Cerro de San Albín

TNMM 29 ↔ CIMRM 772

At Merida a Mithraeum existed about 155 A.D. About the character and the construction of this sanctuary, no data are known, but many monuments were discovered, all kept in the Museo arqueologico Nacional at Merida. I am very grateful to the Keeper of this Museum, Dr. Don Alvares G. de Bunagal for sending me informations and photographs.

The accumulation of Mithraic materials has sustained the idea over time that the Mithraeum of Emerita Augusta was located beneath the current bullring in Mérida (Bendala, 1981, pp. 283–289; Bendala, 1986, pp. 345–408), fostering a kind of sympathetic connection between past and present, which is unsustainable. For some time, I have supported the hypothesis that the collection of materials from the Cerro de San Albín corresponds to a deliberate concealment of statues and cult furnishings. This is evidenced by the generally good condition of the excavated pieces, the absence of architectural remains at the site despite thorough searches during campaigns between 1902 and 1914, and finally, the accumulation of objects from different religious contexts.

The main challenge in arguing for this hypothesis is the lack of dating elements that would allow us to establish even an approximate chronology for the moment when the cult objects were moved from their original temples to their final hiding place. Furthermore, the available information does not clarify how the statues and altars were sheltered or the type of space where they were stored. Typically, cisterns, pools, basins, or any other suitable cavity were used for concealment (Greenhalgh, 1989, pp. 205–206).

The good condition of the pieces suggests that there was no looting but rather a deliberate act of concealment, which would exonerate Christian violence from blame in this instance, except for two reasons that warrant further reflection. First, there must have been at least a perceived threat that compelled followers of different polytheistic deities to hide their cult objects. Second, and more unsettling, is the brutal state in which certain emblematic remains were found, such as the tauroctony relief and the statue of the leontocephaline figure.

—Jaime Alvar (2019) El culto de Mitra en Hispania

Comments

Jaime Alvar Ezquerra

I guess the author has made a mistake. The so called Casa del Mitreo has not provided any document related to Mithras cult. All the mentionned pieces come from the old excavation at the close Cerro de San Albín. The correct origin is to be found at Jaime Alvar’s site https://humanidadesdigitales.uc3m.es/s/mitra/page/inicio