Shrine to the God Mithras (Mithraeum) Artist: Unknown

ca. A.D. 240

Ancient Art

On view, 1st floor, Dura-Europos

A shrine to the god Mithras, the Mithraeum at Dura-Europos was commissioned in A.D. 168–69 by Palmyrene archers serving in the Roman army. It was renovated and enlarged in A.D. 209–11. The reconstruction on view here represents the third and final phase, dating to around A.D. 240. Unlike most Mithraea, which were underground to commemorate the god’s birth in a cave, the Dura Mithraeum was built into a private house. 


The cult of Mithras attained popularity in the Roman period among soldiers and merchants. Restricted to men, it was a mystery religion thought to include initiation, ritual banquets, and the promise of salvation after death. The primary cult image was the tauroctony, or Mithras slaying the Cosmic Bull, often paired with an image of Mithras banqueting with Sol, god of the sun (as seen in the painting at left). Other common images included events from the life of Mithras and zodiac signs.


While the subjects depicted in most Mithraea are similar, style and composition vary. The Dura Mithraeum contained two tauroctony reliefs, one above the other. The side walls showed Mithras as a mounted archer in a presentation that would have resonated with the Palmyrene archers who founded the shrine.

Medium

Painted plaster

Dimensions

64 × 81 1/4 in. (162.5 × 206.4 cm)

Credit Line

Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos

Accession Number

1935.100

Geography

Excavated in Dura-Europos, Syria

Culture

Syrian, Dura-Europos

Period

Roman (3rd century A.D.)

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (block J7, Mithraeum), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire (Chestnut Hill, Mass.: McMullen Museum of Art, 2014), 131, fig. 8.7
  • Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 31n35
  • D. Jason Cooper, Mithras: Mysteries and Initiation Rediscovered (York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1996), 79, 84–5, Color illus. central niche and 1935.100e cover, fig. 3, 8,9
  • Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 270, ill
  • Christy Cunningham, "The Conservation of the Mithraeum in the Yale University Art Gallery," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 39, no. 2 (Fall 1984), 12–15, fig. 1–5
  • Katherine M Kiefer and Susan B. Matheson, Life in an Eastern Province: The Roman Fortress at Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), no. 11
  • Christa Bauchenss-Thüriedl, Erika Simon, and Ingrid Krauskopf, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, 8 vols. (Zurich: Artemis, 1981–97), vol. 6, p. 609, no. 328, pl. 358
  • Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 193–205, ill
  • Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 49–52, pl. 15, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

mythology, shrines

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