Mithraeum of Nush-i Jan

TNMM 348

Tepe Nush-i Jan is amongst the rare major sites attributed to the Median period. The most important result of the recent excavation at the site by the present author in 2009 was the fact that the Median brick structures unearthed at Tepe Nush-i Jan originally represented a Mithraeum. The central temple of Nush-i Jan has a ground plan in the form of a cross divided by a wall into two sections. Cross motif is also seen as architectural ornament on an interior wall and on the exterior façade of the Central temple (semi-cross). The fact that the cross motif assumed a central place in the Mithraic iconography cannot be overemphasized.

Before Zoroaster’s time, Mithra was a major god in the Aryan’s pantheon. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Medians and also the Achaemenians—up to the rise of Darius—practiced Mithraism (Bivar 2005, 341-385). Zoroaster appears to have been a religious reformer who rose against Mithraism. Zoroastrian reforms did away with all existing deities, proclaiming Ahura Mazda—the ”Lord Wisdom”—the only god (Razi 1385/2006, 31).