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Provincia

Mithras in Aegyptus

Aegyptus occupied a unique position within the Roman world where Mediterranean trade, Nile networks and ancient religious traditions intersected.

The Mithraic evidence documented in Aegyptus reflects the province’s extraordinary commercial and cultural importance within the eastern Mediterranean. Alexandria and other urban centres connected Egypt to long-distance imperial networks through which religious practices circulated across the Roman world.

Mithraic monuments of Aegyptus

 

Gnostic amulet with Mithras monogram

This silver amulet depicts Abraxas on one side and the first verses of the Book of Genesis in Hebrew on the other.

 

Arimanius from Al-Bahnasa

Limestone relief from ancient Oxyrhynchus depicting a four-winged lion-headed deity with keys, torch and three serpents, one of which emerges from the god’s mouth towards a burning altar.

CIMRM 103

 

Tauroctony III from Memphis

Primitive limestone tauroctony relief from the Mithraeum of Memphis, preserving a simplified representation of Mithras slaying the bull.

CIMRM 93

 

Mithraeum of Mit Rahina

Roman Mithraeum at Kom Dafbaby, near ancient Memphis, poorly documented archaeologically but known through the remarkable group of Mithraic sculptures and reliefs recovered from the site.

 

Tauroctony from Memphis

Marble tauroctony relief from the Mithraeum of Memphis, depicting Mithras slaying the bull within an architectural niche framed by Cautes and Cautopates.

CIMRM 91

 

Mithraion of Mit Rahina

Ptolemaic sanctuary of the Iranian god Mithra, probably located at ancient Memphis and known exclusively through third-century BCE Greek papyri.

 

Tauroctony II from Memphis

Limestone tauroctony relief from the Mithraeum of Memphis, depicting Mithras sacrificing a small bull inside a rocky cave.

CIMRM 92

 

Tauroctony medallion of Egypt

This tauroctony may have come from Hermopolis and its style suggests a Thraco-Danubian origin.

CIMRM 105

 

Limestone statuette of a torchbearer from Memphis

Limestone statue of a figure in Eastern attire and Phrygian cap, probably a Cautes torchbearer, from the Mithraeum near Memphis, Egypt.

CIMRM 95

 

Aion of Memphis

This statue of the god lion-head was found in Memphis, Egypt.

CIMRM 94

 

Two female figures from Memphis

Two limestone figures of women, possibly from the Mithraeum near Memphis, one standing cross-legged holding a branch with flowers, Egypt.

CIMRM 101

 

Upper part of limestone torchbearer from Memphis

Upper part of a limestone torchbearer statue in tunic and hanging cloak, arms and lower legs lost, from the Mithraeum near Memphis, Egypt.

CIMRM 98

See all Mithraic monuments in Aegyptus

Places in Aegyptus

 

Hermopolis

Hermopolis, the city of Hermes, was an important city located between Lower and Upper Egypt. A provincial capital since the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Hermopolis developed into a major city of Roman Egypt.

 

Memphis

Mampsis or Memphis, today Mamshit, Arabic Kurnub, is a former Nabataean caravan stop and Byzantine city.

 

Mendes

Mendes was a famous city that attracted the notice of most ancient geographers and historians, including Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, Mela, Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, and Stephanus of Byzantium. The city was the capital of the Mendesian nome.

 

Oxyrhynchus

Oxyrhynchus, also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa, is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate.

Inscriptions from Aegyptus

Tauroctony medallion of Egypt

ZANDYS.
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