Mithraeum of Tienen
TNMM 182
In 1998 the enigmatic remains of an unidentified building, together with a number of pits containing very rich deposits, were excavated in the SW periphery of the vicus of Tienen, on the Roman road from Colonia Claudia (Cologne) to the Scheldt and thence to N Flanders and the Pas de Calais. Only after a preliminary examination of the finds could the small timber-framed building be identified as a mithraeum.
The temple of Mithras was erected on an empty parcel of land surrounded on at least 3 of its 4 sides by a palisade. On the opposite side ofthe road, another plot of land was also demarcated by such a palisade. On this property, a series of pits with domestic refuse was found, together with a wooden construction partly built into the ground. A pottery workshop was still active c. 100 m to the northeast of the mithraeum, nearer to the town-centre. During the 3rd c., this workshop's production expanded continually, because most of the competing workshops in the civitas ceased to exist. A commercial centre of regional importance might plausibly be thought to be open to a variety of influences from the outside world, among them the cult of Mithras. At any rate the workshop may provide a hint as to the social horizons of the worshippers. The temple's location on the outskirts of the vicus, near the cemetery, is not unusual. At Künzing (Lower Bavaria) and Krefeld-Gellep (on the Rhine near Duisburg) the mithraea were also erected between the settlement and a cemetery; the mithraeum at Groß-Krotzenburg on the lower Main adjoined a cemetery; that at Wiesloch (near Heidelberg) was on the the edge of the settlement, beside an important cross-roads; at Biesheim (dép. Haut-Rhin), the mithraeum was built on the edge of the vicus, c.500 m from the road, but probably near a branch of the Rhine. These details raise the question of the factors that played a rôle ni the choice of the location of a mithraeum. Did the existing ritual associations of the area around the mithraeum in Tienen play a part in the decision to build it here? Might the cult's beliefs have influenced the choice to build near a cemetery? Or are these factors purely contingent?
Marleen Martens discovered this mithraeum which not only contained some small ritual depositions within the proper temple-building, but also a huge ritual deposition in the temenos around it. This deposition contained hundreds of ceramic vessels and thousands of animal bones, especially from cocks. Due to the fact that it was filled and closed within a few days, it can be interpreted as the remains of a grand mithraic feast. It is also note worthy that there is no archaeological evidence for the sacrifice of bulls.
The data from the recovered ceramics, which would seem to indicate about a hundred sets of eating utensils, and the taphonomic investigation of the faunal remains, suggest a feast, probably lasting several days, involving about a hundred participants. A much larger number of participants eating from shared tableware is also a possibility that must be considered, though it remains less likely, mostly for reasons having to do with the demographic patterns of this relatively sparsely populated area.
References
- Religious Flows in the Roman Empire – The Expansion of 'Oriental Cults' (Isis, Mithras, Iuppiter Dolichenus) from East to West and Back Again.
- Marleen Martens (2004) Re-thinking sacred 'rubbish': the ritual deposits of the temple of Mithras at Tienen (Belgium).
Comments
May I consult You in order to a potsherd on which the word 'leonis' has been graved. It was found without archaeological context in the area of the civilian settlement nearby the fort of Walldürn on the Upper German Limes.
I would like to put it into relationship with the 'leo' grade, although definitively this cannot be verified.
Could You be so kind to tell me if there are similar graffii on potsherds anywhere in the Roman World.
Thank You very much.
Sincerely
Yours
Joachim Neumaier