ELEMENTS OF THE ROMAN MITHRAISM

ELEMENTS OF THE ROMAN MITHRAISM This material is a variant of the book “DEO SOLI IMVICTO MITHRAE - Mithra’s Invincible Sun God, 2021, Sofia, ISBN: 978-9549670-52-3, https://www.academia.edu/45008955/DEO_SOLI_INVICTO_MITHRAE 6 ELEMENTS OF THE ROMAN MITHRAISM “Mysteries of Mithra or The Mysteries of Sabazios” (the next material, issued in 2016), provides a more general justification of the thesis that the socalled Roman Mithraism is an expression of a Thracian cult to the Sun, in which Mithra ritually kills Sabazios, the old sun, symbolised by a bull; a ritual, which marks also the birth of the new sun, symbolised by the reliefs with a snake, the new spirit, the image of Zagreus. The names Sabazios, Zagreus are phenomena typical for the Balkans and Western Asia Minor, while Mithra is a deity better known to the East - Asia Minor, Persia, India. There are several Mithras – Mithra from Asia Minor is not Mithra from Persia; Mithra from Persia is not the Indian Mithra; Mithra in Persia of 5th century BC is not Mithra of the 1st century AD. Therefore, looking for identity between the Roman Mithra and the Persian one – whoever it is – is naive. Who is the Roman Mithra? 1. The SOL INVIСTO MITHRAE Inscription This is a standard inscription on the reliefs, which represents an address to the god and is translated as: “The invincible sun of Mithra” in the sense “Sol of Mithra” (Sol Mithras), “the sun that belongs to Mithra”. In Latin, the ending ае (Mithrae) indicates the genitive case, which denotes possession. The inscriptions are not an address to Mithra but to the sun god, which belongs to Mithra, and can have the meaning of “the sun of the sky”, “the sun of the endless time”, “the sun of the endless light”. The ending “ae” also means a dative case indicating the beneficiary of an action – to Mithra (the ae inflection, Mithrae). The inscription is probably an exclamation uttered by the participants in the ritual meaning "The Sun God, - give it to Mithra" (dative case). The sun is different from Mithra, and this concept is identical to the one presented inAvesta: “He (Mithra), first of the heavenly gods, reaches over Hara before the undying, swift-horsed sun.” 1 What appears before the sun is the light, which is Mithra. In this case the sun is part of the “endless light” 2 : “The Sun ...... rises, the eye of Mithra.” 3 In the particular case, the quotation from Avesta is one of the many Persian concepts about Mithra and this is reflected in the Persian reliefs – 40 Mithra is depicted there with a nimbus of light, which is absent in the concepts about the Roman Mithra. The idea of the Light as something different from the Sun, something elemental that existed before it, is also reflected in later Christianity. On the first day, God created the light and later, on the fourth day, He created the Sun. 2. A Murder or a Sacrifice? Is it a sacrifice that Mithra makes? This is a substantial question and its answer is contained in the very essence of each religion, in which the god is the universal power created by the believers to solve their problems – after a prayer and sacrifice. People pray to gods and offer sacrifices. The idea that the god makes a sacrifice is strange – this does not happen. In the so-called Roman Mithraism, Mithra does not make a sacrifice but he kills – be it ritually. Mithra kills the bull, the symbol of Sabazios, the god, which is a personification of the “third age” of the annual cycle, that is supposed to pass so that a new sun is born. This case was considered in detail in “The Mysteries of Mithra or The Mysteries of Sabazios”, it was based on the analysis of two reliefs where it was directly shown that the bull is a symbol of Sabazios or that Mithra kills Sabazios. Fig. 1.1 4 Fig. 1.2 5 Fig 1.3 On fig. 1.1 Mithra stabs the knife in the bull and next to this knife there is the inscription Nama Sebesio. Тhere is a more probable version that NAMA is the Sanskrit word nama, translated as glory, bow, reverence; 6 Namāz in Turkish and Farsi means a prayer. Nama Sebesio – glory, bow, prayer for Sabazios... fig. 1.2 shows a symbolic scene, on which Mithra stabs a knife in Sabazios – Mithra kills the actual image of Sabazios 7 ... The third scene (fig. 1.3), not discussed in the book, is the so-called relief from Dragu, which in addition to Mithra and the bull shows a scene of a rising naked male figure. The outstretched right hand is in the gesture of Sabazios, and in the left is a cone (in the context of the previous two examples) – an inevitable element of the iconography of Sabazios. Csaba Szabóas notes that the figure is probably “a symbol of the human soul in the world of the dead or simply as a mistake of 41 the artist.” 8 We can hardly speak about a mistake by the artist who spends days to chisel from the stone the figure of a man holding the mentioned objects; the figure rather illustrates, by human analogy, Sabazios' rising soul after the murder of his symbol – the bull. After all, the figure rising to the sky is that of a human but not of a bull. Herodotus describes in detail the way, in which the Persians made sacrifices: “But it is their wont to perform sacrifices to Zeus (the god, author's remark) going up to the most lofty of the mountains, and the whole circle of the heavens they call Zeus”…..А but when a man wishes to sacrifice to any one of the gods, he leads the animal for sacrifice to an unpolluted place and calls upon the god, having his /tiara/ wreathed round generally with a branch of myrtle….Then a Magian man stands by them and chants over them a theogony (for of this nature they say that their incantation is). It is not lawful to offer sacrifice unless there is a Magus present.” 9 Herodotus is a contemporary of Zoroastrianism and according to him, the Persians made sacrifices not in caves but on the mountain tops. There are no myrtle branches on the “tiara” of the Roman Mithra, the Magian with the chants is also missing. Nowadays, the word tiara is translated as diadem. The hat of the Roman Mithra is known in present times as a thraco-phrygian cap and in the past it was spread from the Adriatic Sea to China. The trapeziumshaped hat 10 that we see on Antiochus’ head from the famous relief of Commagene, “Mithra-Apollo and Antiochus”, is also called tiara (fig. 45-2). 3. The Womb Cave Zoroaster, who was definitely born well before 6 century B.C., is associated with the idea (Euboulos is quoted here, third century) 11 , that he places (drives away?) the Persian Mithra in a cave and there they performed mysteries (but not in the mountains, near the sun, as Herodotus claims a long time before that). Where does Euboulos have this specific information from, considering that Mithra was not even mentioned in the Gathas from Avesta? 12 This can only be the reliefs of Mithra, of whom he was a contemporary! But let us leave the Persian Mithra aside and see what the Roman Mithra is doing in the cave – a sacrifice or a murder, is it a matter of death or birth? While the act of murder is indisputable – Mithra kills the bull, the act of birth is not obvious. Out of the Mithra reliefs, only on the relief from the Pergamon Museum – a sculpture from Rome – in addition to the murder, there is also the idea of the birth in a cave, the meaning that all other Mithra reliefs share. Rhea gives birth to Zeus in a cave, his son Hermes was also born in a cave in the Cyllene mountain in Arcadia, Maria gives birth to Christ in a cave in 42 Bethlehem. Who was born in Mithra's cave? There is nothing more natural than the sun, the child of Semele, the Earth, be born in its womb, in a cave. 43 Fig.2 13 . The full basket is a symbol of pregnancy – the woman expects a baby, which is also seen from the figure itself. Mithra is looking at the crow, “a messenger of the god of sun” 14 . Is Mithra the god of sun? “The sun... Mithra's eye”, “the invincible sun of Mithra”. A unique relief about a “man's” cult without women, left without comments, lost in the silence of the otherwise verbose Mithraic diviners. The sculptures of Sabazios' hands also depict the birth of the sun in a cave: Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Next to the infant, just born, there is the “messenger of the god of sun”, the raven, who will announce its birth as it is done in the Mithra reliefs, which show the same scene. Probably, these votive figures were used in the rituals of both the winter and the summer solstice, as they show the whole annual cycle chronologically. The celebration of the birth and the death – the winter or the summer solstice of the annual solar cycle – is touched upon by a sun's ray (fig. 4-1,2; 5-1,2) passing through an opening in the ceiling of the Mithraeums and falling on Mithra in certain days of the year. Тhe Sun lights the figure of the bull – Sabazios, on certain days of the year 15 ; a Sun’s ray falling on the bull’s figure is depicted on some of the images and reliefs (probably the spring solstice or October 26, see below. Fig. 4-1 16 4-2 17 44 Fig. 5-1 18 5-2 19 The majority of the Mithraeums are underground temples. While the Mithra-societies themselves are considered secret societies. A big part of the Thracian temples in the Balkans are under tumuli or cave sanctuaries. The reliefs of the Thracian Horseman reflect this fact through the arches they show; as well as the Roman Mithraic reliefs. Macrobius gives an account about the Thracians: “We know that in Thrace the sun is considered also Liber”. The Thracians call it Sabazios and honoured it solemnly, as it is written by Alexander Polyhistor. A temple on the Zilmissos hill is dedicated to it, a round temple with its roof having an opening in the middle. The round shape of the temple shows the nature of this star. The light enters through the roof top and this shows that the sun illuminates everything with its rays that it emits from the top of the sky and that its illumination reveals everything...”. 20 The Thracian Zalmoxis preaches his belief in immortality of the soul among his table-companions through initiation feasts at special premises (Zalmoxis “made a hall, where he entertained and fed the leaders among his countrymen” 21 ; the feast halls built by the Thracian rulers Cotys, Dromichaetes, Diegylis were called andreons, estiatorions). The Orphics also preach their belief among wealthy citizens at specially organised feasts. Both societies – the followers of Zalmoxis in Thrace and those of the Roman Mithraism – are secret societies of initiated people. Both of them excluded women. The feast of the initiated people is equally iconic for the Thracian religions and for Mithraism. Insulted by the neglectful attitude, the women tore Orpheus apart and threw his body in the Maritsa River. Pseudo-Plutarch writes: “From his flowing blood (of Orpheus) a plant was born, called guitar (Haberlea rhodopensis, translator's remark).” When the Dionysus holidays were celebrated, it gave a sound of a guitar. The local inhabitants, dressed in 45 deer's hides and with a thyrsus in hand, sing the hymn: “Don't think that you will be wise in vain.” 22 The guitar plant can be found nowadays, too, in the Rhodope Mountain in Bulgaria and the local people celebrate Dionysus dressed in hides and noisy thyrsi (copper cow-bells) Perhaps, one of the earliest times Mithra was mentioned in relation to a cave and “a fight with something that has horns” was by the poet Statius in the poem Thebaid in the year 80 AD (the time Mithraism appeared in the Roman Empire): “Persaei sub rupibus antri indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mithram”. The translation of the text is disputed, it is in the context of a prayer to Apollo, which probably gives a reason to the scholastic Lactantius Placidus (350 – 400 AD) to point out that the Persians were the first to worship the sun in a cave, clad in a Persian dress and with a tiara. Here the scholastic under the sun obviously understands Mitra. Obviously, when saying sun, the scholastic refers to Mithra. Both Statius and Lactantius wrote about what they witnessed – the reliefs; the famous Persian name Mithra, automatically related to what he is famous with in the West – Mithra, the image of the sun. A bull, which is killed by... the sun. Mithra is also known to Lucian 23 (ca. 120 — ca. 190): “and that Mede there, Mithras, with the kandys and tiara.” In fact, both the bull and the cave are symbols and Lucian is right when saying through Zeus' words: “…these are symbols and the one who is not initiated in their sacraments, should not mock at them too much.” And according to Lucian, Mithra is a Mede but not a Persian, which is so, the name Mithra was mentioned as early as 1400 BC in the agreement between the Hittites and Mitanni (Medes) 24 . What Persian clothes (kandys) and what Persian tiara Lucian meant is a matter of endless speculations, which we will be pressed to discuss at the end of this exposition. In standard Mithraic reliefs, the element that symbolizes the birth of the new sun is the serpent, often depicted with the crest of a rooster, a symbol of the sun; element common to both Dionysus and Sabazios. Fig. 6 A “horned” snake from “Sabazios' hands” and Mithra reliefs 46 Nonnus describes how Zeus, “in the guise of a dragon-serpent”, created Zagreus: “By this marriage with the heavenly dragon, the womb of Persephone (the ruler of the underworld) swelled with living fruit, and she bore Zagreus the horned baby” 25 . According to Nonnus, Zagreus was born as a snakes baby, on the altar of fig. 6 the horned snake is a symbol of the new sun. In the Boeotian version Zagreus is born from the union between Zeus and Semele (a Phrygian – Earth, in Bulgarian – Zemia, Zemla – Earth). 4. Mitra, the one who changes the seasons In the ritual religion of celebrating the sun, called Roman Mithraism by the historians, Mithra is defined by the very reliefs – in Roman Mithraism, he is the one who turns the wheel of time, Mithra is the god of time, MithraChronos who kills his children, the seasons; the inevitable Mithra-Chronos who will come one day and to whom we all belong. The relief from Augusta Treverorum (fig. 7, CIMRM 985 26 ) clearly demonstrates who the Roman Mithra is. Fig. 7: 7-1Mitra, mediator of time 27 7-2 28 Killing the bull, the symbol of the second, fruitful part of the year, the “Roman Mithra” appears as the god who changes the seasons; the god of the passing time. This idea is confirmed also by the above relief (fig. 7-1) where Mithra is rolling the wheel of time with his right hand. 47 The bull slaughtering is an analogue of the sacrifice of the Egyptian god of fertility, the god of sun, Apis, depicted as a bull with a sun and a snake between his horns (Fig.8 29 ), typical attributes for Sabazios, too. The bull is sacrificed at the end of the year in order to resurrect again as Osiris and the cycle to continue – Osiris, Amon Ra, Apis – the successor of Ra. In the Thracian ritual religion of the sun, this cycle is presented by Zagreus, Dionysus, Sabazios. 30 Fig. 8. Apis 31 and his Balkan analogue. Wheat ears start flowing from the wound of the God of fertility 32 , in many reliefs his tail also ends with wheat ears. Fig.9 On the Mithraic reliefs, there is a scorpion, which tears the bull's testicles (Fig.10). 26 October is Dimitr’s Day (Mitro’s Day). On this day the farming activities come to an end, Mithra’s scorpion picks the seed that remains after Sabazios so that it can be used the next year; after Sabazios there comes the winter. The Balkan Mithra is the god of weather, the one who rotates the wheel of seasons. Mithra is the Thracian analogue of Demeter, the “bearer of seasons,” ΩΡΗΦΟΡΟΣ according to Homer's hymn 33 . Christianity replaces the “invincible” Mithra with the “victorious” Dimitr. On the early icons, St. Dimitr kills Mithra’s scorpion (Fig. 11). Only the celebrations of the Thracians describe the figure from the reliefs that carries the bull during the tauroctony – “βοωφόρος”, 34 (Fig. 10). The 35 names of Metra and Mitro are Thracian , just as the later Bulgarian Mitri, Mitro, 48 Mitran, none of them found in the European name system, excluding the Celtic Mitrias and the Italian Mitri, Mitro. Mithraism and Mithra are not known in Greece – there are no reliefs, no Mithraeums. For Greece, as well as for the whole of Europe , Mithra is a god transferred from the East. Фиг.10 To the left, the one, who wears a bull (“βοωφόρος”); Митра, “the bearer of seasons” kills the invincible Son God Sabazios, the scorpoin Both, the scorpion and the bull, are depicted as Thracian heritage in the early churches of the Balkans. Later, the Christian St. Demetrius killed the scorpion. Fig. 11. First Justinian, Taurisium Bill, scorpion and suns (swastikas); Boboshevo Church. Kyustendil region, St. Dimier kills a scorpion The above exposition leads to the following conclusion: in the basis of the so-called Roman Mithraism there lies the ritual religion of the Thracian cult to the sun, the God of fertility Sabazios. In the rite, Mithra appears as an 49 element of the cult with the role of a mediator, the god who uses his hand (Fig. 7-1) or act to turn the wheel of time; the god who is the “master of the seasons”, who ritually kills Sabazios so that the new Sun is born – Zagreus. Under Mithra (fig.7-1), there are the characters from the Mithra reliefs – the crow, the snake, the dog – who are expectantly watching what Mithra is doing. In the upper part of the relief, there is the standard scene from the reliefs of the Danubian horsemen and the Mithra reliefs – the funeral urn with the mourning snake (Zagreus) and lion (Dionysus). In ancient iconography, the upright urn is a symbol of death and it is known from many tomb reliefs; the upturned vessel, from which water is pouring, is a symbol of the flowing time, of life. The Mithraeums were built near water sources, Tertullian, On Baptism, writes: “By carrying water around, and sprinkling it, they everywhere expiate country-seats, houses, temples…”. There is no other Mithra relief, on which the Mithraeum-water link is more clearly expressed than the image on the relief of Gorublyane, Bulgaria (fig.12), where there is water pouring from the urns on the left and on the right. Fig.12 The pouring water is a symbol of the passing time. “You cannot enter twice in the same river” – Heraclitus says. The Thracian sanctuaries are often located near springs, the upright urn with the pouring water, a symbol of life, is depicted on many of the reliefs of the Thracian horseman. The Roman interpretation of Mithra as a god related to the course of time gives meaning also to the expression Sol invicto Mithrae – the invincible Sun that belongs to Mithra, to time. The time that kills. 50 Sabazios himself, the personification of the Sun, is a part of the annual time cycle, a part of the times of the year and its devotion to the god of time is something natural. Sabazios is time and it should elapse. Πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲ ν μένει - Heraclitus says – Everything changes and nothing remains still. In the ritual religion of the peoples of the Balkans and Western Asia Minor, the notion of time and its course is expressed by a similarity with the life of man and its three ages – childhood, youth and maturity, to which the seasons of the year are compared, marked by the summer and winter solstice. Fig 13-1 36 13-2 37 12-3 38 12-4 39 The youth Dionysus has laid his foot on a basked (fig. 13.1), from which a snake is coming out, a symbol of his birth as Zagreus. The young ram (the inseminator) and the lion (power) are essential qualitative symbols, which characterise Dionysus. On fig. 13-2, there is again the sun god Dionysus, the symbols of the lion and the ram are on his chest again, but the fire of time gradually turns his feed in hooves, bringing him close to the symbol of Sabazios, the bull. Dionysus' head has a sun nimbus, a moon is shown on his back – everybody carries their future on their shoulders. Of course, such symbols can be characteristic of every cyclic god. On the fragment of “the hand of Sabazios” (fig. 13-3), the elderly man, Sabazios, has set his foot on his past, the symbol of Dionysus, a head of a ram; above him, there is the moon, his present. The last image (fig. 13-4) shows a notion of “the child Zagreus, the young Sabazios” from Asia Minor, a reference to Sabazios with the depicted moon behind its back and the fircone in its left hand. In its right hand, the child is holding a sharp-pointed staff, similar to Dionysus' staff ending with something similar to a fir-cone. As part of the circle of the cyclic annual god, “the young Sabazios” has set his foot on his past, on what he was before being born again – the bull, the symbol of Sabazios. The annual cycles of the time repeat – Zagreus, Dionysus, Sabazios. 51 14-2 40 Fig. 14-1 Various sources state the figure of a Leontocephalus (fig.14-1) as an image of a Mithraic Kronos, Zurwan 41 , representing the infinite time 42 . At the same time, the sculpture features elements, which are typical of Sabazios – blacksmith's tongs and a hammer, a cock, a fir-cone, a caduceus. A caduceus is present also in the hands of the man to the right of the sacrificial altar (fig. 14-2), the messenger's staff from a Mithra relief from the Louvre. 43 In antiquity, the caduceus was the staff of the messenger made of olive or laurel tree, decorated with branches wreathed in the form of “8”. It is identical with the traditional Bulgarian survachka (a stick of cornel-tree twigs decorated with colourful threads) used even nowadays by the children in Bulgaria, with which they celebrate the coming of the New Year. This is what the man from the relief will do with the caduceus – he sets its upper end on fire to be seen during the night. “Surva, surva, New Year!” – the Bulgarian children wish. The Indo-Iranian word suria is translated as brigh, shining; heavenly body, sun. However, Zurwan or Surwan is the name of the Eastern god of the endless time. Who is this Thracian Surwan, marked by the Thracian symbol of life – a snake coiled around it. The heros snake, the defender snake, coiled around the green tree, the symbol of the Spirit of Life in the votive plates of the “Thracian horseman”. Who is this Surwan with a lion's head and four wings of Assyrian cherub 44 , heros, cherubim – a ferocious guardian angel? The heros is a defender, guardian of the living ones, it lives in the other world, the world of the souls – is this the fate of Sabazios who is leaving the real world? 45 52 5. A Feast after Birth, a Memorial Service after Death. On the Mithra relief below, there is a festive table with images of Sol and Mithra, with the characters of the crow, the lion, the snake and the bull, performed by actors with masks. The ritual scene is displayed, now called “a banquet”. Fig.15 46 I add the following two reliefs on the “banquet” topic so that we can understand the meaning of the feast and I will also emphasize on the presence of the lion, the snake and the funeral urn, both on these reliefs and on the reliefs of Mithra killing the bull and the reliefs of the Danubian horsemen.” Fig. 16.1 47 Fig. 16.2 48 53 The funeral urn is present where there is a memorial service and the next fragment of the relief from Heddernheim (fig. 17) clearly shows – the snake (Zagreus) and the lion (Dionysus) 49 mourn over the urn, which symbolises the death of the old sun Sabazios. The snake, the lion and the bull symbolically express the idea of “the three ages” (in this case – of the sun) – childhood, youth and the mature man. In the iconography of the Roman times, the three symbols exist as independent individuals who are born and die, they are celebrated separately or together – the death of the one and the birth of the other. Fig.17 50 The last scene is repeated many times in the images of the Danubian horsemen, which celebrate the ritual “death” of the child, the youth or the mature man, incarnation or initiation when passing into the next age. The “banquet” topic is symbolically presented in the so-called “Sabazios' hands”, where above the scene of the birth in a cave in the presence of the messenger crow, there is a table, symbolising the feast after the birth of the new sun – a feast, known in Bulgaria as “the Christmas Eve Table”. On the table from the sculptures of “Sabazios' hands”, as well as on the image from fig. 18, there are loaves of bread with identical cross-shaped decorations. On fig. 20, the bull and the lion are also depicted, which shows that the scenes of the two sculpture groups feature the same characters. Thematically, the reliefs on “Mithra is killing a bull”, “banquet” and “Sabazios' hands” show one and the same moment and they are used on the same occasion – the celebrations of the birth of the sun and its death, and “Sabazios' hands” – also on the holiday of the summer solstice – the ritual death of Dionysus and the ascent of Sabazios, the god of the second and fruitful part of the year – Sabazios has set his foot on a ram's head, a qualitative (age) symbol of Dionysus. 54 Фиг.18-1 51 18-2 52 18-3 53 18-4 Фиг.19 Fig. 20 On this hand, the symbols of the “three ages” are depicted – the snake, the lion and the bull. 55 6. Thracian Elements of the Mithraeums Some finds in the Mithraeums cannot be explained if not seen through the Thracian rituals. This is the case with the sculpture group (fig. 20-1) of the Walbrook Mithraeum, London, Britain, on which Dionysus is depicted. The presence of Dionysus in a Mithraeum cannot be explained without considering the fact that it is a matter of one and the same character related to the sun – the sun god Dionysus of the Thracians and his hypostatic continuation, the sun god Sabazios. The stele on fig. 21-2, a close copy of the first one, was found in a sanctuary in Bulgaria. Fig. 21-1 54 21-2 55 Richard Goрdon 56 describes a case when near a Mithraeum in Gallia Belgica (Belgium), after the feast, 88 new vessels of imported ceramics from Trier were broken into pieces and buried in a pit. The same case is described by Marleen Martens 57 , accompanied with two wonderful ceramic images of a crater with handles depicting a lion and a snake 58 , an invariable element of scenes from reliefs of both Mithra and of the Danubian horsemen. Sacrificial or memorial pits, in which broken household objects are placed, are a frequent Thracian practice, well described in the specialised literature. On the relief from Heddernheim (fig. 22), there are also other Thracian symbols. In addition to Mithra and the bull, the relief shows also the lion, the snake and the crater; to the right, above Cautes, there is the guardian snake (heros) holding an upright torch, coiled around the symbol of the tree of life – the green tree; a sacred scene from numerous reliefs of the Thracian horseman. 56 Fig. 22 59 According to Porphyry, in the ceremonies, the people playing the lions were required to wash their hands in honey and respectively to “keep their hands pure from everything that causes pain, is harmful and morally offensive”, and then they had to cleanse their tongues “of everything sinful”. This thought is expressed also through the graphics shown on the jasper gemstone from Florence where the lion is shown with a bee in his mouth. Fig. 23-1 60 Fig. 23.2 One digression – the image on the second side of the gem is not standard – the snake is not under the bull, as it is shown on the reliefs, it is in Cautes' hand, the figure to the right, which usually holds the burning torch; the torch 57 of the rising sun is replaced by the image of a snake, the symbol of the sun coming to birth. Both the bull and Mithra from the gem are looking at it. The concept of “clean men” was mentioned several centuries before the occurrence of the Roman Mithraism by Strabo who says that among the Bulgarian Moesi feeding on milk and honey, there are some called “ktistae” 61 , and this word was translated with the present-day Bulgarian word shysti – pure). Bees are shown also on the relief of Sabazios from Copenhagen (фиг.24), and this fact characterises Sabazios himself in the meaning of the depiction on the gem. Fig. 24. The relief from Copenhagen The examples provided show the direct impact of the Balkan element in the development of the Roman Mithraism as a cult to the sun, which explains also the numerous reliefs and sculptures of the Roman Sol at the Mithraeums. In this case, the Eastern Mithra is an element intertwined with a specific different meaning in the Balkan ritual cult to the sun, of which Sabazios is the personification. This was probably a part of ancient Thracian rituals, later expressed on stone by the Thracian warriors in the Roman legions. In the mosaics from the Mithraeum in Ostia (fig. 25-1), along with the Thracian-Phrygian hat, there is a weapon, which cannot be found in neither of the Roman and the Persian armies. In fact, this is not a weapon but a household object used in agriculture and called “koser”, a type of a wheat reaping hook, the progenitor of the Thracian sword “rhomphaia”. It was probably used in the ritual scenes performed at the Mithraeums in relation to 58 fertility – Sabazios himself is the god of fertility, the bulls tail ends with wheat ears. The next element of the Mithraeum in Ostia is again related to fertility (fig. 25-2) – an image with a plough and a coulter. fig. 26 shows Thracian and Dacian analogues of the images from Ostia. Fig. 25-1 Fig. 26-1 62 25-2 26-2 63 26-3 64 Now that we are aware of the symbolic meaning of the lion and the snake, it is not difficult to understand also the meaning of the relief CIMRM 1289 (fig. 27) found near Neuenheim, in immediate proximity of a Mithraeum. 65 According to the description, this is Mithra, accompanied by a snake and a lion, Mithra holding in his hand a globe. It would be so if the „globe” was not elongated and resembling a fir-cone. The presence of the lion and the snake in the context of the above-said renders the relief as an illustration of the three ages – childhood, youth, masculinity – i.e. the figure of the man holding a fir-cone in his hand can only be interpreted within the meaning of our knowledge about Sabazios. 59 Fig. 27 One of the theories about the origin of the Roman Mithraism is the theory about its Balkan origin. In the Roman period, the Balkan legions spread across Europe the Balkan ritual religion to the sun, which later was called Roman Mithraism. Rome turned into stone and bronze a ritual that had existed for ages on the Balkans. And if we put the question – how was Sabazios celebrated in Thrace, the answer would be – see the images of the so-called Roman Mithraism where Mithra is one of the elements of the Thracian ritual religion to the Sun. 7. Mithra's “Persian” Dress 7-1. Mithra on the Balkans and in Asia Minor This topic comes out of the fact that Mithra's clothes are called “Persian”, his “Persian dress” is widely discussed, a Persian analogy is searched for many times. 66 Of course the point is to prove the direct transition of a religion with all of its attributes from Persia. This is far from true. Mithra's dress from the Roman reliefs is widely spread both in the Thracian reliefs of the “Thracian horseman” and in the images of Sabazios, of Orpheus from the same period and also of Attis from Asia Minor, some individual reliefs from Syria, images of Scythians. Mithra is dressed in a single-piece upper garment with a belt and forms a short tunic. A cloak is tied over the shoulders. Mithra often has tightfitting trousers 60 Fig.28 The same type of tunic and cloak are depicted also on the reliefs of the Thracian horseman: Fig. 29Varna Istanbul АМ Fig.30 SofiaАМ Macedonia Ephesus АМ Varna АМ The difference between Mithra and the horseman is only that the horseman is not wearing the traditional Thracian cap, identical to that of Mithra. The Thracian horseman is not a god, he is a human, bringing gifts in front of the God and no one stands with a cap on in front of the God. 61 There are similar clothes of Dionysus-Sabazios on the relief from Razgrad, of Sabazios on the relief from Copenhagen, of the Dacians from the Arch Constantine in Rome. Fig.31 A relief from Razgrad, Bulgaria, Sabazios – Copenhagen, a Dacian warrior from the Column of Constantine The second type of clothes of the Roman Mithra includes a belt sewn under the chest.A knife is often attached to it. On 32-2,3, there is a horned snake depicted. Fig. 32-1 67 32-2 68 32-3 69 32-4 70 This type of Mithra's clothes from the image repeat those of the Thracian Orpheus (Ostia, fig. 33-2) and of Attis – Asia Minor (fir. 34-3). 62 Fig.33-1 71 33-2 72 The images from Germany, Macedonia and Asia Minor (fig. 34) show the same type of clothing with two belts. Fig.34-1 73 34-2 74 34-3 75 The images from fig. 35 are depictions of “the young Sabazios” –Asia Minor and all three images on the back have the typical sign of Sabazios – the Moon. 63 Fig.35-1 76 35-2 77 35-3 The image on fig. 36-1 allows to assess the colours of Mithra's clothes. On fig. 36-1 and fig. 36-2, the numbers indicate the common elements of Mithra's and Orpheus' clothes. The number 1 points to the “belt” at the level of the chest. A sewn green braid, about five cm. wide, marks the decoration on the upper arm (2), the same dress decoration is used also at the wrist (3) and at the end of the garment. The same decoration is used as an edging along the whole front part of the leg (4). The second essential peculiarity are the trousers, tightly fitting the leg. This type of trousers is characteristic of the Thracian and Scythian garments. Against the red background of the trousers on fig. 36-1, yellow spots can be seen; similar figures are present on the trousers shown on fig. 37-1 and 38 – a typical element of the Thracians and Scythians. The edging on the front part of the trousers is also frequently observed. On fig. 39, the vertical edging on the front part of Mithra's trousers is emphasized (fig. 38-1,3 and of a Scythian warrior on a vase from Kerch (fig. 38-2). Fig.36-1 78 36-2 79 64 On the images from the Tomb of Alexandrovo, Bulgaria (fig. 37-1,2) and of a Thracian from a Greek vase (36-1), one can clearly see the trousers tightly fitting the legs, tied to the foot at the front (the end of the edging), which we can see also on multiple images of Scythian warriors, of Mithra. Fig.37-1 37-2 Fig.38-1 80 37-3 38-2 81 38-3 82 The vertical edgings at the front part of the trousers of Orpheus, Mithra and Scythians is so typical that it is transferred also to another type of garment worn by Orpheus and .... Christ, depicted in the 5th century by the Goths of Theoderic in Ravenna, fig. 39-2. (Christ was depicted “in Orpheus style”, as “the good Shepherd”, similarly to the scenes with Orpheus from the catacombs Domitilla and Priscilla.) This fact is indicative of the correlation in the attire of each god and of the people who depicted it. This is so with Christ, as well as with Mithra. Fig. 39-1 83 39-2 84 65 39-3 85 7-2. Тhe Roman Mithra in the East In the huge Archaeological and Orient Museum in Istanbul, you will not find a single image of Mithra in any form. Nevertheless, some images from Dura Europos (Syria), Tarsus and Commagene are used speculatively to prove the transfer of the Roman Mithraism from these regions. Syria is a region at the border between the East and the West, fig. 369 shows images from Dura Europos (39-1) and Palmira (40-2, 3, 4), on which we can see clothes typical of Rome, Greece, Persia and Parthia. Image 40-1 is from the synagogue in Dura Europas but the clothes are identical to those of Orpheus on fig. 36-2. The images on fig. 40-2,3,4 are from Palmira, they are said to be influenced by Parthian elements in the clothing. However, the garment of the figure to the front on fig. 40-4 is not typical of Palmira at all (see the local attire at the background) and again it is close to that of Orpheus from fig. 362. On fig. 40-3 and 40-4 we can find the same front edging as on 36-2 (Orpheus, Roman mosaic Sha'ahba, Siria), 38-2 (Scythian warrior) and 42-1 (Orpheus from Domitilla catacomb). Obviously, Rome brought many examples of the Balkan and Asia Minor culture to the East. Fig 40-1 40-2 40-4 86 40-3 One small detail – the trousers on fig. 39 -4 end with ties, which often start from the front edging of the trousers, passing under the shoes and tied above it, thus holding the trousers stretched. This element has been expressed in the same manner with the horseman from the Tomb of Alexandrovo, fig. 371,2,3. And perhaps this is the only resemblance to Persia where the same tradition exists. Who are the Parthians mentioned above and how did they look like? The first three images on fig.41 present their clothing as the Roman artists perceived it – the figures are from the Arch of Septimius Severus; the cap and the trousers are the same as with the Thracians and the Scythians, the cloak and the garment are considerably longer. Fig. 41-5 shows a similar Phrygian garment. 66 Fig. 41-1 41-2 41-4 87 41-3 41-5 88 In fact, the almost Thracian/Dacian looking attire of the Parthians should not be a surprise for us if it is true what Jordanes said when quoting Pompeius Trogus: “When the king the Getae, Tanaus (a parallel with the Scythian king Tanousas of Dobrudzha) waged war against the Egyptian king Vesoz, on the way back from Egypt, some the Getae stayed in Asia Minor and were called Parthians”. According to Jordanes, in the Scythian tongue “Parthi” means “deserters” 89 . According to Paulus Orosius, this happened 480 years before Rome was founded, i.e. about 1200 BC – at the same time when the Balkan Bryges invade Asia Minor where they were called Phrygians. The Parthians ruled over the fortress of Dura Europas until 165 AD, they created a colony there, with which the historians explain the clothing from fig. 40-1,2,3. However, from 165 until 257, Dura Europas was a Roman fortress and it is natural that the Mithraeum there was built by Roman warriors coming both from Moesia and Thrace, who probably also created a colony. The image of Mithra from the Mithraeum (fig. 42-2) contains elements of the Thracian and Scythian clothing – a decorative edging as the one on the trousers of Orpheus from the Domitilla catacomb (fig. 42-1) and the image of a Scythian vase (fig. 42-3). In this case, there is certain Eastern influence in the design of Mithra's trousers – they are a bit wider. Fig. 42-1 90 42-2 91 67 42-3 Mithra's clothes from the following images from Dura Europas are analogical to the ones shown above – the same type of clothes with the same ornaments. The figures of Sol and Mithra are to the left and to the right of the central one. Someone who is not familiar with this would say that the figure in the middle (43-2) is Mithra – the clothing is of the same type. Fig.43-1 92 43-2 43-3 On the next image fig. 43-2, however, it is visible that this is Orpheus (the catacombs São Pedro e Marcelino, Orpheus as Christ), and the object in the right hand is not a knife but a device used when playing the harp, known from many other images. Obviously, at the beginning of the first millennium neither Mithra, nor Christ were depicted with “Eastern clothes” and Christ was very often identified with Orpheus. Fig. 44 -1 44-2 44-3 The town of Tarsus, now in Turkey, is also said to be a centre of Mithraism in Asia Minor due to the shown coin (fig. 45-1) of the Roman emperor Gordian (238 AD) where “the bull murder” is played. However, this is not the same case. Gordian is wearing a sun crown, the murderer of the bull is also with a crown, which is not typical of the Roman Mithra. Another thing missing is the essential element of the Roman reliefs – the snake. The group rather symbolises Gordion himself as a victor from the East. 68 Fig. 45-1 93 45-2 94 Commagene was a small kingdom within ancient Syria. Antiochus (69 BC – ca. 36 BC), the son of Mithridates I, a descendant of Persian, Armenian and Macedonian dynasties, erected a monument in Commagene – a unified image of Apollo, Mithra, Helios, Hermes (fig. 45-2) as the god “of all people” (known to him). On the relief, Mithra-Apollo is with a nimbus of rays, as Helios is depicted, the clothes resemble those of the Persian Antiochus, the cap is Thraco-Phrygian. The figure perceived as Mithra of the Persian Taq-e Bostan, (fig. 46-1, 180–242 AD) of the Sassanids is depicted with Persian clothes and a nimbus; Mithra, engraved on the coins of the Kushan Empire (46-2) a century earlier, is with a Scythian cloak and a nimbus, from which two strips are coming down, similar to those of Kanishka and the images on the Scythian coins from this region. 46-2 95 Fig.46-1 Clothes, which were worn in Persia proper, could also be shown, however the difference with those of the Roman Mithra is drastically obvious, it is enough if we look at the wall of Persepolis, on which the subjects of the different nationalities make gifts to Darius; we can also make a comparison with a later period – the series sasanian plate (e.g. a king hunting rams), Rock-face relief at Naqsh-e Rustam – the difference is obvious. 69 Fig. 47-1 Images from Persepolis 47-2 Naqsh-e Rustam In the tractates about the Roman Mithraism, Mithra’s cap is called “a Persian tiara”. Nowadays it is called “Thraco-Phrygian”, it was spread over a vast area in ancient times. More detailed research relates it to the religion oriented to the sun, the imitation of the cock’s crest, the symbol of the sunrise 96 . Fig.48-1 48-2 48-3 The image on fig. 48-1 is the Thraco-Phrygian cap from a Mithraeum in Ostia, on 48-2 there is Sabazios from the Razgrad Museum, Bulgaria; the image on fig. 48-3 is from the Kazanlak Tomb, Bulgaria. The next images are of the Thracian Bendis (49-1), of a Thracian from the Istanbul Museum (49-2), of the Scythian king Kanit, Dobrudzha, Bulgaria (45-3), of Attis, Asia Minor (49-4), a Hun warrior as the Chinese during the epoch of the Tang dynasty perceived it (49-5). Fig.49-1 49-2 49-3 70 49-4 49-5 The Persians themselves give another idea of the caps worn by the subjects of the Empire. Fig. 46 shows images from Persepolis, which present the idea of the Persians about what the different people of the multi-national Persian state wore on their heads. Фиг. 50 97 The Roman Mithra has clothes of the Thracians, the Phrygians (settlers to Asia Minor from the Balkans). Probably the Indian Mithra was depicted with the local clothes. In other words, every people creates its god to be like themselves, dresses it with the clothes that are worn by its people. What the Persians themselves depict as their clothing does not infer anything similar to the clothes of the Roman Mithra. This fact raises the dilemma – are the images by artists, showing people who are thousands of kilometres away from them, historical facts or artistic representation? With the Greek artists, there is the phenomenon of borrowing an outer appearance and clothes from their closest “Barbarian” people, whom the Greeks knew very well. There is the prominent case with “a vase of Darius” produced in the Greek Apulia (Italy) around 340—320 BC, on which the Persian clothes are missing and Darius is depicted as a Scythian – with a Thraco-Phrygian cap and Scythian garments. The figures next to Darius are depicted with the same Scythian, barbarian clothes, well-known from the numerous other 71 images of Greek vases. Fig. 51-1,3 – Darius from Persepolis and 51-2 Darius from Apulia. Fig.51-1 51-2 51-3 8. Is the Roman Mithra Persian? The question itself is … idiotic. In the Zoroastrian dualistic concept, the spirit of good creates the original “fiery” bull, the original divine light, while the evil spirit, the Evil (Angra Mainyu, Ahriman) kills it. On the reliefs of the Roman Mithraism, Mithra kills the bull, the bearer of light, however Mithra is not Ahriman. * * * Rome and its Balkan legions constructed cities, which created the material expression of the Balkan religion to the Sun-Sabazio – the “Mithraeums” 98 , and the magnificent reliefs of the bull with a tail of wheat ears that the Thracian Mithra kills; of the mournful lion and snake; of Sabazios “whom the Thracians celebrated with magnificent piety” 99 in the rituals of ZagreusDionysus-Sabazios 100 . 72 Notes 1 Avesta, Chapter IV 13. According to Zoroastrianism, “the endless light is the space of good”. 3 Rigveda, 1. Book 13, verse 46 4 CIMRM 415-416 5 Vatican museum inv. No 12158 6 Paulinus А S. Bartolomaeo, The samscrdamic language, p. 115; Namaste originates from the Sanscrit expression namaste, namaḥ – “a bow, reverence”; namāz in Turkish and Farsi means a prayer. 7 Vatican Museum 8 Csaba Szabó, Searching for the Light-Bearer. Notes on a Mithraic Relief from Dragu, Muzeul judetean Mures, Marisia, Studii si materiale Arheologie, 2012 9 Herodotus, History – Clio, 131, 132 10 http://vehi.net/istoriya/grecia/gerodot/index.shtml, Herodotus, History, Clio, Note 100 11 Porphyry, The Cave of the Nymphs 12 In the Gathas, verses from Avesta, the main gods are: Vohu Manah, Asha Vahishta, Kshatriya, Spenta Ameretat, Haurvatat, Armaita, Spenta Mainyu 13 Pergamon Museum in Berlin 14 1.Franz Cumont, The mysteries of Mithra, Р.135 „The Sun then sent the raven, his messenger …” 2.Literature, Language, and Multiculturalism in Scandinavia and the Low Countries, 259, edited by Wolfgang Behschnitt,Sarah De Mul,Liesbeth Minnaard, „In Greek mythology the raven is the messenger of Apollo or Helios, “light-giver”, 3. Birgit Mara Kaiser Singularity and Transnational Poetics „In Greek mythology the raven is the 'light-giver,' messenger of Apollo or Helios”, 188 стр. 15 A. Joanne GREIG, Layout and orientation of cult sanctuaries (Mithraea) dedicated to the mysteries of the Roman god Mithras: The Mithraeum of Angera was oriented so that the rising sun at the equinox penetrated an aperture above the entrance and illuminated the main cult picture; Bourg-Saint-Andeol Mithraeum Tauroctony looks east across the valley of the Rhone, suggesting that the doorways of the Mithraeum served as crude diaphrames to direct the incoming sunlight onto the tauroctonies. Examples from CIMRM: Mithraeum Caesarea Maritima, Israel: Two shafts in the ceiling are made so that the light in the Mithraeum falls at an angle, one of which admits light during June ever closer to the altar; Mithraeum Hawarte / Hawarti, Syria. There is a horizontal gap in the west wall of the main chamber. Experiments have shown that light through this source will fall on the niche, and specifically on the face of Mithras (if a tauroctony relief of normal proportions was present in it) throughout December and up to January 6th. 16 Marino, Italy 17 Barberini Mithraeum, Rome 18 CIMRM Supplement - Marble relief tauroctony with acanthus-leaf border. Unknown provenance 19 Louvre 20 Macrob. Saturn, I, 18, 1-11 2 73 21 Herodotus, 4–95 Pseudo-Plutarch, About Rivers, Chapter 3 23 Lucian, Dialogues 24 Ancient History of Western Asia, India and Crete, Artia, 1952, p.113 25 Nonnus, Nonn, Dion, VI, 155–223 26 CIMRM, Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae, which represents a collection of inscriptions and records related to the practising and history of Mithraism issued by the Department of Fine Arts and Literature of the Flemish Academy (1947) and compiled and supplemented by Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, was published in The Hague under this title in 1956–60. 27 По подробно в „Елементи на римския митраизъм“ и книгата „Мистерията Митра или мистерията Сабазий“ (и двете имат англоезичен вариант). 28 CIMRM 1472 Сисак, Хърватия 29 Louvre Museum 30 Хенри Шепард, Древнейшая епоха дионисиевой религии, пишейки за Сабазий : „ (Пра)фракийцы и другие, известные сугубо по археологической терминологии, индоевропейские народы эпохи энеолита-бронзы, поклонялись ему, представляемому в образе быка или человека с небольшими бычьими рогами. Результат этого поклонения отчетливо прослеживается в виде культа быка, свойственного ряду индоевропейских культур далеко за пределами территории Нижнего Поднестровья. И, если первоначально данный культ нес сугубо скотоводческо-земледельческую нагрузку, то в дальнейшем с развитием виноделия он переходит в обрядовые действия вакхического характера, соответственно трансформируясь в элементы верования связанного с поклонением Дионису.” Диодор Сицилийски, Историческа библиотека. IV, 4, 1:” Този Дионис, когото някой наричат Сабазий….. е изобразяван с рога.” 31 Louvre Museum 32 Marble group of the second century, British Museum 33 https://sites.google.com/a/hellenicgods.org/www/demeter-epithets , Ohriphóros (horephorus; Gr. ὡρηφόρος, ΩΡΗΦΟΡΟΣ) Lexicon entry: ὡρηφόρος, ον, leading on the seasons, or bringing on the fruits in their season, epith. of Demeter, Homeric Hymn Demeter lines 54, 192, 492, Orph.Fr.49.102. (L&S p. 2037, left column) 34 Георги Митрев, Дионисиевите таиси в римска провинция Македония – традиции и нововъведения 35 Николай Тодоров, Български именник в стара и нова Европа 36 Triumph of Dionysos, Sarcophagus, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 260– 270 Phrygian marble, 37 CIMRM 695-696 38 Melbourne museum, Pompei 39 British Museum 40 CIMRM 641 41 Zaehner, Richard Charles (1940). "A Zervanite Apocalypse". 42 The Middle Persian name derives from Avestan zruvan-, "time". 43 The caduceus, as the staff of the messenger or the herald, is known from Thucydides' description, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book One, 53, Translation: Milcho Mirchev, 1979. Quintus Curtius Rufus, Book Three, “Histories of Alexander the Great” 22 74 44 The Assyrian term for the defending spirit heros is karabu, the Akkadian –kuribu, the Babylonian – karabu, Latin cherub[us], cherubi[m] (cherub). 45 About Heros, see Peter Georgiev, The Mysteries of Mithra or The Mysteries of Sabazios, book two, The Thracian Heros. 46 CIMRM 1896 Sarajevo, Archaeological Museum 47 Hrvatska - Proložac 48 Portugal AM 49 See„The Mysteries of Mithra or The Mysteries of Sabazios 50 CIMRM 1083 51 Melbourne museum, Pompei 52 Seint Luis art museum 53 British Museum. 54 CIMRM 822-823 - Dionysius, Silenus &c., from Walbrook Mithraeum, London, Britain. 55 Varna Archaeological Museum 56 Richard Goedon, Institutionalized Religious Options: Mithraism 57 Marleen Simonne Marie-Claire Martens, Life and culture in the Roman small town of Tienen 58 Similar to the one from the Museum of Cologne. 59 CIMRM 1083 60 Hristopher A. Faaraone, The Amuletic Design of the Mithraic, Drawing after Maffei (1707), pl. 217.2 61 Strabo, Geography 62 Еxhibit the museum in Samokov, Bulgaria, 63 Еlement of the column of Trajan 64 Ancient thracian falx, https://www.etsy.com/listing/290853893/ancient-thracian-falxbattle-blade-hand 65 Heidelberg, Kurpfalzisches Museum, Inv. No. 915. 66 М.García Sánchez The dress and colour of Mithraism: Roman or Iranian garments? 67 CIMRM 74 - The Mithraeum at Sidon 68 CIMRM Supplement - Mithraeum II - Tauroctony. Köln, Germany 69 CIMRM Supplement - Marble relief tauroctony with acanthus-leaf border. Unknown provenance 70 CIMRM Supplement - Mithraeum. Vulci, Italy. 71 CIMRM 650-651, Diocletian museum in Rome, Nersae/Nesce, Italy 72 Ostia Antica, Cyriacus-Sarkophag 73 Roman grave relief showing a shepherd, left of the south portal of the subsidiary church Saint Mary at Maria Feicht, municipality Glanegg, district Feldkirchen 74 Attis, Makedonia, Louvre 75 Roman Attis Statuette 1st-2nd century AD. 76 MFA Boston, Votive relief from Asia Minor (2nd century AD) 77 Roman Statuette, The Anatolian Moon God, 2nd Century AD 78 Mitreo di Capua antica (Santa Maria Capua Vetere) 79 Sha'ahba, Siria 80 Marino, Italy 81 Scythian warriors, on an electrum cup from the Kul-Oba kurgan burial near Kerch 75 82 CIMRM 1400 Sterzing tauroctony, Austria Antakya (Antioch,) Hatay, Turkey, Archeological Museum 84 Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna 85 Rome, Catacomb of San Callisto 86 One small detail – the front edge of the trousers is tied to the lower part of the shoes. The same fixation method was used by the Thracians as seen at the Tomb of Alexandrovo – fig. 29-1, 29-2. The front part of the foot is even sharply pointed downwards, obviously this edging-tie structure is used for support when riding similarly to the present-day stirrup. 87 British museum 88 Frygian, Louvre, 2 ac. 89 Jordanes, Getica, 47 90 Christ as Orpheus, Domitilla catacomb 91 CIMRM 44 92 CIMRM 49 93 CIMRM 30 94 CIMRM 30 95 CIMRM 1 96 Petar Georgiev, The Thracians Who Created Christianity 97 Persepolis - ApadanaPictures of the People of the Persian Empire http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/Elam/Persepolis_menu.htm 98 With the Thracians, such places for feasts were known under the name of Herions. 99 Macrobius, (Macrob. Saturn, I, 18, 1-11) 100 Alexander Fol “The Thracian Dionysus, Zagreus”. The Thracian Dionysus, Sabazios”, University Publishing House, Sofia, 1994 83 76