Zenobius

Zenobios (also known as Iahiba) was a member of the Palmyrene military community at Dura Europos and the dedicator of the large tauroctony relief erected in the Mithraeum in 170–171 CE (TNMM 298; CIMRM 40–41). The inscription identifies him as Zenobios, also called Iahiba (Eiaeibas), son of Iarhiboles, strategos of the archers. The relief is unique within Mithraic iconography because it depicts Zenobios himself participating in the sacred scene of Mithras slaying the bull (Dirven & McCarty 2014).

Earlier scholarship interpreted the accompanying figures as members of Zenobios’s family (Rostovtzeff et al. 1939). More recent research, however, argues that the named figures, Iarhiboles and Barnaadath, were not relatives but fellow Palmyrene archers and members of the Mithraic community. Lucinda Dirven has suggested that they may have occupied senior positions within the group, possibly as patres or priests, whilst the two smaller kneeling figures may represent the wider body of worshippers (Dirven 2025). The relief therefore appears to employ a visual scheme normally reserved for family groups in order to express the cohesion and emotional bonds of the Mithraic community.

Dirven has further proposed that Zenobios may not have been an initiate himself, but rather a benefactor who financed the monument and contributed to the life of the community. Whatever his precise status, the inscription and relief demonstrate his close association with the Mithraeum and provide rare evidence for the social organisation and self-representation of Mithras worshippers in Roman Syria.