Roman Mithraism

19. yüzyılın sonu itibariyle başlayan Mitra kültü araştırmaları günümüze dek çok farklı yöntemlerle ele alınmıştır. Mithra kültünü araştıran ilk bilim insanı olarak kabul edilen Franz Cumont'un ortaya attığı tezler yaklaşık 50 yıl sorgulanmadan kabul edilmişse de sonraki süreçte bu teze karşı birtakım itirazlar yükselmiştir. 1950'li yıllarda Stig Wikander ile başlayan Cumont tezine dair eleştiriler, 1971 yılında yapılan Mithra Araştırmaları Kongresi ile zirve yapmıştır. Düzenlenen bu kongre sonrası Mithra araştırmalarında Cumont tezi hâkim paradigma olmaktan çıkmış ve bilim insanları bu teze alternatifler üretmeye çalışmışlardır. Roma Devleti tarih sahnesinde ilk belirdiği zamandan itibaren pagan kültürün temelleri üzerine kurulmuştur. Farklı dini sistemlere hoşgörüyle yaklaştığı bilinen ve hatta bazı araştırmalara göre Hıristiyanlık karşısında tutunamamasının en büyük sebebinin bu hoşgörü olduğu iddia edilen paganizmin Roma Devleti bünyesinde benimsenmiş olması farklı bölgelere ait çok çeşitli dini organizasyonların devlet içerisine intikal etmesine neden olmuştur. Bunun sonucunda da Roma İmparatorluğu içerisinde birçok doğu dini ve kültü kendine yer bulmuştur. Gizem dini olması bağlamında üzerinde farklı yorumların yapıldığı, kökeni ve nasıl yayıldığı konusunda tam bir konsensüsün olmadığı görülen Mithra kültü de Roma İmparatorluğu sınırları içerisinde yayılım göstermiş bir doğu gizem kültü olarak ele alınmaktadır.

The investigations carried out in the last years in the district outside Porta Marina at ancient Ostia begin to clarify not only the development of the coastal landscape, but also the dynamic forms of urbanization that unfold from the 1st century BC until the 4th century
AD. At the end of the 4th century, this suburban area was
transformed into one of those « sordid places » cited by a well known inscription, where prestigious buildings such as the sumptuous one explored by G. Becatti or the Marciana Baths stood side by side with dark workshops and remote meeting places. In this context, a caupona, designed ex novo and built in the middle of the 3rd century, was renovated and adapted for the needs of a Mithraic community. The building, called « Mithraeum of colored marbles », was endowed with a very special worship hall with a marble pavement and walls plastered and painted in imitation of fine marbles. The interpretation of the building as well as the refinement of its chronology are made particularly complex not only
because of the uniqueness of the monument, but also by the specific complexity of the stratigraphic sequence, largely conditioned by the activities of robbery implanted in the site after the year 1000.

After the publication of the book “The Mysteries of Mithra or the Mysteries of Sabazios” in 2016, a few other materials on the topic were published and this book is intended to summarise them. The collection consists of three thematically related texts and this is why there are repetitions – an inevitable fact, for which I would like to apologise. 


  Although focused on the Roman Mithraism, this book is actually an analysis of the symbolic language of the material monuments of the Roman period – the so-called Mithra reliefs, Sabazios’ hands, reliefs of Dionysus, and of the Thracian and Danubian Horseman.

  The reliefs and sculpture compositions shown use the same symbolic language.

  The compositions are also thematically synonymous – generally, they are an expression of religious piety and homage to the ritual religion of the Sun in its three hypostases – Zagreus, Dionysus, Sabazios.

MITHRA’S INTERACTION WITH ANATOLIA

Mithra which is a divinity associated with sunlight and worshipped by ancient Aryan communities for centuries, appears as the most worshipped and widespread belief among Ancient Pagan Religions. Although his first appearance was in areas where Aryan communities resided, he maintained his evolution in Indian and Iranian regions. Chronologically, Mithra is first seen in Vedas that appeared as oral sources in India around 1800 BC. For the first time in written form, Mithra is found in Anatolia. In a treaty text between Hittites and Mitannis in 1400s BC, Mithra appears as the god of treaty/agreement.
There are evidences referring to worship of Mithra in Anatolia in Achaemenid era. Mithra interacted with local, Greek and Roman beliefs, thereby enriching his own characteristic qualities while contributing to increase of religious diversity of Anatolia. Mithra, thanks to being Sun, Treaty and War god, whichever geography he went, he was identified with other gods who had similar features. Mithra taking a syncretic form during the Hellenistic period experienced some important changes within himself with encountering Rome in Anatolia. Due to being War god Mithra widely worshipped among Roman soldiers, retreated into underground caves by transforming into a mystic religion.
Cult of Mithra which had a significant position in Anatolian religion history of pre-Christian period was worshipped a long time in this geography. In this study in which the mutual interaction between the geography of Anatolia, an important transition statues of communities, cultures and beliefs from past to present and Mithra cult, certain findings will be revealed with taking into consideration antique, numismatic, archeologic and modern sources.

Franz CUMONT (1869 - 1947) se erige desde sus primeros trabajos científicos como el verdadero pionero y especialista en los estudios mithraicos en la primera mitad del siglo XX, arrancando con los dos monumentales volúmenes de su estudio maior tituladoTextes et monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra (1896 y 1899), así como la síntesis Les mystères de Mithra (primera edición de 1900 y la tercera, definitiva, ampliada y corregida, en 1913, en la que se basa la presente traducción). Aún hoy, transcurrido más de un siglo, han de ser tenidas en cuenta estas investigaciones sobre Mithras, para enriquecer, discutir o incluso negar las hipótesis que el sabio belga desplegó en estos y otros estudios mithraicos menores posteriores, de los que aquí ofrecemos 12 ejemplos, publicados después de 1915 y hasta el año de su muerte. Estos trabajos permiten también vislumbrar la evolución de sus teorías sobre el dios iranio al hilo de los nuevos descubrimientos. Durante la vida de Cumont, el estudio de la religión de Mithras estaba «en construcción», y hoy es justo conocer y reconocer la herencia dejada tras muchos años de paciente y constante estudio de esta religión.

The sacrifice of the sacred bull/calf deep in the underground cave, underlines the dualistic nature of the Mitraic Cult. The sacred bull was in its true nature a fetishist manifestation - phallus, of a multitude-form creator solar deity, a symbol of the sky and heavens, which through this ritual sacrifice ejaculates its seeds (blood) of life. While the underground cave , where Mitra was born from a stone, symbolized the interior (uterus) of the mother earth, which is about to be fertilized by the blood/seed of the celestial bull deep inside her.  The death was the symbolic rebirth in the same time, as the sexual culmination is often compared with the “small death.”
This symbolic sexual “penetration” of the celestial bull/phallus deep into the underground womb of the mother earth, can be deduced also from the unmistakably Phallus-like shape of the Mitraeums, the cave-like shrines of Mitra, where at the end of each the altar represented the ‘glans’ of these penis-shaped structures, and where the “celestial sperm” was spilled in the form of the bull’s blood. Moreover, in the famous Ostia’ Mitraeum in Italy, where was performed the symbolic “ejaculation” of the sacrificial seed  (i.e. bull’s blood and most probably the real ejaculation of the adepts and Paters, which was mixed with the “celestial seed” of the slain bull), there’s a very intuitive and proper inscription in Latin: “FELICISSIMUS EXVOTO” - ‘a maximum felicity from a vow’, with an urn-vessel (a mosaic image on the floor) for the ejection of the spilled blood/semen.
Mitraism was actually the most Chauvinistic and primitive predecessor of the 10th century dualistic movements, Bogomilism/Catharism and later Protestantism...

This very article is dedicated to Pagan Armenian temple of Garni, one of the most unique and exceptional surviving masterpieces of ancient Hellenistic architecture that was dedicated to Armenian Sun god Mihr and Hellenistic Sun god Mithra. Article extensively covers the history of the monument since prehistory, Urartian period through times of Paganism in Armenia, as well as painstakingly presents all related aspects of Mithraism in ancient Armenia, Asia Minor, Rome and elsewhere in the ancient world. Many remarkable historical events are brought to readers' attention, as well as numerous ingenious artifacts and examples of various artistic forms of Armenian Mithraic worship are shown in greater details. Article is quite informative in terms of unfolding the most interesting history of Garni as the unique monument complex of ancient Armenia, comprising from mighty fortress, royal summer residence palaces, baths decorated with rich mosaics and pagan temple of the Sun dedicated to god Mihr/Mithra. Photographic examples of writings in Urartian cuneiform, Greek and Armenian languages found in Garni and its immediate vicinities also shown to readers. Article is aimed to be as informative and useful as possible, with immediate scientific task of uncovering many interesting and intriguing aspects of ancient world’s Hellenistic Pagan Architecture and Mithraic Pagan Religion in ancient Armenia and many other parts of ancient world.

Il progetto che viene presentato all'interno di questa Tesi di Specializzazione costituisce un ulteriore passo in avanti nella ricerca affrontata nel corso della mia carriera universitaria nel campo della comunicazione dei Beni archeologici attraverso l'uso delle Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Obiettivo del progetto è quello di realizzare due guide multimediali, una dedicata ad un generico pubblico adulto e un'altra rivolta ad un'utenza in età scolare, attraverso l'utilizzo di izi.TRAVEL, una piattaforma web lanciata nel 2013 che permette di creare e condividere audioguide e audiotours senza che però l'ideatore possegga conoscenze specifiche di programmazione informatica.
Tuttavia il presente lavoro non ha solamente questo precipuo intento: attraverso questa trattazione s'intende far comprendere al lettore come l'utilizzo di un modello comunicativo differente rispetto a quello solitamente utilizzato dalle istituzioni culturali non comprometta la ricezione del messaggio culturale che il Bene culturale sottende, ma anzi aumenti la possibilità che lo stesso venga trasmesso e compreso dall'utente.

This paper examines four Roman units of weight discovered in the archaeological complex provisionally known as “domus of the Mithraeum” in Tarquinia, respectively during the 2016 and 2017’s campaigns.
At least two of them can be likely linked to production areas of the large Roman “domus of the Mithraeum”; thus mirroring other contexts where Roman weights come from rich private households or public buildings.

Pragmatic cognitive science, rooted in Dewey's epistemology and models of distributed cognition, offers new hypotheses for the emergence and decline of the Mithraic rites. These models foreground the responsiveness of the rites to their economic and social environment, generating new form-meaning pairs through multimodal engagements inside the Mithraic caves. These moments of cognitive blending answered the needs of the early social catchment of the rites, which was predominantly freedmen and soldiers benefitting from the upward mobility of the thriving second century CE. Within the caves, multimodal engagements with the triumph of light over dark-physical movement, imagery, gesture, role playing, and interaction with cult equipment-aligned the experience of the initiate with Mithras' cosmological triumph. The caves are also a confluence of mechanisms for social mobility that were broadly familiar in the imperial period, including patronage, symposia, engagement with exotic cultural forms and philosophical speculation. The decline of the rites was coincident with the dissolution of the economic opportunities that enabled the rise of the Roman middle class and of the social currency of these practices. The language of euergetism yielded to the language of service to the poor, and the cosmological imagery that characterized the caves shifted into the restricted spheres of exchange among competing princes. This model of the rites suggests dynamics with Christianity focused less on theology than on responsiveness to the economic and social transformations of the fourth and fifth centuries CE.

It is known that many mithraea were found in Ostia. After their publication by Giovanni Becatti, more than sixty years ago, the research on Mithraism in such an important site has found today new life thanks to the excavations of the Ostia Marina Project of the University of Bologna and to the discovery of the so-called Mithraeum of colored marbles, which owes its name to the very particular marble pavement found in the spelaeum. Starting from this discovery, the pavements of the numerous known mithraea in Ostia are pre- sented here. Their analytical study allows us to outline the peculiar characteristics of these sacred spaces and to reconstruct the furnishings of the rooms. Moreover, this analysis offers useful elements to understand the ritual forms of one of the most widespread cults in the Roman Empire between the 2nd and the 4th century AD.

In 2014, during the archaeological investigations carried out by the University of Bologna (Department of History and Cultures-Section of Archaeology), within the Ostia Marina Project, in the suburban neighborhood out of Porta Marina (block IV, ix), a new building has been found with outstanding Mithraic features. The building, for the special type of the marble floor of the spelaeum, has been conventionally called the "Mithraeum of colored marbles". The spelaeum has a single bench, a ritual well and a flowerbed for a sacred plant. It differs clearly both in form and size from the typical patterns of the mithraea discovered until now in ancient Ostia. On the basis of the currently available data, a very late chronology (end of 4th century AD) can be proposed for the building.

The aim of the article is to cast a light on the nature of the cult of Mithras in Central Italy, focusing on the administrative division of Roman Etruria. Indeed, the Regio VII has emerged as a privileged territory to explore different aspects of the cult, due to the great variety of its artefacts.
Hence, a model of diffusion of the Mithraic marble religious artifacts across the region and through the Roman main viability is presented, highlighting its dependence on public officials, responsible for both spreading government-endorsed iconographies and managing the Imperial marble industry.
Consequently, the active role played by the Imperial administration in promoting the Mithras worship in Etruria is discussed, as well as the cult diffusion among the lower classes and (by the Middle/Late Empire) the aristocratic élites.
The last phases of the cult within the region are also explored, showing how the Mithraic spelaea were dismissed according to a variety of different modalities during the first decades of the 5th century AD, ranging from violent destruction to pacific abandonment of their structures.

n the recently revived debate on the possible involvement of women in the Mithraic cult the main points of contention are the value and reliability of limited archaeological and epigraphic evidence and of two passing references to women's involvement in works by Porphyry and Tertullian. At one end of the spectrum, Richard Gordon proposed an alternate "Mithraic" world that not only excluded women but also subverted the female principle entirely. At the other end, Jonathan David challenged the claim that women were excluded from the Mithraic cult and proposed the possibility of lea and mater grades. The first part of this paper tackles the vexed issue of "evidence" by conducting a more thorough and stringent review of the physical evidence than that offered by David on this subject. The conclusion that none of this evidence is unequivocally Mithraic is hardly new; the aim is to put the debate to rest. The second part of this paper explores Porphyry's distinct but ambiguous reference to women as "hyenas" in the context of the Mithraic cult. In this section Gordon's theory of an alternate Mithraic reality is modified in order to reconcile numerous female sex and gender associations apparent in the iconography of the tauroctony scene.

The investigations carried out in the last years by the Ostia Marina Project (University of Bologna – Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà) in the neighborhood outside Porta Marina at ancient Ostia begin to clarify not only the development of the coastal landscape, but also the dynamic forms of urbanization that unfold from the 1st century B.C. until the 4th
century A.D. At the end of the 4th century this suburban area was transformed in one of those ‘sordid places’ cited by a well-known inscription, where prestigious buildings such as the sumptuous building explored by Giovanni Becatti or the Marciana Baths stood side by side with dark workshops and remote meeting places. In this context a caupona, ex-novo designed and built in the middle of the 3rd century, was renovated and adapted for a Mithraic community. The building, called ‘Mithraeum of coloured marbles’, was endowed with a very
special worship hall with a marble pavement and walls plastered and painted in imitation of fine marbles. The interpretation of the building as well as the refinement of its chronology are made particularly complex not only because of the uniqueness of the monument, but also by the specific complexity of the stratigraphic sequence, largely conditioned by the activities of robbery implanted in the site after the year 1000.

A Mithraeum always has long benches, which were called praesepiae, "places where cattle are fed in a stall" (CIMRM 233). The name is inappropriate for a dining room, which was usually called, instead, triclinium. Mithraeum is the current modern name, whereas the ancients called it spelaeum, ant-rum, templum. Another important name was Leonteium, which was not a separate cultic place for Leones only, because Porphyry states that the members of a Mithraic community were the Leones and the servants were called Korakes, the Ravens (Porphyr. de abst. 4. 16). The Mithraic menu apparently consisted of meat rather than of vegetables, even though one should take into account the fact that bones are better preserved than vegetables in an archaeological site, and therefore they are often published, whereas vege-tal remains had never been investigated by means of chemical analyses. Lions are notoriously carnivo-rous and the praesepiae had to be filled with meat for the Leones. The initiation of Leones was supposed to be dry and fiery (Tert. Adv. Marcionem I 13), and we are also told that the Mithraic Leones avoided water for their purifications and washed their hands with honey (Porph. De antro 15-16). Moreover, a lion and a snake are often depicted on Mithraic reliefs as going to drink from a crater. It is possible to get some information from those facts about what Leones were used to drinking during their symposia: they were thirsty but their drink could not be water, but eventually, wine was permitted. Iustin. Apol. I 66 speaks of a cup of water, but only to mention some ritual acts during initiations and not during symposia.

This book is the first full cognitive history of an ancient religious practice. In this ground-breaking study on one of the most intriguing and mysterious cults, Olympia Panagiotidou, with contributions from Roger Beck, shows how cognitive historiography can supplement our historical knowledge and deepen our understanding of past cultural phenomena.

The cult of the sun god Mithras, which spread widely across the Graeco-Roman world at the same time as other 'mystery cults', offered its devotees certain images and assumptions about reality. Initiation into the mysteries of Mithras and participation in the life of the cult significantly affected and transformed the ways in which the initiated perceived themselves, the world, and their position within it. The cult's major ideas were conveyed mainly through its symbolic complexes. The ancient written testimonies and other records are not adequate to establish a definitive reconstruction of Mithraic theologies and the meaning of its complex symbolic structures.

The Roman Mithras Cult identifies the cognitive and psychological processes which would have taken place in the minds and bodies of the Mithraists during their initiation and participation in the mysteries, enabling the perception, apprehension, and integration of the essential images and assumptions of the cult in its worldview system.

Mithras, Mithraism & Mithraic Mysteries: All Ancient Greek and Latin Texts Relating to Mithras and the Mithraists
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 7η Μαΐου 2019.
Αναδημοσίευση από το https://www.tertullian.org/ όλων των αρχαιοελληνικών και λατινικών κειμενικών αναφορών στον Μίθρα. Οι αρχαίες ιρανικές ιστορικές πηγές των αχαιμενιδικών, αρσακιδικών και σασανιδικών και οι αναφορές των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και Ρωμαίων στον Μίθρα μας βοηθούν τόσο στην ανασύσταση της τρομερής θρησκευτικής διαπάλης των αχαιμενιδικών χρόνων (550-330) ανάμεσα στον Ζωροαστρισμό και τον Μιθραϊσμό, όσο και στην κατανόηση της μεγάλης άγνοιας των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και Ρωμαίων σχετικά με τις θρησκείες του Ιράν. Με άλλα λόγια, οι Αρχαίοι Έλληνες και Ρωμαίοι δεν στάθηκαν ικανοί να διακρίνουν την τρομερή αντιπαλότητα των Ζωροαστριστών και Μιθραϊστών Ιρανών με τους οποίους συνδιαλέγοντο. Έτσι, η τεράστια σύγχυση σχετικά με το αχαιμενιδικό Ιράν διατηρήθηκε επί μακρόν και επέδρασε αρνητικά στις ρωμαιοϊρανικές σχέσεις κατά τα αρσακιδικά και τα σασανιδικά χρόνια. Αυτή η σύγχυση βρήκε την συνέχειά της στα χριστιανοϊσλαμικά χρόνια, όταν οι Ρωμιοί ιστορικοί δεν μπορούσαν να εννοήσουν τις θρησκευτικές, ψυχικές-πνευματικές, μυστικιστικές και θεολογικές έριδες οι οποίες εκδηλώθηκαν εντός του ισλαμικού χαλιφάτου.
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First republished on 24th November 2021 here:
https://medium.com/@megalommatis/μίθρας-μιθραϊσμός-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρια-όλα-τα-αρχαία-ελληνικά-και-λατινικά-κείμενα-που-αναφέρονται-daced093cb3

One mark of the interest attached to the god Mithra is the line of studies dating back to the Ro-man period. It was, however, during the Renaissance that the accidental discovery of sculptural pieces of a Mithraic subject attracted the interest of researchers, who sought to identify the bull-killing divinity. Between the 16 th and 18 th centuries, this field of research reoriented itself to the solar

El interés que ha suscitado la figura del dios Mitra ha dejado como reflejo estudios que se remontan al periodo romano. Sin embargo, a partir del Renacimiento el descubrimiento casual de piezas escultóricas de asunto mitraico, atrajo el interés de investigadores que indagaron en sus escritos sobre la identidad de la divinidad que aparecía matando un toro. Durante los siglos XVI al XVIII, la temática

The sculpture compositions – those of the Thracian votive plates, the hands of Sabazios, reliefs from the so-called Roman Mithraism and Danubian riders – use the same symbolic language; the compositions are thematically synonymous – the reflect the religious worship of and homage to the Sun in its three hypostases – Zagreus, Dionysus, Sabazios.

Dura Europos, the Perfect Model of Multiculturalism: Aramaeans, Greeks, Parthians, Romans and Persians in Unique Religious Syncretism by the Euphrates
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “Ρωμιοί και Ρωμανία στους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 25η Νοεμβρίου 2019
Στο κείμενό του αυτό, ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει τα βασικά σημεία μιας ομιλίας μου στο Πεκίνο τον Ιανουάριο του 2019 αναφορικά με τους Αραμαίους, κυριώτερο ιστορικό έθνος των Δρόμων του Μεταξιού, τα αραμαϊκά οικονομικά και πολιτισμικά κέντρα κατά μήκος των εμπορικών δρόμων μεταξύ της Ρ'ωμης και της Κίνας, και τον ρόλο τους στην διάδοση θρησκειών από την Ανατολή στην Δύση. Το κυρίως θέμα είναι εν προκειμένω η Δούρα Ευρωπός.
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First republished on 26th December 2021 here:
https://medium.com/@megalommatis/έλληνες-πάρθες-ρωμαίοι-και-πέρσες-σε-μοναδικό-θρησκευτικό-συγκρητισμό-δίπλα-στον-ευφράτη-74529496ba81

Este artículo se centra en el altar mitraico recuperado en Tróia, cuyo vaciado se conserva en el Museo Nacional de Arqueología en Lisboa (nº inv. 997.50.1). Dado que el original se halla en manos privadas, hecho que ha dificultado su acceso, proponemos una reflexión sobre el uso del color en los Misterios de Mitra con el objetivo de indagar en aquellos aspectos que han sido relegados por la bibliografía tradicional.  Para ello, trazaremos paralelos con otros altares de iconografía similar y estudiaremos aquellas manifestaciones mitraicas que han conservado la policromía con el fin de abrir nuevas vías de investigación en el fenómeno religioso y acercarnos a una reconstrucción fidedigna del altar en cuestión. 
Palabras clave: Misterios de Mitra – Lusitania - Tróia – Iconografía – Policromía

The iconographic representation of the god mithra is linked to his image wearing a type of clothing that has traditionally been called "oriental dress" or "Persian dress". Within this way of dressing, the presence of the trousers (anaxyrides) reached a certain prominence, due to its cultural impact. This garment had received a pejorative connotation from Greek times at the moment of defining the Achaemenian barbarian al-terity and later this vision was assumed by the Romans, transferred to their enemies the Parthians. There are several contexts in which the followers of Mithra could assume their presence within the Mithraic context. We propose with this paper to clarify what really means this category and what could be the reaction that from the Mithraic cult was exercised before one of the pieces that were part of these clothes: the trousers.

Among the works of Rudyard Kipling, there are several short stories set in the Roman World that feature characters who are members of the cult of Mithras. These stories also involve Christian characters, but while the Mithraic initiates are loyal servants of the Roman Empire, the Christians create and attract disorder. The aim of this article is to explore why Kipling chose to make the heroic characters of these stories Mithraic initiates, and present the Christians in a less positive light. It will be argued that Kipling was attacking Christian evangelicals, who he disliked due to his experiences at the hands of one as a child, and also because of the difficult relationship between Christian missionaries and British imperial administrators, especially in the aftermath of the 1857 Indian Mutiny. In contrast, Kipling’s Mithras cult acknowledges that there are ‘many ways to the light’, and, moreover, by inferring that there are many similarities between the cult of Mithras and Christianity, Kipling hoped to urge evangelical Christians to moderate their behaviour and use his depiction of the Mithras cult as an example of how to better approach religious diversity within the Empire.

Cet article retrace la vie de Jean de Menasce comme historien des religions, théologien et philosophe. Pour ce faire, les contributions les plus significatives de ce dominicain, spécialiste des religions de l’Iran pré-islamique, dans ces trois domaines du savoir sont passées en revue et sa place dans la science de son temps précisée, en recourant à ses échanges épistolaires avec quelques-uns de ses contemporains, en particulier le savant belge Franz Cumont, dont la correspondance avec Jean de Menasce, en grande partie inédite, fait l’objet d’une attention particulière.

The Mithraeum of Dura Europos: where Aramaeans, Greeks and Romans accepted an Iranian Religion
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 26η Νοεμβρίου 2019. Αποτελεί συνέχεια των προηγουμένων κειμένων του τα οποία έχουν ήδη αναδημοσιευθεί εδώ:
"Δούρα Ευρωπός, το Τέλειο Πρότυπο Πολυπολιτισμικότητας: Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Πάρθες, Ρωμαίοι και Πέρσες σε Μοναδικό Θρησκευτικό Συγκρητισμό δίπλα στον Ευφράτη" https://www.academia.edu/66009699/Έλληνες_Πάρθες_Ρωμαίοι_και_Πέρσες_σε_Μοναδικό_Θρησκευτικό_Συγκρητισμό_δίπλα_στον_Ευφράτη
και
"Δούρα Ευρωπός, οι Ιουδαίοι Αραμαίοι, η Συναγωγή και η Νεώτερη Ψευτοϊστορία των Σιωνιστών"
https://www.academia.edu/66138539/Δούρα_Ευρωπός_οι_Ιουδαίοι_Αραμαίοι_η_Συναγωγή_και_η_Νεώτερη_Ψευτοϊστορία_των_Σιωνιστών
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First republished on 29th December 2021 here:
https://medium.com/@megalommatis/το-μιθραίο-της-δούρας-ευρωπού-όπου-αραμαίοι-έλληνες-και-ρωμαίοι-αποδέχθηκαν-μια-ιρανική-θρησκεία-53a51ac1449