Tauroctony relief from Dülük

The principal cult relief of Mithraeum I at Doliche was carved directly into the living rock at the rear wall of the sanctuary. Although deliberately mutilated in antiquity, its composition remains largely recognisable. Mithras kneels on the back of the rearing bull, grasping its head with his left hand while striking it with his right. The canonical elements of the tauroctony are preserved in outline, including the scorpion attacking the bull’s testicles, the serpent beside the krater, the dog leaping towards the bull, probably a lion and a cock, the two torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates, the raven…