The Archaeology of Mithraism: New Finds & Approaches to Mithras-Worship

This article deals with the still unresolved question of the origins of the Roman cult of Mithras. After a brief history of the scholarship dealing with this topic, individual mithraea, inscriptions, and passages in literary texts which have been dated to the earliest period of the cult’s existence are evaluated. On the basis of this re-evaluation, some provisional conclusions concerning the question of Mithraic origins are made, namely that (1) the earliest evidence comes from the period 75-125 CE but remains, until the second half of the 2nd century CE, relatively negligible; (2) the geographical distribution of early evidence does not allow for a clear identification of the geographical location from which the cult started to spread, which suggests that (3) the cult made effective use of Roman military infrastructure and trade routes and (4) was transmitted, at least initially, due to the high mobility of the first propagators. However, it must be acknowledged that, at present, we can neither conclusively identify its place of origin nor the people who initiated the cult. In addition it is impossible to describe the specific historical circumstances in which these formative processes should be placed.

2007

in McCarty & Egri, THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROMAN MITHRAISM, 2020

Introduction to edited volume, THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROMAN MITHRAISM

2016

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2019

In the past two decades, the “archaeology of religion” has moved from the margins of scholarship to the center, led by the growth of postprocessual archaeological hermeneutics. 1 Such theoretical frames – whether the materiality of religion, objects as agents, the entanglement of humans and objects, or “thing theory” – demonstrate the centrality of the physical world and its archaeological correlates to religion. They offer new ways of posing questions about the construction of meanings for worshippers through materials.2

Musée royal de Mariemont, 2021

The exhibition “The Mystery of Mithras: Exploring the Heart of a Roman Cult” is being presented at the Musée royal de Mariemont from 20 November 2021 to 17 April 2022, then at the Musée Saint-Raymond de Toulouse from 14 May 2022 to 30 October 2022, and lastly at the Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt from 19 November 2022 to 15 April 2023. The catalogue prepared for these different venues pursues three main objectives: proposing, thanks to the contributions of some 75 international experts, a new synthesis for a complex and fascinating cult that reflects the remarkable advances in our knowledge in recent decades; promoting by means of high-quality illustrations numerous monuments, both famous and unknown, that represent so many pieces of the giant Mithraic puzzle; lastly, to restore Mithras to his proper place in the religious landscape of yesterday and the European culture of today. For ordering the catalogue: accueil@mariemont.be

Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies www.uhu.es/ejms/, 2004

2008

ABSTRACT This paper analyses some of the special features in the social composition of those initiated into the Mithraic mysteries. It also examines how the relationship of the Mithraic Cult with the Roman political power was and how a god of Persian origin could establish this relationship. In the complex and assorted market represented by the religious scene present in the Greek-Roman world of the last Era, any study of what could be the offer made by any new religion to neophytes in trying to get hold of a share of the mentioned market becomes very interesting. That is particularly true if we attend to the fact that these new religions had beaten the initial barriers to entry into society and obstacles long established by the Roman local authorities on the religious practices that came from the East. Regardless of whether the general parameters of the religiousness had changed during the Greek period or not, we want to focus on the main characteristics of Mithraic Cult in order to study in-depth what an individual could find at this time of new religious offerings. Together with the salvation and eternal life promises inherent to other mystery practices developed in the East, it should be also recognized that a strong psychological component contained in the group of ritual practices

The article summarizes and evaluates Mithraic evidence from Ancient Syria. At the same time, it tries to answer two interrelated questions: 1) whether there is a special “quality” in Mithraic material from Syria which would justify us to postulate the existence of a special variety of Syrian Mithraism different from its Western form; 2) whether some of the Mithraic monuments from Syria can help us to clarify the vexed problem of Mithraic origins. After a careful analysis of the most important evidence answers to both questions must remain negative. Although the Syrian monuments clearly share some “Syrian artistic conventions”, they generally follow the norms and motifs known from the western provinces of the Roman Empire. The Syrian monuments are also usually relatively late, connected with the Roman military or administrative presence and do not contribute to our search for Mithraic origins in any decisive way.