https://www.roger-pearse.com/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm1083
The tauroctony at Heiddernheim. There were three mithraea uncovered in this town in Germany.
The recolouring makes it easier to see the details.
Marvin W Meyer, The Ancient mysteries a Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World, Harper, San Francisco, 1987
Chapter 7 The Roman Mysteries of Mithras
p 199 Mithras was known as the god of light, truth and integrity from the Indo-Iranian peoples. The Iranian version , Zoroastrian, the Avesta, he is associated with Ahura Mazda, the wise lord. .Mithra here is lord of the wide pastures, cattle, prosperity and life. The priests were the Magi.Plutarch relates that Mithras was in evidence from the pirates in south east Asia Minor. . We only know them as roman from 1st C CE. It was for men only, soldiers, sailors, imperial officers
The Mithraea, sanctuaries, designed as a cave,
purification rites
initiatory rites- ordeals and tests of valour, baptised with water, sealed on heir forehead
ceremonial meals
p 200 rebirth- recreation, ascent of the soul, recreation of the cosmos,
7 stages -
Raven ( Coax)
Bridegroom ( Nymphus), Occult ( gryphos)
Soldier ( Miles)
Lion (Leo)
Persian ( Perses)
Courier of the Sun ( Heliodromus)
Father ( Pater)
via the 7 gates to heaven, the 7 planets, 7 metal,s 7 days of the week
The initiate wears the Persian or Phrygian cap,
the torch bearers Cautes ( torch up), Cautopates (torch down) symbolises the coming and going of the sun
thought- also the right and left, the opposites or dualisms.
p 201 the 12 signs of the zodiac re depicted- the firmament of heaven and the cave is a microcosm of the universe
Mithras was born from a rock on 25th December, the winter solictice, he shoots an arrow at the rick to make a spring and emerges from a tree, he carries the bull to be killed. He meets the un who kneels before him, they shake hands and ride together in the chariot of the sun.4 winds and 4 seasons,
maybe the snake, raven, chalice and lion symbolise the 4 elements ( earth, air, water, fire)
p 207 Inscription at Santa Prisca
Fertile earth, Pales, who procreates everything
Rockbound spring that led the twin brothers with nectar
This young bull which he carried on his golden shoulders according to his ways
And after I had received ( it) I have bourne on my shoulders the greatest thing of the gods
Sweet are the livers of the birds, but care reigns
him ( or that) who ( or which) is piously reborn and created by sweet things
You must conduct this rite through clouded times together
and here at the first the ram runs exactly on his course
and you saved us after having shed the eternal blood
Accept O holy Father, accept the incense burning Lions, through whom we offer the incense through whom we ourselves are consumed.
Hail to the lions for many and new years.
Aleš Chalupa, The Origins of the Roman Cult of Mithras in the Light of New Evidence and Interpretations: The Current State of Affairs
https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/135694/2_Religio_24-2016-1_9.pdf?sequence=1
p 66 If we accept the hypothesis that the Roman cult of Mithras derives from a Persian religious tradition, it is possible to interpret Mithraic sources by direct reference to Persian sacred texts and, thus, at least in theory, to partially reconstruct the cult’s belief and ritual system, which would otherwise be almost completely unknown. However, the turbulent history of Mithraic studies in the 20th century shows that the validation of a direct and uncomplicated descent of the Roman cult of Mithras from a branch of a Persian cultural and religious tradition remains, contrary to the unanimous voice of the Graeco-Roman world, a sensitive and problematic issue.
p 67 The Greek neo-Platonic philosopher Porphyry of Tyre describes the act as follows:6 Zoroaster, as Euboulos tells us, was the first to dedicate a natural cave in the nearby mountains of Persia, a cave surrounded by flowers and furnished with springs, in honour of Mithras, the maker and father of all. The cave was for him an image of the cosmos which Mithras created … After Zoroaster it became the custom among others to perform ceremonies of initiation in caverns and caves, either natural or artificial.
quotes Franz Cumont, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs au mystères de Mithra II, Bruxelles: H. Lamertin 1896.
as the first in depth study which relates the evidence for Mithraism from Persian origins
p 68-9 quote from Cumont
An analysis of the constituent elements of Mithraism, like a cross-section of a geological formation, shows the stratification of this composite mass in their regular order of deposition. The basal layer of this religion, its lower and primordial stratum, is the faith of ancient Iran, from which it took its origin. Above this Mazdean substratum was deposited in Babylon a thick sediment of Semitic doctrines, and afterwards the local beliefs of Asia Minor added to it their alluvial deposits. Finally, a luxuriant vegetation of Hellenic ideas burst out from this fertile soil and partly concealed from view its true original nature.
Richard L. Gordon, “Franz Cumont and the Doctrine of Mithraism”, in: John Hinnells (ed.), Mithraic Studies I, Manchester: Manchester University Press 1975, 215-248. refuted the Persian origins as the evidence of a linear transmission does not exist. there is no clear evidence of mithraea, tauroctony, 7 initiatory grades in near Eastern archeology, the Roman religion seems to be based on Rome and the Rhine, Danube areas from where it spread.
so either Greek, Hellenstic, or Balkan or Crimean origins were explored.
p 74 The most recent review is Roger Beck, published in 1998 in the Journal of Roman Studies. 50 Beck sees the Kingdom of Commagene, which existed on the border of modern Turkey and Syria from 163 BCE until 72 CE as a potential candidate for Mithraic origins.
The tauroctony at Heiddernheim. There were three mithraea uncovered in this town in Germany.
The recolouring makes it easier to see the details.
Marvin W Meyer, The Ancient mysteries a Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World, Harper, San Francisco, 1987
Chapter 7 The Roman Mysteries of Mithras
p 199 Mithras was known as the god of light, truth and integrity from the Indo-Iranian peoples. The Iranian version , Zoroastrian, the Avesta, he is associated with Ahura Mazda, the wise lord. .Mithra here is lord of the wide pastures, cattle, prosperity and life. The priests were the Magi.Plutarch relates that Mithras was in evidence from the pirates in south east Asia Minor. . We only know them as roman from 1st C CE. It was for men only, soldiers, sailors, imperial officers
The Mithraea, sanctuaries, designed as a cave,
purification rites
initiatory rites- ordeals and tests of valour, baptised with water, sealed on heir forehead
ceremonial meals
p 200 rebirth- recreation, ascent of the soul, recreation of the cosmos,
7 stages -
Raven ( Coax)
Bridegroom ( Nymphus), Occult ( gryphos)
Soldier ( Miles)
Lion (Leo)
Persian ( Perses)
Courier of the Sun ( Heliodromus)
Father ( Pater)
via the 7 gates to heaven, the 7 planets, 7 metal,s 7 days of the week
The initiate wears the Persian or Phrygian cap,
the torch bearers Cautes ( torch up), Cautopates (torch down) symbolises the coming and going of the sun
thought- also the right and left, the opposites or dualisms.
p 201 the 12 signs of the zodiac re depicted- the firmament of heaven and the cave is a microcosm of the universe
Mithras was born from a rock on 25th December, the winter solictice, he shoots an arrow at the rick to make a spring and emerges from a tree, he carries the bull to be killed. He meets the un who kneels before him, they shake hands and ride together in the chariot of the sun.4 winds and 4 seasons,
maybe the snake, raven, chalice and lion symbolise the 4 elements ( earth, air, water, fire)
p 207 Inscription at Santa Prisca
Fertile earth, Pales, who procreates everything
Rockbound spring that led the twin brothers with nectar
This young bull which he carried on his golden shoulders according to his ways
And after I had received ( it) I have bourne on my shoulders the greatest thing of the gods
Sweet are the livers of the birds, but care reigns
him ( or that) who ( or which) is piously reborn and created by sweet things
You must conduct this rite through clouded times together
and here at the first the ram runs exactly on his course
and you saved us after having shed the eternal blood
Accept O holy Father, accept the incense burning Lions, through whom we offer the incense through whom we ourselves are consumed.
Hail to the lions for many and new years.
Aleš Chalupa, The Origins of the Roman Cult of Mithras in the Light of New Evidence and Interpretations: The Current State of Affairs
https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/135694/2_Religio_24-2016-1_9.pdf?sequence=1
p 66 If we accept the hypothesis that the Roman cult of Mithras derives from a Persian religious tradition, it is possible to interpret Mithraic sources by direct reference to Persian sacred texts and, thus, at least in theory, to partially reconstruct the cult’s belief and ritual system, which would otherwise be almost completely unknown. However, the turbulent history of Mithraic studies in the 20th century shows that the validation of a direct and uncomplicated descent of the Roman cult of Mithras from a branch of a Persian cultural and religious tradition remains, contrary to the unanimous voice of the Graeco-Roman world, a sensitive and problematic issue.
p 67 The Greek neo-Platonic philosopher Porphyry of Tyre describes the act as follows:6 Zoroaster, as Euboulos tells us, was the first to dedicate a natural cave in the nearby mountains of Persia, a cave surrounded by flowers and furnished with springs, in honour of Mithras, the maker and father of all. The cave was for him an image of the cosmos which Mithras created … After Zoroaster it became the custom among others to perform ceremonies of initiation in caverns and caves, either natural or artificial.
quotes Franz Cumont, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs au mystères de Mithra II, Bruxelles: H. Lamertin 1896.
as the first in depth study which relates the evidence for Mithraism from Persian origins
p 68-9 quote from Cumont
An analysis of the constituent elements of Mithraism, like a cross-section of a geological formation, shows the stratification of this composite mass in their regular order of deposition. The basal layer of this religion, its lower and primordial stratum, is the faith of ancient Iran, from which it took its origin. Above this Mazdean substratum was deposited in Babylon a thick sediment of Semitic doctrines, and afterwards the local beliefs of Asia Minor added to it their alluvial deposits. Finally, a luxuriant vegetation of Hellenic ideas burst out from this fertile soil and partly concealed from view its true original nature.
Richard L. Gordon, “Franz Cumont and the Doctrine of Mithraism”, in: John Hinnells (ed.), Mithraic Studies I, Manchester: Manchester University Press 1975, 215-248. refuted the Persian origins as the evidence of a linear transmission does not exist. there is no clear evidence of mithraea, tauroctony, 7 initiatory grades in near Eastern archeology, the Roman religion seems to be based on Rome and the Rhine, Danube areas from where it spread.
so either Greek, Hellenstic, or Balkan or Crimean origins were explored.
p 74 The most recent review is Roger Beck, published in 1998 in the Journal of Roman Studies. 50 Beck sees the Kingdom of Commagene, which existed on the border of modern Turkey and Syria from 163 BCE until 72 CE as a potential candidate for Mithraic origins.
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