Two-sided relief from Konjic
TNMM 259 ↔ CIMRM 1896
Relief in grey limestone (H. 0.59 Br. 0.825 D. 0.10) from the Repovic mountains. It is sculptured on two sides and it was found near A. Sarajevo, Archaeological Museum. Probably 4th cent. A.D.
1) Front: By two vertical rims the relief is divided into three parts. In the grotto which is indicated by an arch with an inscription (No. 1896,2) Mithras kills the bull. The head of the god and part of his r. leg are lost. The raven is perched on the grotto’s border, the dog, the serpent and the scorpion in the usual places. Cautopates (l) is cross-legged; of Cautes (r) only the head and the upper part of the burning torch are preserved. Above the grotto in the r. upper corner part of the bust of Luna is preserved; the corresponding bust of Sol (l) is lost.
On either side of the main scene is a panel in which Mithras taurophorus. Both heads of Mithras are lost. Above the r. representation is an altar before which the lower part of a person dressed like Mithras; of another person above the l. representation only one foot is preserved. Traces of red painting.
2) CIL III 14617.
Deo Soli inv[ict]o Meter[ae].
Meter[ae] or Meter[i] cf. Meteri in No, 1892 (Potok).
3) Reverse: On either side of the representation is a twisted Corinthian column which probably bore an arch in order to give the impression of a grotto. Behind a kline, which is covered with the bull’s skin, Sol and Mithras both with upraised r. hands. Mithras has no Phrygian cap; Sol holds a rhyton in his l.h. Before them is a small table with three legs on which four small loaves with crosses. To the left of the table a sitting lion. Four persons are walking to the repast. From l. to r.:
a) a person in tunic and mantle with raven’s mask (Corax). It is not clear whether he carries a dish or plate in his upraised r.h.
b) a person in tunic and Phrygian cap who offers a rhyton.
c) a person in tunic and probably in Phrygian cap who offers a cup.
d) a person dressed in tunic and in a lion’s mask (Leo).
4) Two other fragments were found which belong to the relief:
a) Fragment (H. 0.17 Br. 0.26 D. 0.047) with part of the arched border and two rays, probably of Sol. Underneath it a Phrygian cap (Patsch, 197 and fig. 24).
b) Fragment (H. 0.105 Br. 0.09 D. 0.03) with a base on which a krater (Patsch, 197 and fig. 25).
CIL III 14617
References
Patsch 192ff and PI. XI; Giglioli MlR PI. XXXI; Gabricevic in Glasnik Sarajevu (N.S.) VII 1952 19ff and fig.; idem in AJ I 195437 No. 16. See fig. 490 given by B. Gabricevic. Patsch 194ff and Pl. XII; MMM I 175 fig. 10; Forrer MH fig. 83; MM 233 and Pl. II 6; Loeschke in Tr. H. 325 fig. 13; Cumont Rel. Or. Pl. XIII 2; Giglioli MIR No. 427 and PI. XXXI; Leipoldt XIX and fig. 46; Turchi RRA Pl. XXV 2; Gabricevic in Glasnik Sarajevu (N.S.) VII 1952 19ff and fig. See fig. 491.
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
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