https://thenewplatonicacademy.substack.com/p/mithras-overcomes-the-bull)

Interview avec Fahim Ennouhi à l’occasion de la publication de son premier livre, Le culte de Mithra en Afrique du Nord antique, consacré à cette présence restée élitiste et marginale dans cette région de l’Empire.

229 A.D. The passage quoted is from the sixty-third book, ch. 10. Origen

Collection of early passages on the cult of Mithras, curated and translated by A. S. Geden.

Fritz Saxl interprets Mithraism primarily through its images, proposing the cult as a visual cosmology structured around the descent, sacrifice and re-ascent of light, developed in close dialogue with Aby Warburg and Erwin Panofsky.

I am honored to present my first book devoted to the cult of Mithras in ancient North Africa. Structured into four main sections, it also features a catalogue of twenty inscriptions and twenty-six illustrative plates.

This work offers the first comprehensive study of the Mithraic cult in Roman Africa. Drawing on a rigorous cross-analysis of epigraphic, archaeological, and literary evidence, it reconstructs the history and distinctive features of this mystery religion on African soil.

The book systematically explores the fundamental aspects of Mithraic practice: its doctrines, the geographical distribution of its material remains across the provinces, the sociological profile of its followers, and the prominent role played by soldiers. It also examines the relationship between Mithras and imperial authority, the dynamics of religious syncretism, the organization of the priesthood, the performance of rituals and ceremonies, and the architectural characteristics of the mithraea.

By synthesizing evidence that is often fragmentary, this study sheds new light on the evolution of a major cult of the Roman Empire and offers an essential contribution to the understanding of the religious landscape of ancient North Africa.

Wishing you a pleasant reading.

Link to the book :

Amazon.com: Le culte de Mithra en Afrique du Nord antique. Etude épigraphique et archéologique.: 9798274552943: ENNOUHI, M. Fahim: Books

On the occasion of the discovery of a Mithraeum in Cabra, Spain, we talk to Jaime Alvar, a leading figure in the field of Mithraism. With him, we examine the testimonies known to date and the peculiarities of the cult of Mithras in Hispania.

Cet ouvrage propose une étude d’ensemble du culte de Mithra en Afrique romaine. S’appuyant sur un rigoureux examen croisé des sources épigraphiques, archéologiques et littéraires, il restitue l’histoire et les spécificités de ce culte à mystères sur le sol africain.

Gold lamina from Ciciliano showing a nude, serpent-entwined Aion-Kronos holding a key and surrounded by Greek voces magicae (2nd c. CE).

The lion-headed figure from Rusicade, now Skikda, holds a key in both hands and features a pine cone beside his feet.

Inscription recording the dedication of a mithraeum at Tiddis by a group of cultores who built the sanctuary at their own expense.

The Mithraeum was housed in a cave. The vault is almost dome-shaped and in front of the cave there is enough space for a possible adjacent temple.

An inscription mentioning a speleum decorated by Publilius Ceionius suggests the location of a mithraeum in Cirta, the capital of Numidia.

Many of the inscriptions and sculptures of the site were kept in a museum which has been destroyed.

This altar, found in Tazoult تازولت, Algeria, was dedicated to the god Sol Mithras by a certain Florus.

This altar found in Lambèse, now Tazoult, Algeria, bears the inscription of a certain Celsianus for the health of two men to the god Sol Unconquered Mithras.

Statue of a standing person in eastern attire in red, local limestone with inscription.