Well, I've been going through this big collection of text and notes I have getting out as many typos as I can find, so I'll put here what seems to be important.
My whole diversion into the topic of Mithras occurred because, in searching for examples of survivals of texts from the period of Diocletian, I came across an inscribed artifact, an altar erected at Carnuntum by the Imperial Conference in 308 AD. It says:
D(eo) S(oli) i(nvicto) M(ithrae) | fautori imperii sui | Iovii et Herculii | religiosissimi Augusti et Caesares | sacrarium | restituerunt.
[1]
Translation: To the unconquered sun-god Mithras, patron/protector/supporter of their imperium; the Joves and Hercules’s, the most religious Augustuses and Caesars, have restored the shrine.
[2]
[1] P.367. Carnuntum, CIL, III, 4413. Voyez le monument n° 227
[2] Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumon Monument (1894–1900, with an English translation in 1903) Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra Vol. 2. P. 146, item 367, with a link to 227; 227, p. 331-2, fig. 205,
It seems that not only did the emperors set up this altar at the time of their meeting at Carnuntum they also had repairs done to the Mithraeum – underground temple.
Mithraism attracts so much interest among scholars mainly because it is one of the most well-represented phenomena of antiquity in terms of archaeology. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of artifacts known to scholars that must represent only a fraction of what once existed. This is a maddening state of affairs when you have no idea at all what it was all about!
Another strong attractor for the study of Mithraism is the fact that it was “born” at about the same time and in about the same place as Christianity. Mithraism was one of Christianity’s main competitors and the two cults embodied different responses to the same set of cultural forces and environmental problems, so the question of why and how one prevailed over the other is of some importance.
[1]
Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont was, for many years, the world’s accepted expert on Mithraism. He was a Belgian archaeologist whose specialty was epigraphy and whose consuming interest was Mithraism in the Roman Empire. The above text found on an altar is recorded in his magnum opus: Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra. This was the study that made him famous and accepted as the chief expert on the topic.
Cumont – like many others – was consumingly intrigued by Mithraism because it was, like other mystery cults in ancient times, focused on a “secret” that was revealed only to those who were initiated, and probably only by degrees as they advanced in their initiatory levels. One supposes that this gave the other members time to observe and test them to determine if they were worthy of the higher grades and secrets or not. Something like that must have been operating because, as far as is known, no initiate of any of the higher grades ever, ever, revealed the secrets. And, since none of the teachings and secrets were ever written down, modern scholars haven’t got a clue what they were about and why they were so successful over so wide an area, for so long.
Franz Cumont was
the Mithraism expert for a very long time starting back in the late 19th century. It’s an interesting example of how someone can come to dominate a field of study to the extent that free inquiry is suppressed and truth is sidelined without even having that intention. Cumont did it by collecting and compiling and publishing a literal mountain of primary evidence relating to Mithraism, and, along with this staggering pile, he published
his interpretation of all of it. In this way, the weight of the evidence he brought forward gave weight to his ideas when, in fact, he was just plain wrong about many things.
Cumont’s interpretation was, basically, that since there was an Iranian god named Mithras, the Western mystery cult obviously derived its identity and practices from the Iranian antecedent. However, the worship of Mithra (the god of covenant and oath and protector of truth) in Persia, actually had nothing at all to do with the Mithraic Mystery cult. None of the essential elements of Mithraism in the West were found in the Iranian Zoroastrian divinity. Cumont’s forcing of the evidence to meet a pre-conceived conclusion amounted to little more than circular reasoning with depressing results: Cumont’s version of things held sway for 70 years while other, better, ideas were rejected out-of-hand because they did not agree with the views of the “master” who had piled up all that evidence!
In the years since Cumont, the archaeology has shown him to be wrong as well. When you look at a map of the locations of known Mithraic temples and related finds, you realize that nearly everything is concentrated in a parabolic arc around the Adriatic Sea There is a concentration in the area now known as Germay, along the Rhine, a concentration in Italy, and a still greater concentration in a band from lower Gaul, across Norther Italy, into what is now Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and up into Slovakia. Then, there is a good concentration in what is now Romania and Bulgaria.
[1] David Ulansey (1989) The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World, Oxford University, p. 4.
Looking to the further east and west, there’s is much less evidence and Mithraic finds in Asia Minor are generally rare. This contradicts Cumont’s theory that Mithraism began in Iran, and moved west through Asia Minor into Rome. Had that been the case, it would have left traces. The dearth of such sites and materials in Roman Syria argues against an east to west transfer. If you go just by the map of traces, more or less drawing a circle around the whole expansion, you would think that Mithraism had its origins in the areas of the barbarians, from Pannonia up to northern Germany. Another item arguing against a Persian origin is that one of only three known mithraea in Dura-Europas located on the extreme eastern border of Roman Syria was
destroyed by the Persians when they conquered the area in 256. The Zoroastrian Sassanians apparently
didn’t know, and wouldn’t tolerate Roman Mithraism.
[1] So, we ditch any idea that the Mithraic Mysteries had anything at all to do with the Persian Mithra.
The primary iconography of Western Mithraism is what is called the tauroctony, a scene in which Mithras is shown slaying a bull, and which always includes other elements that include a snake, a dog, a raven, a scorpion, and sometimes a lion and a cup. This more or less took the place in Mithraism that Jesus dying on a cross takes in Christianity.
[1] Lewis M. Hopfe, ed. (1994) Uncovering Ancient Stones; Eisenbrauns publishing, pp. 147-156.
Notice the sun at upper left with the raven perched below him, moon at upper right, the pose of Mithras looking away from the bull, the scorpion grabbing hold of the testicles of the bull, the dog lapping up the blood from the stab wound in the neck of the bull, the sheaf of wheat at the end of the bull’s tail, the hat of Mithras, the serpent at the base of all, and finally, though it is difficult to see in this image, there are heads of wheat plants emerging out of the wound on the neck of the bull. What can it all mean?
In 1971, the domination of the misdirection of Cumont ended with the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies held at Manchester University. Papers presented by R. L. Gordon and John Hinnells were powerful enough to break through the logjam.
[1] Apparently, after the destruction of Cumont’s ideas, the view was pretty grim and it was thought to be impossible to ever find out or figure out what Mithraism was really all about. But, all was not lost, apparently someone went looking and found that a much more interesting solution had actually been offered as early as 1869 by a German scholar, K. B. Stark, only his ideas had been summarily dismissed by Cumont and ignored from then on because the “master” had spoken. According to Ulansey, Stark’s idea was that:
[1] This event and the ideas presented are discussed by David Ulansey in THE ORIGINS OF THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES.
…the figures in the tauroctony represented not characters out of Iranian mythology but rather
a series of stars and constellations. The Mithraic tauroctony, therefore, was not a pictorial representation of an Iranian myth – as Cumont and his followers claimed it was – but a star map!
Stark’s theory was based on the simple fact that of the figures which accompany Mithras in the tauroctony (bull, scorpion, dog, snake, raven, lion, cup) every one possesses a parallel among the constellations, in particular a group of constellations which are all visible together at certain moments during the year: the bull is paralleled by Taurus, the scorpion by Scorpius, the dog by Canis Minor, the snake by Hydra, the raven by Corvus, the lion by Leo, and the cup by Crater; in addition, the star Spica the wheat ear (the brightest star in Virgo) parallels the ears of what which are often shown in the tauroctony growing out of the tip of the bull’s tail. These parallels, argued Stark, cannot be coincidental, and the Mithraic tauroctony must have been created in order to represent a group of constellation.
[1]
The zodiac is usually presented in association with the tauroctony, often as an arch or a surround. Additionally, there are representations of the extremely ancient lion-headed god known as “Aion”
[2], and sun and moon figures. Ulansey notes that the seven planets are represented as
seven bursts or as seven stars on Mithras’ cape, or in the space surrounding him, and the sun figure is often shown shaking hands with, being crowned by, or feasting with Mithras. I will note here that, at the time, there were only five planets know and the term “seven planets” as in astrology, included the sun and moon. So, seven “stars” depicted with the sun and the moon already present cannot be seven of our now known nine planets despite the fact that, in one Mithraeum, the symbols of the “planets” are found. I would suggest that these “stars” and the symbols of the “planets” are symbols of comets that bore the names of the planets long before the permanent members of our solar system did.
The 3rd century neo-Platonist, Porphyry, wrote that the mithraea were either in caves, or constructed to resemble caves, because they were meant to convey the image of the cosmos. He also asserts in another passage that astral elements play an important role in Mithraism. Origen also remarks on the astral nature of the “Persian Mysteries”. He described it as teachings that speak about the soul’s passage through seven gates represented by the planets, and at the top is an eighth gate. All of these sources are from outside the cult, so whatever they may have thought about it based on things they had heard, must be taken with caution as possible distortion.
[1] Ulansey (1989), p. 15.
[2] Aion (Greek: Αἰών) is a Hellenistic deity associated with time, the orb or circle encompassing the universe, and the zodiac. The "time" which Aion represents is perpetual, unbounded, ritual, and cyclic: The future is a returning version of the past, later called aevum (see Vedic Sanskrit Ṛtú). This kind of time contrasts with empirical, linear, progressive, and historical time that Chronos represented, which divides into past, present, and future. Aion is thus a god of the cyclic ages, and the circle of the year and the zodiac. In the latter part of the Classical era he became associated with mystery religions concerned with the afterlife, such as the mysteries of Cybele, the Dionysian mysteries, Orphic religion, and the Mithraic mysteries. In Latin, the concept of the deity may appear as Aeternitas, Anna Perenna, or Saeculum. Modern scholars call this deity the 'leonto‑cephaline' figure – a winged, lion-headed, nude male, whose torso is entwined by a serpent. He typically holds a sceptre, keys, and / or a thunderbolt. Nobody knows for sure who he was or what he represented, but aside from the lion-head, depictions of him have Aion's icons; in rare instances, his statue appears in mithrea with the human head, and with the lion-head gone, he is indistinguishable from Aion. The Suda identifies Aion with Osiris. In Ptolemaic Alexandria, at the site of a dream oracle, the Hellenistic syncretic god Serapis was identified as Aion Plutonius. The epithet Plutonius marks functional aspects shared with Pluto, consort of Persephone and ruler of the underworld in the Eleusinian tradition. Epiphanius says that at Alexandria Aion's birth from Kore the Virgin was celebrated 6 January. This syncretic Aion became a symbol and guarantor of the perpetuity of Roman rule, and emperors such as Antoninus Pius issued coins with the legend Aion, Ezquerra, Jaime Alvar (2008). Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth, salvation, and ethics in the cults of Cybele. Brill.
There does appear to be seven levels of initiation in the cult: Crow, Nymphus, Soldier, Lion, Persian, Heliodromus (Sun-Runner), and Father. These were the names mentioned by Jerome, and the seven levels do appear to be associated with the symbols of the seven planets (if we count the sun and the moon along with the five known planets, which is not clear here). From all of this, scholars conclude that there is ample evidence for the “astral” nature of the cult. The question is, just what was this “astral” nature and was it, possibly, not so much astral as astronomical?
The next developments came in 1973 at a meeting of the American Philological Association where the Canadian classical scholar, Roger Beck, presented a paper reviving K. B. Stark’s work mentioned above. According to Beck, the Tauroctony is supposed to tell us that if we look south with the east to our left, when Taurus is setting in the west, we’ll see the Tauroctony in the night sky! That is, it is designed to indicate something that can be seen at a certain moment in time that repeats at least once a year, and has some symbolic meaning; an anniversary perhaps?
Next came Stanley Insler, another Mithraic scholar, who agrees with Beck for the most part, except the “magic moment” for him is at the heliacal
setting of Taurus, or sometime in mid-spring which would mean that the death of the bull represents the death of winter and the sprouting wheat is the return of the growing season and all that agricultural jazz.
So, Beck and Insler agreed that the tauroctony is a star map, they agreed on the constellations represented, but Ulansey points out that their explanations did not account for why other constellations that can be viewed at those times are not represented; why only the selected ones, and more importantly, what constellation does the character of Mithras himself, represent? The answer wasn’t long in coming as Ulansey explains.
A few years later, orientalist, Alessandro Bausani went in the same direction as Beck and Insler more or less, but added the dramatic idea that the tauroctony is all about the constellation Leo symbolically killing Taurus at (again) a specific moment in time, i.e. when Taurus sets, Leo is at the zenith. This is true, but Leo is not represented in most of the tauroctony scenes though the lion-headed god is often present in other contexts.
Historian, Michael Speidel, tried to fill the gap by proposing that Mithras was Orion (because Sirius was represented in the dog) and the specific constellations were selected because they all lie on the celestial equator. Ulansey points out that, for this theory to be correct, for this display to be presented in the sky at the time of the equinox (death of winter and all that), we should see Aries and Libra in the tauroctony but find Taurus and Scorpius instead. (There is a simple explanation for why that is not the case, so just hang on.) Plus, there is no real reason to connect Mithras with Orion. Nevertheless, all four of these scholars, and K. B. Stark from the 19th century, agree that
the tauroctony is a star map that should tell us something about a moment in time and space.
The suggestion that the celestial equator was the line to be followed attracted the intrepid Ulansey who began to study the problem. He noted that all of the figures, excepting the lion, are matched by constellations through which the celestial equator passes on or below the ecliptic when the spring equinox was in Taurus. And directly above the constellation of the bull, at the time of the Taurus-equinox, the celestial equator passed through the constellation Perseus. He then points out that, in the Phaenomena of Aratos, following the star maps of Eudoxus, it was said that the Pleiades are located near the left knee of Perseus.
[1] In the tauroctony, the left knee of Perseus is not far from the position where the dagger is shown entering the bull’s shoulder, and it is precisely at that point, in the constellation of the bull, that the Pleiades are located. Ulansey asks: “Is it just coincidence that the left knee of Mithras is always shown in an exaggerated fashion pointing to just this spot, as if in illustration of Aratos’ description?”
[2]
Ulansey then goes on to show that it is Perseus that is represented by Mithras based on several unique features of representation, including the fact that he is always,
always, shown killing the bull
while looking away from it, exactly as Perseus did when killing the gorgon, Medusa. More than that, the constellation Perseus just happens to be right above Taurus in the sky. Now we are getting somewhere. However, we must note that Aratos’ description of Perseus in relation to Taurus is contradicted by every other representation known. So this, naturally, caught Ulansey’s attention; there was a mystery here and he began to tug on the dangling thread.
[1] Phaenomena 254.
[2] Ulansey, p. 57.
__________________________
Ulansey’s point: there is a definite relationship between Mithras and Perseus but it was only from the time of Herodotus that Perseus was thought to be associated with Persia at all. In the fifth century BC, the Greek poet, Pindar, wrote of Perseus’s encounter with Medusa as happening
in Hyperborea – assumed to be ancient Britain – where Stonehenge was known as “Giant’s dance”.
Mithras is always portrayed wearing what is known as a Phrygian cap and Perseus has a “cap of invisibility” given to him to enable him to slay the gorgon. In quite a number of ancient depictions, this cap is depicted as an Phrygian cap. Phrygia has been identified as a kingdom located in the west central part of Anatolia in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians were most famous for their legendary kings such as Gordias and his knot, Midas and his gold, Mygdon who made war with the Amazons, not to mention their close
alliance with the Trojans against the Achaeans! The Iliad describes the homeland of the Phrygians on the Sangarius River, which would remain the center of Phrygia throughout its history. According to the Iliad, Phrygia was famous for its wine and had "brave and expert" horsemen. The Phrygians were Indo-Europeans who, according to ancient tradition, migrated to Anatolia from the Balkans. Recent theories propose that they made this migration at the time of the collapse of the Bronze Age (or just after), filling the political vacuum left by the depopulated Hittites. (Another theory is that they were part of the Hittite Empire before it fell and just survived and took over the area.)
The earliest preserved literary reference to the Mithraic mysteries is a line from the 1st century Thebaid by Statius, which says: “Persei sub rupibus antri indignata Sequi torquentem cornua Mithram.” This has been translated to say: “Mithras twisting the unruly horns beneath the rocks of a Persian cave.” This was taken to imply the Persian origin of the cult. However, the translation has been corrected by scholars to: “Mithras twisting the unruly horns beneath the rocks of the
cave of Perseus”
[1] which removes the Persian connection.
[1] Ulansey (1989) p. 29.
_________________________________
The much later Byzantine historian, Georgius Cedrenos,
[1] wrote:
Perseus, they say, brought to Persia initiation and magic, which by his secrets
made the fire of the sky descend; with the aid of this art, he
brought the celestial fire to the earth, and he had it preserved in a temple under the name of the sacred immortal fire; he chose virtuous men as ministers of a new cult, and established the Magi as the depositors and guardians of this fire which they were charged to protect.
[2]
Even though information about Cedrenos and his sources seems to be at a premium, I am intrigued by his connection of the rites of Perseus to “fire from heaven”. Where in the world did he get that?
[1] 12th century Byzantine court historian about whom I can get almost no information at all about what possible sources he used.
[2] _
1100-1200- Georgius Cedrenus\ - Operum Omnium Conspectus seu 'Index of available Writings' cited by Ulansey, p. 30.
__________________________________
Ulansey suggests that the snake-entwined
leontocephalic (Lion headed) god is iconographically similar to Medusa of the snake hair. Indeed, this is a likely comparison since we are talking about comets that were often likened to snakes or dragons. He also notices the similarity to Huwawa/Humbaba. He then compares the image of Medusa from a 6th century BC Attic vase painting to the lion-headed god.
There is additional evidence of the relationship: in a mithraeum in Pannonia a sandstone block was found that had a gorgon head carved on one side and a lion on the other. At another site, columns were carved with alternating gorgon and lion heads. We are clearly dealing with comet imagery here.
As mentioned, both Perseus and Mithras were born in underground chambers with the added curiosity that Mithras was born from a rock! Indeed, he is depicted emerging from his rock as the new “begetter of light”. Another item is the fact that a particular type of knife is often depicted in the hand of Perseus, called a
harpe, and having an extra curved blade. Mithras is shown with a straight dagger, but the harpe appears to be an important symbol of the fifth grade of the cult and a curved knife, of the seventh.
| Grade | Symbols | Planet/tutelary deity | Mosaic images of the grade symbols (2nd century )
Images courtesy Marie-Lan Nguyen |
| Corax: raven or crow | Beaker, caduceus | Mercury | |
| Nymphus: male bride | Lamp, bell, veil, diadem | Venus | |
| Miles: soldier | Pouch, helmet, lance, drum, belt, breast plate | Mars | |
| Leo: lion | Batillum (iron shovel),sistrum, laurel wreath, thunderbolts | Jupiter |  |
| Perses: Persian | Harpe knife, crescent moon and stars, sling pouch | Moon |  |
| Heliodromus: sun-runner | Torch, sun images, whip | Sun |  |
| Pater: father | Platter, Phrygian cap, shepherd’s staff, curved knife | Saturn |  |
