Domus del Mitreo of Tarquinia

TNMM 229

The discovery of the Mithraeum of Tarquinia is due to the Department for Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Carabinieri (Italian military police), who noticed some clandestine excavations near the Ara della Regina, on the ancient site of Tarquinia, in May of 2014. Subsequently the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell‘Etruria Meridionale carried out a short archaeological excavation in order to prove the actual provenance of the magnificant sculpture of Mithras, which had been illegally unearthed, and which was fortunately recovered by the Carabinieri, after investigations by the Procura della Repubblica of Rome.

The digging allowed the discovery of another part of the sculptural group, namely the dog, which is perfectly interconnected with the knee of the bull. Apart from the evident artistic value of this monument, the discovery of a part of the sculpture in an archaeological context is an unquestionable proof of the precise provenance of this Tauroctony from the ancient urban area of Tarquinia.

The same excavation brought to light the remains of a building which may have been the Mithraeum, and this fact is an important scientific contribution to the story of Tarquinia and of the mysteries of Mithras themselves. In fact, hitherto the unique sculptural group of Mithras killing the bull in southern Etruria had been that from Vulci, which was discovered in 1875 after clandestine excavations close to the domus del Criptoportico. This new find adds the urban area of Tarquinia as another seat of this cult, and the stylistic features of its sculpture suggest a date in the early reign of Antoninus Pius (138 – 161 CE), i.e., about one century before the Mithras from Vulci, which has been assigned to the middle of the 3rd century CE.

Maria Gabriella SCAPATICCI