In terms of the tauroctony looked at, happened to backtrack episodes of Randall Carlson after @Cosmos provided the show on the X-Factor - episode #083 (Carlson notes that the viewer should go back in episodes to see other references). So, went back to episode #077 which takes a broad view of the Mithraic tauroctony, particularly looking at the symbols and meanings that he at least applied (freemason background).
He called Mithraism a 'competing' religion to Christianity - separate yet similar. Carlson provides many plates of the tauroctony with some differences, which he attributes to the artists of the time being initiates in the Mithraic schools (they each had their own slant).
Below, symbols are lettered with descriptions. For instance, when looking left away from the Bull, he appears to be looking to the solar dainty, however it is to the raven, the messenger. In one depiction he is not looking left, and this was attributed to a later repair to the plate; not being the original. The arch is the solar highway, and discussed was the short comet trajectory vs. the long - reference to coming from the Oort cloud. Out of the tail of the Bull is wheat, and in some plates instead of blood from the wound, wheat flows (this may be significant, perhaps tying into Michael B-C's Göbekli Tepe thread.) The two attendants have torches that are either both aimed at the earth or one up to heaven and the other below (as above so below). There are seven stars (Pleiades - seven sisters). In some plates there is the fallen man, which he cross references to plates in central America (also the hanged man in Tarot) et cetera.
Carlson scrolls through many depictions - some seen on this thread and others not. For instance, there is the cosmic egg.
Carlson mentions a number of times the Phrygian cap, without detail, so that is likely further discussed in prior episodes:
As I was looking for images of the St. George and the Dragon story and wondering if it was somehow related to the tauroctony, I came across the draconarius that was taken by the Romans in Trajan's time from the conquered Dacians. This lead me in a completely different path.
The Phygian cap was worn by many different peoples. For instance here are some selections of the Thracian goddess Bendis.
A red-figure skyphos, now at Tübingen University, of c. 440–430, seems to commemorate the arrival of the newly authorized cult: it shows Themis (representing traditional Athenian customs) and a booted and cloaked Bendis, who wears a Thracian fox-skin cap.
A cropped image of a marble votive stele of the Thracian goddess Bendis (with 10 worshippers). Found at the port city of Piraeus (8 km SW of Athens), c. 400-375 BCE.
I don't know if this has any value, but the port city of Piraeus was also spelled Peiraeeus and Peiraieús. Etymonline says this about the Greek word for pirate:
... Greek peiratēs "brigand, pirate," literally "one who attacks" (ships), from peiran "to attack, make a hostile attempt on, try," from peira "trial, an attempt, attack" (from PIE *per-ya-, suffixed form of root *per- (3) "to try, risk").
There was a temple to Bendis built in Piraeus and a very popular festival known as the Bendidiae (introduced c. 429 BCE) held there. Apparently it was similar to Dionysian celebrations. The Greeks equated Bendis with Athena, but supposedly the two were quite separate.
Red-figure bell-shaped krater, c. 380–370 BC, depicting Bendis/Athena approaching Apollo/Hermes. It looks like her cap is glowing.
Terracotta statue of Bendis/Athena maybe from Tanagara, c. 350 BCE.
These three images depict what looks like the Phrygian cap on a Thracian goddess. But if I go north to Dacia, I don't find this cap at all but rather the pileus.
Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and the common people (comati). Only the aristocracy had the right to cover their heads, and wore a felt hat.
The "felt hat" link goes straight to the Phrygian cap wiki. But on the statues of Dacians, the headdress is similar to a Phrygian cap but there are differences. There is not as much of a pronounced peak, with one exception. But even the exception is somewhat 'flat'. (Dacians in Roman Sculpture website which also shows the eight Dacian men on the Arch of Constantine as well as many others. Most of these statues appear to come from the 'time of Trajan' (53-117 AD).)
This large statue is known as the 'Dacian Prisoner'.
This is the only Dacian that has been named. Dacia had five kings. This is Decibalus, the last king, who reigned from 87-106 AD. This carving was discovered in the scene XXIV of Trajan's Column.
This is the 'exception'. There is more 'cap' that makes it look like a Phygian cap but it still retains a certain 'flatness' at the peak.
I found an interesting, but unsourced, description for a kind of 'job title' known as a 'pileat' on a Romanian wiki 'stump'. It's a different version of the English wiki entry above. Here is the DeepL translation:
A pileat (pl. pileați) was a representative of the aristocracy in the Dacian social order. Pileates are also known by the name used by the Romans to designate them, tarabostes (sg. taraboste, a less common form).
The pilates constitute one of the two social classes for the Dacians, the other being the simple people, the comati (lat. comatus, comati). The name 'pileati' is due to the caps worn by the aristocrats.
Jumping around here, the third king, Burebista, united all of Dacia and ruled from either 82 or 61-44 BCE. The wiki has this to say about his rule:
From 61 BC onwards Burebista pursued a series of conquests that expanded the Dacian kingdom. The tribes of the Boii and Taurisci were destroyed early in his campaigns, followed by the conquest of the Bastarnae and probably the Scordisci peoples. He led raids throughout Thrace, Macedonia, and Illyria. From 55 BC the Greek cities on the west coast of the Black Sea were conquered one after another. These campaigns inevitably culminated in conflict with Rome in 48 BC, at which point Burebista gave his support to Pompey. This in turn made him an enemy to Caesar, who decided to start a campaign against Dacia. This plan fell through in 44 BC when Caesar was assassinated.Burebista himself was assassinated in a plot by the Dacian aristocracy at around the same time.
Both Caesar and Burebista murdered in the same year?
As a side note, on the Pontius Pilate wiki under 'Early Life' it mentions this:
The sources give no indication of Pilate's life prior to his becoming governor of Judaea.[22] His praenomen (first name) is unknown;[23] his cognomen Pilatus might mean "skilled with the javelin (pilum)," but it could also refer to the pileus or Phrygian cap, possibly indicating that one of Pilate's ancestors was a freedman.[24]
The Dacians were pretty much crushed after the Dacian Wars. Sarmizegetusa, the capital city, was razed and the last king, Decibalus, fled and chose suicide rather then be captured by the pursuing Romans. The country lost it's stored gold hoard apparently amounting to 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver, was forced to mine 700 million Denarii worth of gold per annum, and sent 100,000 male slaves to Rome. Many other demands were also met.
Now, these Dacian statues were carved by Romans. If they were all made during the time of Trajan, and he was the total victor over Dacia, I have to wonder if the caps depicted weren't originally Phrygian caps. To perhaps humiliate the aristocracy, or somehow show the broken spirit of a people, could these caps have been 'squashed', thus creating a pileus, which was then carved in stone for 'all eternity'?
I received an email from Academia with a 20 pages paper about Mithraism.
Even though it appears to be very simple at first sight, the relief fromCastelu/Medgidia offers the opportunity for discussing some elements of the tauroctony depiction, as well as its additional elements. The Mithras reliefs with the tauroctony scene have been investigated from different points of view, based on various criteria for typologies
. The Empirewide analyses have, however, concluded that there is a great variation to be seen, with almost no two reliefs being the same.
In the tauroctony on the Castelu/Medgidia relief, the bull is crashed, with all legs down, while slightly trying to lift its front left leg again
. As the knife is entirely visible, it can be assumed that the depicted moment is that after the killing of the bull
On the relief in Fellbach, near the snake and the crater, the lion figure is depicted, while in the background, above Mithras, there is a burning lamp hanging. On the relief from Rome, in the foreground, there is a reclining woman figure (Tellus). Further within the mithraeum in Dura, one of the gypsum reliefs (the small and elder one) present the same situation. In this case, it is important to point out its location within the cult place and the additional painted decoration, together with which the iconographic element of the cult might have been eventually fulfilled
. A possible completion between relief and painting or relief and further sculpture might also be the case with two reliefs in Carnuntum, where the Cautes/Cautopates figures are missing
.In other words, in the case of the relief from Castelu/Medgidia, the missing figures of Cautes and Cautopates can not be further interpreted. There are many possible hypotheses, including the inclusion of the relief in a more complex assemblage like the one in Nicopolis ad Istrum (CIMRM 2264-2265)
The relief from Castelu/Medgidia features further the row of seven altars, representing the seven planetary gods and the planetary multiplication of the tauroctony, and ensuring the renewal of the world and souls. On a marble relief from Tomis, which was unearthed four years ago and was recently published
, the seven altars appear outside the rounded and deepened representation field with the main scene. There the seven simple altars are depicted individually, five are distributed between the Sol and Luna bust, and two are placed below the busts. On the upper border, to the left of Mithras, the raven seems to also be depicted, between two altars. From Silistra, it is known as a limestone relief
presenting good similarities in composition and execution with the new find from Tomis, especially in the tauroctony group, but also significant differences. The seven altars also appear on a fragmentary, but high-quality marble relief from Histria, which presents the rare particularity of having the bust of Luna in the left upper corner of the plate.
The row of seven altars over the tauroctony group can also be seen on the small marble Mithras relief from Nicopolis ad Istrum (CIMRM 2264-2265), mounted into a larger limestone slab.
In the case of the relief (Fig. 11 a-c), the analysis of the stone did not allow a more precise determination of its provenance. On the preserved part, there can be seen Mithras within the tauroctony, wearing a detailed rendered Oriental hair-dress and dress and a crown of rays on the background of a nimbus. There seem to have been 12 rays depicted. On the upper border of the relief are depicted the seven altars alternating with (palm/fig) trees. This way of representation is rare, similar to the relief from the proximity of the church Santa Lucia in Selci (Rome, Esquilin)
The cult of Mithras Sol and Sol Invictus is well documented in Moesiainferior through inscriptions and recent studies that approached the subject. The depictions that might stay in direct relation to this topic need to be also investigated, this being also the reason for our excursus on this relief. The fact that the row of seven altars occurs more frequently on Mithrasreliefs from Moesia inferior and also on some examples in Dacia, as the only additional element to the tauroctony group, can only be registered as an observation for the time being.
In the case of the large relief from the La Adam cave (Fig. 3), a lot of information about the cult community and sculptor of the relief (Phoibos fromNikomedia) is known from the inscription and the accompanying finds. The quality of the relief leaves no doubt about the identification of the busts of Luna and Sol. Further, it is clearly visible the fact that Cautes holds an egg, whileCautopates has a scorpion in his left hand. This deliberate 'inverted' placement of the two busts can also be found, among others, on the small relief dated by the inscription in the Mithraeum in Dura Europos and on a complex relief from Sidon (now in Paris).
In both cases, however, there is additional information at hand, both on the finding context and on further reliefs and statues found, together with inscriptions and dating evidence. The same inversion is to be seen on one relief from Potaissa, in Dacia, while a lion's mask
is depicted on the background, above Mithras. This way, it is possible to try and find a hypothesis for the interpretation of individual finds of the so-called Mithras reliefs, accepting the differentiation intended by the dedicant, depending on the location of the relief within the cult place, on the individual occasion of the dedication, or even on the available reliefs and/or sculptors providing the plates.
The question arises whether this inversed location was intended or if it was just a mistake. And the answer can only be hypothetical. In our opinion, there is an argument regarding at least some of the relief as intended, being thus customized reliefs.
Of interest to the matter are the additional elements of the composition and the more or less standard presence of the Dadophori and their attributes. There are hints on the intended direction for the reading of the depiction, as well as on the general astronomical content of the composition.
Of course, the analysis can consider only the entirely preserved reliefs and it is feasible when different additional symbolic elements occur. The relation between Sol and Cautes and Luna and Cautopates are clear. The placement in the composition of those four figures builds a problem when it comes to interpreting the depiction, or even to its ‚reading’.
Most puzzling are examples of compositions that seem to neglect the meaning of the figures and their attributes, like one relief in Vinţu de Jos, Dacia, with two Cautes figures and Luna to the left of Mithras, while Sol is to his right or on the small relief from theLa Adam cave
It is not the place here to open the discussion on the figures ofCautes and Cautopates, on the busts of Sol/Luna, and further symbolic elements from the mythos on the Mithras reliefs, but it must at least be stated, that these differences from the usual composition of the tauroctony scene have most likely an intentional character and can play an important role to the message of the relief
And another interesting paper about Mithraism and Tauroctomy from Academia.
The Rite of Bull-Killing
The mysteries of Mithras were one of the greatest mystery cults of late antiquity, with enormous popularity and spread all over the Roman Empire. Mithra of ancient Iranian mythology is much different from the Mithras of the Roman mystery cult. Much speaks in favor of a reinvention of the cult in the West rather than the continuity of ancient Persian, that is, Avestan doctrines. As was shown above, some elements in Mithraic Mysteries and other mystery cults as well as in Neoplatonic philosophy may still derive from the East in their original form, if a phenomenon I term Irano-Mesopotamian syncretism will be accepted
A young man killing a bull was the central icon of Mithraism, scattered across the territory of the Roman Empire from England to Syria in hundreds of underground temples. Mithras killing the bull is his primary act, and it is depicted in the most prominent location in virtually every Mithraic temple. It is clear that this icon holds the key to the central secret of the Mysteries but in the absence of, any written explanation, deciphering it has proved a notorious difficult task. F. Cumont argued that deciphering the tauroctony was a matter of finding parallels to its symbolic elements in ancient Iranian mythology. But there is no known Iranian myth in which Mithra has anything to do with killing a bull(Ulansey 1989, 131). In Beck’s words:
It is a somewhat embarrassing fact that the Eastern Mitra/Mithra kills no bulls (though in his Iranian form, he is the god of herds and pastures). TheVedic Mitra participates (reluctantly) in a killing—the killing of Soma, the personification of the life-giving drink (Iranian haoma); and in the Iranian tradition (at least in that of the ‘Bundahišn’, ch. 6 ed. Anklesaria)a bull is killed—the primal bull from whose marrow sprang the useful plants and from whose sperm, purified in the Moon, sprang the useful beasts—but it is killed not by Mithra but by the evil Ahriman. Also in the Iranian tradition (Bd. 34), in the final days, a second bull is to be killed— this time by a savior
figure, S#šyant—and from its fat mixed with h#m (i.e.haoma) a drink of corporal immortality will be prepared. Most would agree that some of this material lies behind the bull-killing Mithras of the Mysteries, but infitting the god to the act it has clearly undergone a sea change. Cumont’s view was a rather inclusive one: somewhere in the transmission Mithras as bull-killer has been substituted for Ahriman as the perpetrator of a necessary evil in the process of creation; at the same time, he has assimilated the function of S#šyant in an act which is eschatological ... This view at least accepts at face value the differences between Eastern and Western forms. (Beck 1984, 2068–2069)
It seems reasonable to try to find in other parts of the Orient a divine person who fits to the act of bull-killing without a “sea change”. I propose that the famous episode in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh (tablet VI), where the hero with his friend Enkidu kills the Bull of Heaven, is to be seen as a more suitable model for the Mithraic icon. The story has a long history in Mesopotamia, the bull-killing episode in the standard Babylonian version derives from the more ancient Sumerian tale “Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven”. The sixth tablet of the standard Babylonian version begins with the scene of Gilgamesh’s return from his expedition to the Cedar Forest, cleaning himself and putting on his kingly attire. The lady Ištar looks covetously on the hero’s beauty and asks him for her husband. Gilgamesh insults her by enumerating the goddess’ previous lovers, each of whom has had a miserable destiny as a result of having dealt with the goddess. Ištar becomes deeply offended by Gilgamesh’s speech, then goes to heaven to ask her father Anu to give her the Bull of Heaven
O father, give me, please, the Bull of Heaven, that I may slay Gilgameš in his dwelling. If you will not give me the Bull of Heaven, I shall smash the underworld together with its dwelling place, I shall raze the nether regions to the ground. I shall bring up the dead to consume the living, I shall make the dead outnumber the living. (VII 94–100, George 2003,625)
This speech of Ištar is intertextually related to a passage in the Akkadian version of Ištar’s Descent. At the gate of the Netherworld, Ištar says to the gatekeeper:
Gatekeeper! Open your gate for me! Open your gate for me that I may enter, if you will not open the gate that I may enter, I will break down the door, I will smash the bolt, I will break down the frame, I will topple the doors, I will raise up the dead to devour the living, the dead shall out-number the living! (lines 14–20, Foster 1996, 403)
In other words, the death of the Bull of Heaven initiates the descent of the soul. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, this process is represented by the illness and death of Enkidu, which ensues directly after the victory over the Bull of Heaven and the subsequent assembly of the gods. Inanna says that her journey is directed“toward where the sun rises”, that is, to the east. Neti’s answer suggests that she is actually not going to the east, but rather that Inanna’s journey represents de-scent to the Netherworld. Also in the
Mithras Liturgy (694–704), whose connection with Mithraism may be doubted, the god is depicted as
descending with part of a bull on his shoulder, that he had probably slain
The tauroctony in the Mithraic iconography was certainly related—directly or indirectly—to the contemporary ritual practice called taurobolium. Tauroboliumwas a ritual, mostly in honor of the Phrygian Great Goddess, in which a bull was sacrificed over a pit containing the initiand; through whose blood he was born for eternity (
in aeternum renatus CIL VI 510, Clauss 2001, 31). According to Latin inscriptions, “dedicators desired to be purified by receiving the
taurobolium” (Duthoy 1969, 72). Prudentius in the 4thcentury AD described thetaurobolium in his poem
On the Martyrs’ Crowns (10, 1011–1050), where the high priest ( summus sacerdos) descended into the pit in order to receive the
consecration (consecrandus)
In the above section, we can see some possible connections with the Phrygian hat.
Many scholars interpret the sacred powers (vires) in the taurobolium as referring to the bull’s genitals, basing the assumption on a myth related by Clement of Alexandria who was once himself an initiate of Phrygian mysteries. Clement says that the myth was associated with Attis’ passion for Cybele (Protreptikos Logos2.15.2)
In our time we have read news about mutilated animals whose genitals were removed. Also in some earlier Cs sessions is mentioned that the aliens are using the same body parts to extract something because it was helping them to keep themselves in a 3D density, or something like that, I don't remember exactly. Maybe there is some clue in that.
The tauroctony is almost always accompanied by a banquet scene in Mithraic iconography. The banquet is second in importance to the tauroctony, to which it is the complement, and it takes place on the bull’s hide (Beck 1984, 2081). In the S. Prisca Mithraeum, there is a depiction of Sol and Mithras banqueting together in a cave, attended by two servants, one of whom has a raven’s head and claws for feet (ibid., 2028). In other depictions, we find the torchbearers as attendants, and the raven- and lion-headed servitors. The mythic feast is somehow repeated in the actual festivities of the cult (ibid., 2083). A banquet scene is also described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, following the killing of the Bull of Heaven and prostration before Šamaš. After Gilgamesh has given the horns of the Bull to the craftsmen, the Babylonian version says laconically: “Gilgameš made merry in his palace” (VI, 179, George 2003, 631). The Sumerian version of“Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven” from Me-Turan describes in its
final lines the wealth of bull’s raw stuff, including its hide
The episode in the epic of Gilgamesh, where the hero kills the Bull of Heaven is reflected in the royal bull hunt descriptions in the royal inscriptions of ancient Mesopotamia. Already the king Šulgi killed “the big wild bull, the Bull of Heaven” (Šulgi B 85) during his hunting expedition. The prey of the royal hunt is called the ‘Bull of Heaven’ which places Šulgi’s hunt in a cosmological context. As a deified ruler of the Ur III dynasty, his account of the bull hunt thus deliberately alludes to the episode in the Gilgamesh epic (Watanabe 2002, 74– 75). Similar accounts of the royal bull hunting are attested also in the Assyrian royal inscriptions (see Watanabe 2002, 72–75). Theologically, the Assyrian kings acting as the counterpart of a divine savior during the royal bull or lion hunt, saving his people and cattle (see Annus 2002, 102–108).
I ran into three podcasts from SHWEP (Episode 120 (42:16), 121 (44:43), 122 (52:49)) that talk about Mithraism, the Tauroctony with astral elements and the Mithrasliturgie. I've only listened to E120 and E122 (with Radcliffe G. Edmonds III as 'seeing what's beyond the gates of the sun' is discussed) which I found quite interesting, though there might not be anything new here for many.
As well, these following images have probably already been seen by people here but I thought it would be nice to view 'different versions' of the tauroctony of which there are many many.
This is a colour version uncovered in Mirano, Italy by a man who was expanding his wine cellar. It's been stylistically dated to 160-170 AD or c. 200 AD. Notice that Mithras is not just looking over his shoulder or looking back, but rather looking at Cautes. Also notice his starry cape... and tunic, and Phrygian cap, and pants... what god wears pants? In his cape, there are six stars that are brighter then all the others; three rows of two or two (broken) lines of three. There are usually seven stars but I can't find a seventh. Really good description with a map with links to detailed photos here.
This beautiful limestone relief dated c. 200-300 AD from Syria was preserved in a private collection. A really good description of the scene can be found here.
This relief was recovered in the Mithraeum at Neuenheim near Heidelberg. I can't find a date for it but it's probably around the same time as the others. Descriptions of a few of the smaller panels can be found here. Lots of other photos of frescoes and temples from Britain, Syria, Germany, Spain and Italy can be found here, along with a really neat mosaic floor from the 1st century Mithraeum of Felicissimus in Ostia Antica.
In his article, Pierre mentions the Mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vitere which was excavated in 1922 but I can't find a date of its creation. A full description of all the frescoes and the 'L' shaped room can be found here. Click on the links at the top of the page for detailed descriptions of each fresco. The initiation sequence with five frescoes is quite interesting (if listed slightly out of order). When you come to the "194 Initiation ceremony 4", notice the description about the mystagogue standing on the initiate's calves and compare that to Mithras standing on the bull's 'calve'. Bull - calve - calf - moo. It's funny! It looks like no bulls or humans were killed in the making of an initiate.
In our time we have read news about mutilated animals whose genitals were removed. Also in some earlier Cs sessions is mentioned that the aliens are using the same body parts to extract something because it was helping them to keep themselves in a 3D density, or something like that, I don't remember exactly. Maybe there is some clue in that.
I was thinking along a similar line. I can't find images right now but I remember seeing carvings of people with demons attacking their genitals, sucking the energy out of them, keeping the people weak without their knowledge. I also thought of Mithras standing on the bull's hind leg keeping it pinned which is possibly juxtaposed in the initiation sequence. The thought of 'immobility' crossed my mind along with the stories of abductions where people report being paralyzed.
This might have been posted already but this is a bas-relief of Mitra and Antiochus I of Commagenê showing another example of the glowing Phrygian cap on Mitra's head.
The wizard's hat from Fantasia looks like an updated amalgamation of the Phrygian cap with stars on it and the glowing Phrygian cap.
While making lunch, I had a crazy thought about the initiation sequence. Have you ever seen the 1990 movie Flatliners? My thought was if the initiation actually has the initiate brought to so near death (via bloodletting?) that the tunnel to 5th density opens. To the initiate, the 'gate would open' revealing the light at the end of the tunnel which might look like a sun. Heading towards the light but without crossing over (as mentioned in episode #122 (Mithrasliturgie) podcast by Edmonds above) the initiate might get a chance to see 'heaven'. The 'soul' (crow/raven?) might be tempted to 'cross the threshold' thus end up 'dying' (thus becoming a 'sacrifice'). If the 'soul' returned to the body, the myste becomes initiated. Initiation through a near death experience? Could this be considered a resurrection story?
I kept looking for the origin of the Phrygian Cap and I may have found it. The Cimmerians were in Phrygia c. 675 BCE so they could have brought the cap in with them. However, I can't find a lot of exclusively Cimmerian examples so I'm showing Scythians instead. Apparently there is almost no significant difference between the two groups other then they lived in different places. (click to expand images)
Scythian gold beaker c. 400 BCE from the Kul-Oba kurgan, Crimea.
Scythian and/or Cimmerian horse-lord archers found on an Greek vase.
Scythian delegation at Persepolis.
Relief wall at the Tomb of Darius I. The Scythians are shown as Saka haumavarga ("Sakas who lay haoma (around the fire)" (haoma- cannabis)- aka: Amyrgians), Saka tigrakhauda ("Sacae with pointed hats"- aka: Dahae/Massagetae) and Overseas Saka (Saka paradraya- "Sacae across the sea" (the Black Sea- Pontic Scythians)).
Darius I depicted on the Darius Vase wearing a glowing Phrygian cap. He definitely wasn't Phrygian. There are a lot of Phrygian caps on there though, all of which seem to be worn by Amazons.
Some Scythians depicted on Greek Pottery. Look at those outfits! They had incredibly decorated clothing being pieces of metal sewn into the clothing, or felt applique. The one in the centre (c. 430-420 BCE) is reported as being an Amazon (apparently a Scythian tribe) in a Scythian hat. Note the dots and compare to the hat of the first coloured Mithras image above.
Three more Amazons in Scythian clothing.
"The Golden Man" uncovered from the Issyk kurgan in south-eastern Kazakhstan. A prince or member of the Royal Scythians.
On p.319 of SHotW, Laura writes:
According to accepted historical research, the first horsemen rode in Ukraine about 6,000 years ago. Trousers may have also been invented about the same time and were the typical clothing of the Scythian warriors documented 2,600 years ago. It is interesting that Herodotus, 2,500 years ago also described the Celts of Europe as wearing trousers and being extraordinary horsemen.
I find this very interesting when compared to three of the tauroctony scenes I posted above. Look at the legs from the archer plate and also the gold beaker. There's two and three different patterns. Compare them to the legs of Mithra in the coloured tauroctonies. There's two different patterns and colours on the pants.
The peninsula of Crimea seems to play an interesting role. At the time, it was known as Taurica, Taurida and Tauris. I made a little map to help with orientation.
Interestingly, Vulcan59 had already posted about the people living in the 'Rough Peninsula' (Herodotus) here, but I didn't follow the link. These Tauri seem to be an exceptionally fierce offshoot tribe of Scythians.
In his Histories, Herodotus describes the Tauri as living "by plundering and war". They became famous for their worship of a virgin goddess, to whom they sacrificed shipwrecked travellers and waylaid Greeks.[3] He makes a point of them living in Scythia geographically without themselves being Scythians.[4] In Geographica, Strabo refers to the Tauri as a Scythian tribe.[5]
The Greeks identified the Tauric goddess with Artemis Tauropolos or with Iphigeneia, daughter of Agamemnon. The Tauric custom of human sacrifice inspired the Greek legends of Iphigeneia and Orestes, recounted in Iphigeneia in Tauris by the playwright Euripides.[citation needed] The original Greek title given by Euripides literally means Iphigeneia among the taurians. Such a place as "Tauris" does not exist.
According to Herodotus, the manner of their sacrifice was to beat the head with a club and remove the head; then they either buried the body or threw it off a cliff, and lastly nailed the head to a cross. Prisoners of war likewise had their heads removed, and the head was then put onto a tall pole and placed at their house "in order that the whole house may be under their protection".
Although the Crimean coast eventually came to be dominated by Greek (and subsequently Roman) colonies, notably the one at Chersonesos, the Tauri remained a major threat to Greek power in the region. They engaged in piracy against ships on the Black Sea, mounting raids from their base at Symbolon (today's Balaklava). By the 2nd century BC they had become subject-allies of the Scythian king Scilurus.
In the 4th century AD, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, mentioned the names of the 3 tribes (Arichi, Sinchi, and Napaei) of the Taurians known for their "extraordinary severity".[2]
Hdt. 4.103 "the Tauri have the following customs: all ship-wrecked men, and any Greeks whom they capture in their sea-raids, they sacrifice to the Virgin goddess1 as I will describe: after the first rites of sacrifice, they strike the victim on the head with a club; according to some, they then place the head on a pole and throw the body off the cliff on which their temple stands; others agree as to the head, but say that the body is buried, not thrown off the cliff. The Tauri themselves say that this deity to whom they sacrifice is Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia. As for enemies whom they defeat, each cuts his enemy's head off and carries it away to his house, where he places it on a tall pole and stands it high above the dwelling, above the smoke-vent for the most part. These heads, they say, are set up to guard the whole house. The Tauri live by plundering and war." (trans. Godley)
Artemis Tauropolos, "...variously interpreted as "worshipped at Tauris", "pulled by a yoke of bulls", or "hunting bull goddess".", and the Amazons are quite closely linked.
The reports of human sacrifice among the Scythians may also come from another offshoot tribe known as the Androphagi, the 'man-eaters' (see also Anthropophage). As Herodotus writes in Book 4:
The manners of the Androphagi are more savage than those of any other race. They neither observe justice, nor are governed, by any laws. They are nomads, and their dress is Scythian; but the language which they speak is peculiar to themselves. Unlike any other nation in these parts, they are cannibals.
Pliny the Elder writes about the same group near Scythia in Naturalis Historia Book 7, Chapter 2:
The Androphagi, whom we have previously mentioned as dwelling ten days' journey beyond the Borysthenes, according to the account of Isigonus of Nicæa, were in the habit of drinking out of human skulls, and placing the scalps, with the hair attached, upon their breasts, like so many napkins.
It is derived from the name that this tribe was located in Mordovia, Russia. However, this site reports archaeological evidence of human remains having been "gnawed on by human jaws" from a site along the Sula river to the southeast of Kiev.
Herodotus approximated the seven Scythian gods with Greek equivalents. He mentioned an eighth, Thagimasadas whom he equated with Poseidon, who was only allowed to be worshipped by the Royal Scythians, but the original meaning of these gods is lost. One of the gods (not in the wiki list) that was equated was Artemis. The 'Artemis' god is interesting and appears to be seen in their horse masks. These extremely elaborate headdresses basically turn the horse into a stag (an animal of Artemis). However, there is a second effect. Some of these headdresses look like the boughs of a tree.
A Scythian headdress for a horse that looks like elaborate antlers of a stag and the branches of a tree. The collar is a series of carved ibexes except for the centrepiece which looks like a carved skull of a bird with a thick beak. A thousand horses dressed like this in full gallop must have been a sight to see.
What looks like a rooster sitting on an ibex mounted to the top of a horse mask that has cutouts for ears. I think these animals (and the antler-branches) were wool felt, stuffed within a leather form that has partially rotted away. Evidence for this can be found in the Pazyryk culture from the Altai Mountains (scroll down until you see the swan as well as some other incredible felts (The Great Mother, a tree of life, and several strange creatures).
It was also mentioned from the link about the Altai felts: "The resulting fabrics were extremely durable. some were fine and elastic in texture - not unlike the felt used today for making hats - others were thick and more loosely structured." The Phrygian cap is said to be made out of felt, but this is very circumstantial.
Coins were minted for the Greek colony of Chersonesos (apparently populated by people who migrated from Miletus) at the southern end of Tauris in the c. 3-4 centuries. It shows Artemis kneeling on a stag, thrusting a spear into an area in line with the back of the shoulder. She holds a bow in her left hand. There is a striking similarity to Mithras' pose in the tauroctony. Also compare the pose of the stag with it's head in the air and the position of the legs to the tauroctony bull. On the flip side is a kneeling or bowing bull (also compare pose with the taruoctony bull) standing on a club, below which is a line of Greek, and then a quiver. Other examples can be found at this index for Tauric Chersonesos. These coins are c. 200-310 BCE.
Five small terracotta plaques of a figure holding a knife over a bull have been excavated near Kerch in the Crimea, dated by Beskow and Clauss to the second half of the 1st century BCE,[82] and by Beck to 50 BCE–50 CE. These may be the earliest tauroctonies, if they are accepted to be a depiction of Mithras.[ad] The bull-slaying figure wears a Phrygian cap, but is described by Beck and Beskow as otherwise unlike standard depictions of the tauroctony. Another reason for not connecting these artifacts with the Mithraic Mysteries is that the first of these plaques was found in a woman's tomb.[ae]
An Amazon tomb, perhaps? Could the figure on the plaque be Artemis? A knife instead of a spear and a bull instead of a stag. There are about 150-260 years between the coins and the dating of the plaque. Did something that feels like a 'conversion' happen between that time (heavily assuming the coins have anything to do with the tauroctony)?
Then there is this weird story that comes from when the Scythians were at the height of their power under their king named Madyas.
By the 620s BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire began unravelling after the death of Ashurbanipal in 631 BCE: in addition to internal instability within Assyria itself, Babylon revolted against the Assyrians in 626 BCE under the leadership of Nabopolassar.[31] The next year, in 625 BCE, Cyaxares, the son of Phraortes and his successor to the Median kingship, overthrew the Scythian yoke over the Medes by inviting the Scythian rulers to a banquet and then murdering them all, including Madyes, after getting them drunk.[32][33][9]
Madyes's relationship with the Scythian kings after him and the identity of his successor are both unknown, although shortly after his assassination, some time between 623 and 616 BCE, the Scythians took advantage of the power vacuum created by the crumbling of the power of their former Assyrian allies and overran the Levant and reached as far south as Palestine till the borders of Egypt,[11][34] where their advance was stopped by the marshes of the Nile Delta, after which the pharaoh Psamtik I met them and convinced them to turn back by offering them gifts.[35][10] The Scythians retreated by passing through Askalon largely without any incident, although some stragglers looted the temple of Astarte in the city, which was considered to be the most ancient of all temples to that goddess, as a result of which the perpetrators of this sacrilege and their descendants were allegedly cursed by Astarte with a “female disease,” due to which they became a class of transvestite diviners called the Anarya (meaning “unmanly” in Scythian[11]).[10]
The Scythian Anarya (Enaree) sound very similar to the Phrygian Galli of Cybele and Attis. There is also another set of eunuchs known as the 'Megabyzus' who were the attendants for Artemis at Ephesus. As a note, there was a Megabyzus who was an Achaemenid Persian general under Darius I.
There is also the 'King of Kings' Mithridates VI Eupator who tried to break Roman domination in the Kingdom of Pontus but ultimately failed. He was born in Sinope, 135 BCE. He died in 63 BCE in Panticapaeum (Crimea) by asking his friend to kill him after attempts to commit suicide by drinking poison had failed because he had spent his life building up an immunity to poison. Oh come on!
QUESTION: I found it fascinating that you were able to calculate the funding of the war that Cleopatra provided Mark Antony. Have you done similar work to look at the funding of Julius Caesar to cross the Rubicon? WT ANSWER: Yes. Where the Battle of Actium was a proxy war instigated by Cleopatra...
About Mithraism/Caesar: I was watching this video ->
about ancient coins and it also talked about the famous eid mar aureus. From what I understand there are only a few in the world (golden ones) and they sell for 6 figures. One of these rare coins (you can see in the Image below) has a hole in it and it’s believed to have been used as a necklace sometimes after Caesar murder. This to me look like an hint that some sort of cult around the assassination of Caesar could have been around at the time, or at least that the coin had a symbolic value for someone (problably would have been someone who was Close to Brutus? Or part of the “oligarchy” that wasn’t very happy about Caesar political reforms?) Note also that the standard “Eid Mar”, the silver one, was already worth more than a day’s salary of a soldier so the golden ones would have been specifically for high ranking officials, also the guy who used it as a necklace obviously didn’t need it to so it could mean that he was wealthy. This one too look like it was passed down because it’s in beautiful conditions. (I included both the coins also the one without the hole).
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It's funny! It looks like no bulls or humans were killed in the making of an initiate.
