Tauroctony stele from Nicopolis ad Istrum

TNMM 341 ↔ CIMRM 2264 & 2265

Marble stele (H 1.20m; L 0.62m; T 0.25m). In the upper part there is a tauroctony relief in a carved out square. Inside the square there is an inscription; height of letters 0.02/0.014-0.015 m. End of 2nd – beginning of 3rd c. AD.

The newly published inscription was somehow unnoticed by the previous editors, and it is older than the inscription surrounding the carved-out square. Therefore it is assistant-fuller Galerios, son of Proteos, who dedicated the monument. The monument itself is unique, as – to my knowledge – it is the only Mithraic stele, only befitting a Greek donor. And there is no doubt that it is a stele, because the later inscription around the square labels it στήλιον, the diminutive of stele.

N. Sharankov also noticed the three rectangular slots carved along the square’s inner margin, one of which still preserves a fragment of a leaded iron bar. This discovery prompted the editor to consider that the initial square relief was covered at a later date by a painted plaque attached in the three slots. He made reference to several other monuments as analogies, namely double faced reliefs that present the viewer with a succession of mythological scenes. These were supposed to guide the worshipper through the mythological narrative and, in the end, to present him with the revelation of the slaying of the bull. Therefore the mythological scene painted on the plaque must have preceded the tauroctony in the narrative. It is also possible that this cult object was actively involved in religious ceremonies. Mithras is called “Lord”, and the only analogy for this term is found in Pautalia, Thrace.

Inside a carved square, Mithra killing the bull, dressed as usual, with Cautes and Cautopates at his sides. Above, Sol and Luna, and seven altars between them.