Raven from Stockstadt

TNMM 410 ↔ CIMRM 1192

This sandstone statuette was found near the entrance of Mithraeum I at Stockstadt am Main. This sanctuary, which came to light in 1908 to the east of the Roman camp, was in use during the first half of the 3rd century. The work represents a raven with a tall and slender silhouette, standing upright on long legs with sharp claws. The plumage of the wings and tail is sketched with lightly incised lines. Traces of restoration are visible at the level of the bird’s neck, beak and legs, as well as on the base supporting it. The head is composed of two fragments, one of which would have belonged to another statuette of a bird.

If the raven in the cult corresponded to the first Mithraic grade (Corax in Latin), it also was a recurring element in tauroctonic scenes, where it played the role of messenger of the gods and intermediary between Sol and Mithras. The bird also was sometimes posed on one of the rays issued by the Sun in the direction of Mithras.

The corpus of Mithraic statuary includes only two figures of a raven in the round. The second, of white marble, was found in 1975 in the Mithraeum at Vulci in Etruria.