The Mithraic evidence documented in Cappadocia reflects the province’s strategic position between central Anatolia, the Euphrates frontier and the wider eastern Mediterranean. The material remains limited but is significant for understanding the circulation of Mithraic practices through military routes, administrative centres and cross-cultural Anatolian contexts.
Mithraic monuments of Cappadocia
Mithraeum of Zerzevan
A Mithraeum was discovered in 2007, during the excavations at the Zerzevan Castle.
Column of Callimorphus
Callimorphus dedicated this image of the sun god to the invincible sun ’Mythra’.
CIMRM 17
Brothers active in Cappadocia
Places in Cappadocia
Caesarea
Caesarea, also known historically as Mazaca, was an ancient city in what is now Kayseri, Turkey.
Castrum Zerzevan
Zerzevan Castle, also known as Samachi Castle, is a ruined Eastern Roman castle, a former important military base, in Diyarbakır Province, southeastern Turkey.
Inscriptions from Cappadocia
Column of Callimorphus
References
- Aytaç Coşkun, E. Deniz Oğuz-Kirca (2022) Beyond the Roman East. An archaeological evaluation of the mithraeum based on its architectural authenticity at castrum Zerzevan (Diyarbakir, Turkey). Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology
- UNESCO (2020) Zerzevan Castle and Mithraeum
