Mithräum von Mainz

TNMM 359

The mithraeum in Praesenzgasse/Ballhausplatz im Mainz, which was destroyed in the course of construction work on site, belongs to the class of spectacular finds that were, unfortunately, never properly documented. Rectangular in form, it was roughly twenty-two meters long, with a three-meter-wide aisle running down the middle. Including the arc, measurements of which can no longer be estimated, the sanctuary would have measured some thirty meters in length, making it one of the largest sites of the Mithras cult in the Roman world. Findings include two Mithras altars dating to Severan times, two large, double-handled vessels, one of them the notable 'Schlangenkrater,' numerous incense chalices and clay lamps—all in all about six hundred smaller finds. Moreover, two altar bases are said to have been found in situ. The earliest ceramics date to the years of Vespasian’s reign, and the mithraeum must therefore have been in use no later than the last third of the first century A.D., making it also one of the oldest north of the alps. It underwent some changes until it was abandoned in the fourth century A.D.