Mithraic vase of Lezoux

TNMM 398 ↔ CIMRM 908

Relief of applique with taurobolium scene: The god Mithra is dressed in a short tunic, tight trousers at the ankles, a windy cloak decorated with lunulas and a Phrygian cap. Turning to the left and sitting on the bull's back, he controls the beast by the nostrils with his left hand and immobilises its leg with his right foot. With his other hand he plunges a dagger into the bull's neck.

Subject to interpretation: Scorpion at the bull's testicles and/or a snake under the bull (Walters, 1974). The scene is completed by several other figures, including one carrying a cornucopia in his right hand and a patera in the other. An ithyphallic faun playing the syrinx stands cross-legged on a mask like a caryatid. A dadophore, Cautes, symbol of the southern sun, wearing a short tunic decorated with fringe, a short coat and a Phrygian cap (?). Standing with his legs crossed and a torch in his right hand, he is associated with an animal, the Mithraic dog (Vertet, 1984).

Elements of Mithraic symbolism are presented but could also relate to an agrarian or fertility theme through the rest of the decoration (stylised tree, Fauna or Pan, Abundance or Cybele, Cautès). (Vertet, 1984)

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Having ovoid form and now incomplete, this terra sigillata vase of the Dragendorff-Dechelette 72 type, discovered at Lezoux in 1957 features a relatively prolific decoration. The body has many slip tendrils, common to this type of vessel, which is complemented with guilloche. Several figures appear in the decor on the body's upper part. At the left end, a seated feminine figure, veiled and holding a cornucopia, represents a goddess of abundance. She precedes Cautes, who is shown standing, his legs crossed and holding a raised torch. The centre of the belly shows Mithras killing the bull. To his left, in the lower part, a dog appears to be moving away from the scene. Lastly, on the right, a figure recognizable as Pan is playing the syrinx. He is represented nude and standing while crossing his goat legs.

A second tauroctony scene was discovered during the same excavation, created with a punch and die (inv. 986-01-0029; 65-3-328]. However, this is not the tool that was used to conceive the vase's decoration, as is attested by slight differences between the two images. The blunt impression from the punching tool shows that it was in frequent use. The centre of ceramic production at Lezoux thus would have been capable of producing a large number of vases featuring the same theme, in connection with the cult of Mithras Another terra sigillata vase from Lezoux, this time undecorated, discovered in 2010 during excavations at the Angers Mithraeum community.