The New Mithraeum
27 Dec 2023
Updated on May 2026
In the upper left corner of the Pórtico del Cordero in the Benedictine Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, near Burgos, Spain, we find what is thought to be a representation of Mithras as a bull slayer.
The relief is part of a series of twelve square panels depicting the signs of the zodiac, with Mithras Tauroctonus being Capricorn. The Oriental god appears completely naked, except for his usual cloak. Instead of his Phrygian cap, he wears a turban, as seems to have been common in medieval iconography, if we compare this representation with the other two known to date, on a fresco of the Aula…
The relief is part of a series of twelve square panels depicting the signs of the zodiac, with Mithras Tauroctonus being Capricorn. The Oriental god appears completely naked, except for his usual cloak. Instead of his Phrygian cap, he wears a turban, as seems to have been common in medieval iconography, if we compare this representation with the other two known to date, on a fresco of the Aula…
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