Mithréum de Lucciana, Corsica

TNMM 212

This is the first time that a mithræum has been identified in Corsica. This sanctuary is composed of several spaces typical of mithræa, including a hall of worship and its antechamber. The rectangular assembly hall (11x5 m), consists of a lowered central corridor, bordered by two long benches, 1.8 m wide, limited by a small wall carefully coated with lime. Opposite each other, two vaulted brick niches were created in the benches. One of them still contained three intact oil lamps.

The marble bas-relief sculpture of Mithra, wearing a Phrygian cap and sacrificing a bull, must have stood at the end of the corridor. Three fragments of this broken bas-relief have been found thus far by the archaeologists. They show a dog and a snake drinking the blood flowing from the slit throat of the slain animal, while a scorpion is pinching its testicles. On the right, a person is represented holding a torch: the “dadophorus” symbolizing the setting sun or death. Other marble elements were exhumed, including the head of a woman. Two bronze bells, numerous broken lamps and fine ware pots could belong to the liturgical objects. A bronze plaque and another in lead bear inscriptions that have not yet been deciphered.