An exhibition at the Musée Saint-Raymond explores the Roman cult of Mithras. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more about this enigmatic religion.…
Welcome
There are some things we can say with certainty about the Roman god Mithras. We know, for instance, that this wonderfully enigmatic deity flourished between the 1st and 4th centuries AD, but was inspired by the much more ancient Indo-Iranian god Mithra. We know that his cult was popular among Roman soldiers and merchants, who attended secretive torchlit rituals in cave-like underground temples now known as ‘mithraea’. We know that Mithraism had a serious spiritual side, but also acted as a social network, with worshippers undergoing a complex system of initiations, and partaking of communal ritual meals. And we know…
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Opinion
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The Picture Desk
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