These later works are far more reliable than 19th century scholarship often cited by skeptics who claim jesus is a retelling of mithras. Unfortunately the images are not identified by vermaseren. Mithras, the secret god hardcover january 1, 1963 by m. Ritual and hierarchy in the mysteries of mithras the. Mithras, god of the morning, our trumpets waken the wall.
There appears to be no tail end in sight for academic enquiry into the worship of mithras in the roman empire. Mithraism, the worship of mithra, the iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre zoroastrian iran. According to the fragment of the mithraic mythology, mithras. Mithras was a popular roman god adopted from the persian sun god mithra. Vermaserens information are in course of presentation on the internet site of the electronic. Mithraism, the roman cult to the persian mystery god mithras, had a special following in the armyand a matchingly broad distribution across the empire.
Therese megaw and john vincent stanley megaw, london, chatto and windus, 1963. Harris 1956 corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae by m. While there may be some connection with mithras and aion, a lionheaded man has nothing to do with the imagery of the lion used to describe jesus in scripture. The mysteries were probably constructed by various rites and images, like the killing of the bull borrowed from a. His name and the phrygian cap betray his oriental origins. Interest in this ancient religion, and its popularity and longevity as a topic of study, has no doubt been secured by its status as an elective cult and by its rich, and at times controversial, surviving evidence, which is predominantly archaeological in nature and packed with. Much is still unknown about this secretive sect, but it involved the worship of the persian god mithras in caves, a communal meal, and initiation through seven stages of an astrologicallythemed hierarchy. Ancient history encyclopedia receives a small commission for each book. The correct title of this item is mithras, the secret god. Pdf in religious studies, the influence of mythology and religion on each. Almost all mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is common to find inscriptions dedicated to mithras in other. A god mitra was invoked as early as the 14th century bce in a treaty between mitanni and the hittites, found at hattusa cimrm, 16, and is also widely attested in ancient persia and india merkelbach 1984. Mar 07, 2017 mithraism is a roman mystery religion that flourished in the 2nd through 4th centuries ce.
The few written documents available, the epigraphical material. His worship spread to persia and, after the defeat of the p. Clauss suggest that because mithras was thought to be a god of the unfolding year, his worshipers may have identified him with aion the roman cult of mithras, p. The singularly uniform class of mithraic temples came to an end in several ways, by abandonment, burning, deliberate destruction, even by planned and careful sealing. Rome is above the nations, but thou art over all now as the names are answered, and the guards are marched away, mithras, also a solider, give us strength for the day. He was considered the saviour of humankind, and stories abound of his healing the sick, raising the dead, and performing miracles making the blind. Jun 10, 2015 the cult, like many others, was a secret one. Discover the legends and myths and religious beliefs surrounding mithras, the roman god of soldiers, light, truth, and honor who often referred to as the soldiers god. There are some wellknown monuments associated with mithras in the pirates homeland in the mountainous religions of cilicia, and recently an altar was discovered in anazarbos which had been consecrated by marcus aurelius as priest and father of zeushelios mithras. Mithras, the secret god book ancient history encyclopedia. The roman mithra was a god in a secret society what can we write about a secret.
Mithra, also spelled mithras, sanskrit mitra, in ancient indoiranian mythology, the god of light, whose cult spread from india in the east to as far west as spain, great britain, and germany. Mithra was the last of the official sun gods of the roman. Mithras relief tauroctony depicting mithras killing a sacred bull, from aquileia, second of 2nd century ad. The mithras liturgy may thus illustrate a direction taken by those carrying on the mithras tradition in egypt. Greek inscription from rome, dedication by a father and priest to zeusheliosmithrasphanes 9.
Mithras discover the legends and myths and religious beliefs surrounding mithras, the roman god of soldiers, light, truth, and honor who often referred to as the soldiers god. Between 1960 and the time of his death in 1990, vermaseren had accrued a substantial amount of material for a third volume of cimrm. If this is so, we have an indication that nero was the first roman emperor to come into contact with the cult of mithras. Is jesus simply a retelling of the mithras mythology. The mithras liturgy papyri graecae magicae hermetic library. The basic doctrine of mithraism, as far as can be told, is that mithras was a god who was born from a rock and destined to secure the salvation of the world. Mithra, in ancient indoiranian mythology, the god of light, whose cult spread from india in the east to as far west as spain, great britain, and germany.
Although now 60 years old, no updated corpora have been published since vermaserens, and cimrm thus remains the standard reference catalog of inscriptions and monuments of the mithraic mysteries. History and development of the mysteries of mithras, and. Cthe roman cult of mithras religious phenomenon and brotherhood. Mithraism, a sect of zoroastrianism characterized by the worship of mithra as the defender ofthe truth, was a monotheistic mystery. Edwin yamauchi dismisses this hypothesis in stating those who seek to adduce mithra as a prototype of the risen christ ignore the late date for the expansion of mithraism to the west cf. Another example of mithraic iconography incorporated into christian art is the scene of mithras ascending into the heavens identified by m. Thus, these many different cultures celebrated the sun of god s birthday on december 25th. Mithraic image, and of what it may have meant for mithras worshippers to be part of this mystery religion, will help explain thereasons for cults widespread popularity. This is an article on mithraism in comparative mythology and comparative theology. Its an odd image in respect to what should be the following of a man who preached nonviolence, but its in line with the warrior cult of mithras. Vermaseren, author of mithras, the secret god 1963, was very active in translating mithraic inscriptions. Vermaseren, corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae, 1956, 2 volumes, are reproduced with the gracious permission of the publisher martinus nijhoff, the hague.
Pdf as the christian church became centered in rome and strove to. Vermaseren stated that the only certain example of such influence was an. Satan established the mysteries of mithras after his expulsion from heaven mitra was originally the sun god of the persians. Vermaseren, author of mithras, the secret god, was very active in translating mithraic inscriptions. Cthe roman cult of mithras religious phenomenon and. Mithraism, the worship of mithra, the iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in prezoroastrian iran. Here are the 7 steps that nero took to reach the summit of the top secret mithras cult. Iamblichus is the only platonist philosopher whose philosophical letters have survived from the ancient world. I am careful with my words here, as mithraism has a previous historical incantation in ancient persia, though its relationship to the roman tradition, in practice and philosophy, is unclear at this point. Perseus, or for our purposes, mithras, is seen to be at. This cult became very popular, specifically among the roman soldiers all over the empire, despite the fact that mithras was the god of romes enemies the parthians.
The connections between the sun god mitra and the bullslayer mithras are not evident. Whatever its final fate, the cult of mithras is perhaps the bestdocumented instance of a cult of empire, a secret, oathbound society of elites that, for several centuries, was the power behind. In fact, most scholars take a dim view of that idea. Nock, in journal of roman studies xxvii 1937 10812 oriental cults in britain by e and j. Unfortunately the images are not identified by vermaseren, other than in general terms. During the period of the mithraic mysteries, the constellation perseus stood just above pisces, aries, and taurus. One other point of note is that no mithraic monument can be dated earlier than the end of the first century ad, and even the more extensive investigations at pompeii, buried beneath the ashes of vesuvius in ad 79, have not produced a single image of the god. The text of the mithras liturgy is composed of two main parts. See all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Emperor constantine, who believed in the sun god, mithras, designated a certain day of the week to jesus after his conversion to christianity. In astrological thought, perseus represents the third decanate of aries ruled by mars indicating a subruler jupiter, the primary ritual god of the romans.
The unique nature of the london mithraeum the post hole. Persian legends of mithras says that he was born of the sun god and a virgin mother, called the mother of god, on december 25th. Mitra is a persian word and another name for nimrod, dagon, and thus satan himself. Almost all mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is. After the acceptance of christianity by the emperor constantine in the early 4th century. By purchasing books through this website, you support our nonprofit organization. Note that sol invictus played a prominent role in the mithraic mysteries, and was equated with mithras. Other scenes feature mithras ascending behind sol in the latters chariot, the deities shaking hands and the two gods at an altar with pieces of meat on a spit. The religion of mithras and its mysteries quintus curtius. Pdf in religious studies, the influence of mythology and religion on each other is worthy of deliberation. Walter burkert, ancient mystery cults, harvard university press, 1987. The first written mention of the vedic mitra dates to 1400 bc.
His worship spread to persia and, after the defeat of the persians by. The religion was inspired by iranian worship of the zoroastrian angelic divinity mithra, though the greek mithras was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and the level of continuity between persian and grecoroman practice is debated. Among many sungods and sonsof god attis, dionysus, prometheus, horns, hercules, mithras, sandan, buddha and krishna to name a fewconstantine chose the christ character despite the schizophrenic, violent and even racist 15 nature of jesus recorded in the gospels. According to the theory, his writing is full of references to mithras, like his comments in ephesians 6. These nineteen letters, which are translated into english here for the first time, address such topics as providence, fate, concord, marriage, bringing up children, ingratitude, music, and the cardinal virtues, with some letters addressed to students and others to prominent members of. This was done so as to create the feeling of being part of a special group, just like a close group of friends that does not share secrets with outsiders. The idea of a relationship between early christianity and the cultus of mithras is based on a remark in the 2nd century christian writer justin martyr, who accused the initiates of mithras of imitating the christian communion rite. Mithras, the secret god unknown binding january 1, 1963 by maarten jozef vermaseren author.
See mithraic mysteries for the main article the roman cult of mithras had connections with other pagan deities, syncretism being a prominent feature of roman paganism. During the first semester of his second year at crozer, king wrote this paper for enslins course on greek religion. The god mithras originally belonged to that complex pantheon of deities that can be found in the remote pasts of persia and india. Pdf the influence of mithraism on christianity researchgate. The webs source of information for ancient history. Known as mithras in the roman empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries ce, this deity was honored as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. Mithras,the secret god unknown binding january 1, 1963 by maarten jozef vermaseren author 5.
The mithraic mysteries or mysteries of mithras also mithraism was a mystery cult centered on the god mithras, became popular among the military in the roman empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries ad. It does not follow that a different, earlier, and unofficial sun god, sol invictus mithras, was necessarily or even probably, born on that day too. Marcus aurelius, stoicism, and mithraism donald robertson. A book, based on his jackson lectures at harvard university in 1982, dispels some misconceptions and stereotypes. The origins of the mithraic mysteries cosmology and salvation in the ancient world by david ulansey oxford university press, 1989, mithras, the secret god by m. Msg, 1718 also tried to find a connection, but the closest he could get was a story in which soma, the god of life who, as rain, was described as the semen of the sacred bull fertilizing the earth, was murdered by a consortium of gods which included mithra as a very reluctant participant who had to be. Mithraism in comparison with other belief systems wikipedia. Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae. Mystery cult, secret society, fraternity excluding women, mithraism probably had more in common with freemasonry, dungeons and dragons, and the loyal order of moose than with the universal church then. I removed it and replaced the material with the more scholarly work of alison griffith, which unlike the former, has reputable sources. The original article posted here claiming that apostle paul was somehow involved in mithrism was removed as pure trash. Known as mithras in the roman empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries ce, this deity was honoured as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. Information on the cult is based mainly on interpretations of. Many of the symbols originate from old persian religion, but other elements could be traced to other mythologies.
However, mithras is distinct from both sol and sol invictus, and they are separate entitites on mithraic statuary and artwork such as the tauroctony scenes, in mithras hunting scenes, and in the mithraic banquet scenes in which mithras dines with sol. Mithras, god of the noontide, the heather swims in the heat. They saw him as a symbol of justice, truth, and loyalty. Mithraism, also known as the mithraic mysteries, was a roman mystery religion centered on the god mithras. Jun 11, 2010 whatever its final fate, the cult of mithras is perhaps the bestdocumented instance of a cult of empire, a secret, oathbound society of elites that, for several centuries, was the power behind.