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Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras.
- Mithras (Name)
The Persian associations of the name Mithras are...
- Mystery Religion
Hydria by the Varrese Painter (c. 340 BC) depicting...
- Mithra
Mithra ( Avestan: 𐬨𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 Miθra, Old Persian: 𐎷𐎰𐎼 Miθra ),...
- Mithras (Name)
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Mithraism, the worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. 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. After the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, Mithrai...
Before ancient religious reformer Zarathustra (Greek name Zoroaster) gained influence in the region during the 6th century bce, the Iranians had a polytheistic religion, and Mithra was the most important of their gods. First of all, he was the god of contract and mutual obligation. In a cuneiform tablet of the 15th century bce that contains a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni, Mithra is invoked as the god of oath. Furthermore, in some Indian Vedic texts the god Mitra (the Indian form of Mithra) appears both as “friend” and as “contract.” The word mitra may be translated in either way, because contracts and mutual obligation make friends. In short, Mithra may signify any kind of interpersonal communication and whatever establishes good relations between people. Mithra was called the Mediator. Mithra was also the god of the sun, of the shining light that beholds everything, and, hence, was invoked in oaths. The Greeks and Romans considered Mithra as a sun god. He was probably also the god of kings. He was the god of mutual obligation between the king and his warriors and, hence, the god of war. He was also the god of justice, which was guaranteed by the king. Whenever people observed justice and contract, they venerated Mithra.
The most important Mithraic ceremony was the sacrifice of the bull. Opinion is divided as to whether this ceremony was pre-Zoroastrian or not. Zarathustra denounced the sacrifice of the bull, so it seems likely that the ceremony was a part of the old Iranian paganism. This inference is corroborated by an Indian text in which Mitra reluctantly participates in the sacrifice of a god named Soma, who often appears in the shape of a white bull or of the moon. On the Roman monuments, Mithra reluctantly sacrifices the white bull, who is then transformed into the moon. This detailed parallel seems to prove that the sacrifice must have been pre-Zoroastrian. Contract and sacrifice are connected, since treaties in ancient times were sanctioned by a common meal.
Beginning with Darius the Great (522–486 bce), the Persian kings of the Achaemenid dynasty were Zoroastrians. But Darius and his successors did not intend to create political difficulties by attempting to eradicate the old beliefs still dear to the heart of many nobles. Thus, the religion of Zarathustra was gradually contaminated with elements of the old, polytheistic worship. Hymns (the Yashts) were composed in honour of the old gods. There is a Yasht dedicated to Mithra, in which the god is depicted as the all-observing god of heavenly light, the guardian of oaths, the protector of the righteous in this world and the next, and, above all, as the archfoe of the powers of evil and darkness—hence, the god of battles and victory.
In the mixed religion of the later Achaemenid period, however, the Zoroastrian aspects clearly dominate the heathen aspects. The sacrifice of the bull, abhorred by every Zoroastrian, is never mentioned. When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire about 330 bce, the old structure of society appears to have broken down completely, and about the worship of Mithra in Persia no more is heard.
Local aristocrats in the western part of the former Persian empire retained their devotion to Mithra. The kings and nobles of the border region between the Greco-Roman and the Iranian world still worshipped him. When Tiridates of Armenia acknowledged the Roman emperor Nero as his supreme lord, he performed a Mithraic ceremony, indicating that the god of contract and of friendship established good relations between the Armenians and the mighty Romans. The kings of Commagene (southeast of Turkey) venerated Mithra. Mithradates VI of Pontus may have been a worshipper of the god, and his allies, the Cilician pirates, are known to have performed Mithraic ceremonies (67 bce). The worship of Mithra, however, never became popular in the Greek world, because the Greeks never forgot that Mithra had been the god of their enemies the Persians.
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- Reinhold Merkelbach
Mithraism was not an alternative to other pagan religions, but rather a particular way of practising pagan worship; and many Mithraic initiates can also be found worshipping in the civic religion, and as initiates of other mystery cults.
Jun 10, 2015 · The Mithraic Mysteries, also known as Mithraism, were a mystery cult in the Roman world where followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithras ( Akkadian for "contract") as the god of friendship, contract and order.
Nov 29, 2023 · Mithraism was an enigmatic cult religion that flourished in the Roman Empire between the 1st and 4th centuries CE. Highly secretive by nature, historical understanding is challenged by the minimal record we have inherited about this fascinating cult. References are scant, anecdotal, and often biased by religious prejudice.
Feb 11, 2020 · Mithra is the Persian god of the rising sun, contracts, covenants, and friendship.
