The New Mithraeum
7 May 2010
Updated on 22 Apr 2023
Relief in sandstone (H. 1.80 Br. 1.76 D. 0.22). Inv. No. 239.
The relief is sculpted on two sides and it is revolving because it has a pivot at the top and a socket at the bottom.
A
The front has the usual scene of Mithras as the bullkiller in a grotto. The bull's tail ends in three corn-ears. The raven sits on the god's flying cloak; the dog with a collar leaps up against the bull and the scorpion grasps its genitals. Underneath the bull is an amphora or krater with two handles with a serpent coiling against it. To its right is a lion with menacing head.