Sites associated with the Roman mystery cult of Mithras, known mainly through archaeological remains of its underground temples rather than through texts written by initiates, since the cult's teachings were themselves kept from outsiders. Sacred sites are grouped by tradition at a fine grain here, so a heading can be narrow without that saying anything about the tradition's own reach.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingMithraea - small, deliberately cave-like rooms for a graded initiatory cult of men, built wherever the Roman army and the imperial administration went. The cult left no scripture: what is known of its meaning is reconstructed from its architecture and its images, above all the bull-slaying scene set at the end of every one of these rooms. 2 Attestation
Era of AttestationMithraea are archaeologically attested from the late first century CE to about the end of the fourth. There is no material evidence for the cult before that, and the older claim of direct descent from Iranian Mithra worship is not supported by the finds, whatever the god's name owes to Iran. 2 Learn More
Mithraic sacred sites
This small group holds a sacred site of the Roman cult of Mithras, a mystery religion popular in the Roman army, whose worshippers met in cave-like temples (mithraea) centred on the image of Mithras slaying the bull. The cult was secretive and its meaning is reconstructed largely from its art.
The browser will find the site the atlas classes here. The entry describes what is known of the mysteries of Mithras and this place within them.
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Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His Mysteries
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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