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
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
People attested 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.
References
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2022) The Mithraic Prophecy
- Philippe Roy (2021) Les cultes de Mithra dans l’Empire romain
- Roger Beck (2004) Beck on Mithraism. Collected Works with New Essays
- Roger Beck (2007) The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun
- Mitra. Un dios entre Oriente y Occidente

