Lion of Les Bolards

This statuette of local oolitic limestone, unique in its genre, which represents a lion lying down and holding a flowing urn between its front paws, was discovered near the entrance of the spelaeum of the Mithraeum at Les Bolards, close to statues of Cautes and Cautopates, the two torchbearers (dadophori). If the water streaming from the spring generated by Mithras is a highly symbolic element, it also functions as a ritual one. When it comes into contact with one's hands, the water acts on the whole of the individual's body. Erasingany trace of defilement, it creates effective conditions for
…