Iron sword and crown of Güglingen

TNMM 377

The Roman vicus found at Güglingen, in Baden-Württemberg, is located 12 km from the Neckar, a tributary of the Rhine, in the interior area of the limes, in Germania Superior. Founded at the beginning of the 2nd century C.E. beside the Zaber River, this small town was a place of trade and commerce, surrounded by many agricultural villas. A Mithraeum came to light there in 1999 during rescue excavations and another in 2002 during excavations undertaken at the ancient site. These two sanctuaries were active for the duration of the vicus’s occupation, up to the middle of the 3rd century C.E.

The objects from Mithraeum Il include three fragments from an iron crown unearthed in front of the altar. Composed of riveted spikes, this crown, which must have originally featured twelve rays, was posible to reconstruct in part. An attribute of Sol, it could also have been worn by a Heliodromus (one of the Mithraic grades), especially on the occasion of a banquet. The paintings at the Capua Mithraeum suggest that this item equally could have been used during initiation ceremonies.

The same Mithraeum has revealed two fragments from a sword that was discovered between the two columns supporting the tauroctony relief. The archaeological context reveals that the sword was deposited in a deliberate manner, leading to the conclusion that it had a ceremonial function. The weapon was deliberately sawed into two parts, lightly curved at their edges. Other swords tound in a Mithraic context feature this same distinctive characteristic, as at Riegel, in Baden-Württemberg, in Germania Superior.

This example from Riegel makes it possible to understand the manner in which swords were used for rituals: the two parts that had been cut were reconnected by a hoop of approximately 20 cm in diameter so as to be affixed around the body of an individual who was supposed to appear pierced through by the weapon.