Mithras rock-birth of Trier
Petrogeny of Trier
Rheinisches Landesmuseum / Thomas Zühmer
Petrogeny of Trier
CIMRM
CIMRM 985
Vermaseren's Corpus
TNMM 312 ↔ CIMRM 985
On the relief the front of a temple is represented: two columns with capitals, supporting a tympanum. Between the columns a representation of Mithras' rockbirth. In his l.h. the youthful, naked god carries a globe and with his upraised r.h. he supports a circle, on which six signs of the Zodiac. From l. to r.: Aries-Taurus-Gemini-Cancer-Leo-Virgo.
In the four corners, which are left open by the circle, are the busts of the four Winds: Zephyrus (r. upper corner) and Eurus (l. lower corner); Notus (l. upper corner) and Boreas (r. lower corner). On the rock a raven, serpent and sitting dog, all three of them raising their heads towards Mithras. Within the tympanum in the middle a cantharus, entwined by a serpent. To the left of it a lion in a threatening posture. To the right a bird. Before the latter a twisted, oblong object (thunderbolt), and behind it a small cantharus(?). In the upper corners the dressed busts of Sol (l) in radiate crown, and of Luna (r), partly lost.
Stone relief (H. 0.73 Br. 0.25 D. 0.12), found at Treves in the Altbachtal in 1928. Treves, Prov. Mus.
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The god Mithras presents himself on the relief as a cosmokrator spanning the universe and turning the zodiac. The left arm symbolically embraces the globe, the right supports or turns the zodiac with the signs of the summer half-year. From the spandrels outside the circle the four wind gods turn towards the central image; they also stand for the four main directions in the cosmos: north, south, west, east.
The symbols of the pediment — lion, crater, bundle of lightning, globe and boulder — stand for the four elements fire, water, air and earth and also emphasize the importance of Mithras as the ruler of the world. A raven, a snake and a dog are grouped around the rock on the ground, looking up at the youthful figure; these animals, together with a scorpion, represent the four lower degrees of consecration of the Mithras worshippers on the cult images.
References
Loeschcke in TrZ IV, 1929, 149 and 163 with Pl. XIII; Tmp. Trier, fig. 28; Leipoldt; fig. 30; Esp. Rec. Gaule, XI, 54ff, No. 7737; Vermaseren in Studia van Hoorn, Pl. XXII, 4. See fig. 237.
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
- Geburt des Gottes Mithras aus einem Felsen.
Comments
The axis of the sun is in line with the axis of Mithras' arm and gaze, and also with the dog below. The axis of the Moon passes through the middle of Mithras' head. This axis passes slightly outside the gate of Cancer, the gate of descent catabasis (the gate of generation). This blue line is that of earthly reincarnation. The axis of the sun crosses the lunar axis on the torso of Mithras. He can therefore distribute souls either along the line of the moon, towards a return to the earth, or upwards, towards solar resurrection.
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