Mithraism

The word enthusiasm is derived from the Greek ἐνθουσιασμός/enthousiasmos and has a meaning of being possessed by a god (ἔνθεος/entheos) referring to θειασμός/theiasmos, ‘inspiration’.  The person who is possessed by a god surpasses their normal state of being and ascends to a higher plane or ἔκστασις/ekstasis. This state of being is caused by breathing in vapours, drinking elixirs, or by frantic dancing, through which the gods enter the body. During the Homeric Age in Greece, enthousiasmos was connected to ecstatic prophecies and rituals, such as the Pythia, the Dionysian bacchanals, the dances of the Maenads. In the post-Homeric Age, Plato (ca. 427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC) shifted the meaning of enthousiasmos towards the artistic inspiration of poets.
Even today, we use ‘enthusiasm’ to describe a special energy that can suddenly overwhelm us: an affect of rapture that radiates out towards the audience. Yet, through the ages, the concept has not always carried with it the positive connotations of the ancient Greeks. Along the way, enthusiasm and rapture became contaminated with (religious) fanaticism and even with manipulative deceit.
In his book Philosophie und Enthusiasmus, Bernd Bösel asks why we so often view enthusiasm as a suspicious affect in the modern-day intellectual context.  He thinks the reason is found in the Zweikampf between enthusiasm and melancholy on the one hand, and enthusiasm and reason on the other.  According to the author, the first conflict is situated on the vertical scheme of the mood, which holds the extremes of highs and lows, as with the pathological diagnoses of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and even psychosis.  The second conflict polarises enthusiasm with reason, making enthusiasm an emotion that hinders rational thought.  In both positions, enthusiasm is not seen as part of a reliable epistemology. These splits gradually started to develop from the 17th century on, although enthousiasmos was revalued during the Age of Enlightenment and the Romantic Era as a positive stimulant of creativity and Ideenflucht. 
Despite a few flickers on the cultural historical time line, enthusiasm has mostly been marginalised in modern Western philosophy: as an excessive urge, or as a harmful exaggeration of emotions that leads to madness. Bösel calls for rehabilitation of enthousiasmos as a knowledge paradigm that shouldn’t be seen as the opposite of melancholy genius, nor as Besonnenheit, but as something which deserves an intrinsic place in the cultural sciences: in the Zwischenreich des Begehrens und Fühlen.
The rehabilitation of enthousiasmos as a criticised affect of the mind also interests me from an iconological standpoint. Is enthousiasmos the subject of any iconographic traditions? Is enthousiasmos an aesthetic concept within the art historical method? Can enthousiasmos be a part of a visual epistemology? I will discuss these questions in three chapters: a case on Pentecost in Christian iconography; an analysis of the Pygmalion myth within the 18th-century sparks of creative passion, and a new interpretation of Aby Warburg’s (1866-1929) Pathosformel as a variant of the entheos paradigm.
And finally: Anne-Louise Germaine Necker or Madame de Staël (1766-1817) will join us on our journey. After all, her De l’Allemagne (1810) is an unparalleled defence of how enthusiasm, wisdom, and sensibility go together.

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“Art can speak to what falls outside theory, and it can also embody felt ideas.”

Siri Hustvedt, defending the integration of emotional patterns and affects in the art sciences in A Woman Looking at Men looking at Women.

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.

The cult of Mithras has been present for three centuries in Herzegovina. Its significance for classical history and civilization is reflected through the fact that it continued to exist in the territory of today's Herzegovina after Roman emperor Theodosius I prohibited any forms of pagan religions in 392. Numismatic findings from the temple of Mithras in Konjic can be used as a proof. In this temple, coins from the reign of the emperor Arcadius (Flavius Theodosius Augustus 395 – 408) were found. Research in this thesis is mainly focused on the fact that the cult of Mithras retained longer inside the Roman province of Dalmatia than it was previously assumed in the historiography, and that its specificity can be seen through the typical local iconology and epigraphic orthography.

Présentation d'épigraphes très fragmentaires tracés sur les enduits muraux appartenant à deux états du mithraeum de Martigny, dont le dernier, daté de la seconde moitié du IV e siècle. Si l'un est une acclamation fréquente, les autres sont fort difficiles à lire et demeurent obscurs. La comparaison avec les graffitis sur enduit des mithraea de Doura Europos et de Rome offre des indices concordants de localisation, et orientent sur les types de contenus plausibles. Abstract : Presentation of very fragmentary epigraphs drawn on wall painting belonging to two phases of the mithraeum of Martigny, the second phase dating back to the second half of the 4th c. While one of them is a frequent acclamation, the others are extremely hard to read and remain obscure. The comparison with the graffiti on wall painting from the mithraea in Doura-Europos and Rome offers corroborating clues that direct us to plausible types of contents.

This paper stands as a natural appendix to Antrum, a miscellany curated for Morcelliana Publishing House in 2017. It examines the structure of the cave as an elective space for the performing of religious rituals. After a brief explanatory introduction, it focuses on two of the cases in which the hypogean sites, as well as being intrinsically linked to the world of nature, had a remarkable importance especially for their sacred quality as in Mithraic religion and Michaelic cult. In relation to the latter, the study examines in particular the sanctuary of Monte Tancia, which in recent years has received considerable attention within the FIRB researches "Sacred spaces and identity paths. Foundation texts, iconography, religion and traditions in the Christian Italian shrines between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages" (Future in research 2010. National Coordination University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Local Unit "Sapienza" University of Rome).

This study responds to the recent questioning of the long-standing and widely held academic consensus that only men were initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras (Jonathan David, “The Exclusion of Women in the Mithraic Mysteries: Ancient or Modern?”, Numen
47, 2000, 121-141). After the re-examination of all relevant epigraphical finds, literary sources and Mithraic iconography the author of the present study comes to the conclusion that there is no serious reason for the change of current opinions about the exclusion of women from Mithraism.

The study also tries to establish the possible cause leading to the development of the purely male structure of the Mithraic Mysteries. In this respect the most probable solution is the combination of two factors: firstly, Mithraism operated on the same principles as the contemporary religious collegiums which also excluded women (with certain exceptions); secondly, this tendency was probably supported by the negative assessment of feminine principle in the Mithraic religious ideology.

Although some scholars regarded the male exclusiveness of Mithraism as a substantial handicap, which in the end led to its final historical failure in the competition with the Christianity that was more friendly toward women, in the author’s opinion this reason has no justification. Mithraism catered for the small and closely-knit communities and had no universalistic aspirations; moreover, it directed its attention to the members of the social classes, which were never too numerous (soldiers, imperial administration, etc.). In the context of its functioning the exclusion of women thus caused no serious disadvantage and the
reasons for its ultimate failure must be sought elsewhere."

In the introduction of his book "The Pagan Origins of Christianity" Andre Knighton wrote: "…. The Catholic Church did not recognize her pagan roots and origins up to this day…… the time has come to look today at Christianity in the light of the emerging studies on paganism"
In fact, the first to put these theories is Godfrey Higgins (1772-1833), followed by Kersey Graves, who published his famous book "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors", in 1875, after that, there have been writings by John G. Jackson , Tom Harpur , Acharya S , and others.
But the accuracy and validity of the information of these writings had been questioned not only by Christian scholars, but also by atheists, with the general consensus that these writings are non-scientific and non-credible, and among those who issued these books including Higgins, none of them is specialized in history or theology or religions, or even ancient civilizations.
This theory, which is called the copycat, (means: copy or imitation) is trying to put all the similarities between Jesus and Horus, Attis, Krishna, Mithra and Dionysius and others, on the basis that Christianity had adapted the personal details and the life of Jesus from them.

An esoteric reading of the tympanum of Vézelay is proposed. This tympanum represents Christianity as a dual endeavor, with esoteric and exoteric branches developing in parallel. The zodiac contains a hidden horoscope referring to the event of the 'Mission of the Apostles' (July 15th, 33 AD).

The Roman astral-cults of the Sun (Sol) and Moon (Luna) enjoyed imperial sponsorship for 300 years, as evidenced by their images on Roman coinage from the end of the 1 st century (Salzman 1990, p. 150; Clauss 1997, p. 250; Hijmans 2003, p. 383).  However, on the Dies Natalis Invicti, AD 25 December 274, Roman Emperor Aurelian decreed Sol Invictus as the Dominus Imperii Romani, and ordered imperial coins honoring Mithras-Sol Invictus to be minted and the Templum Solis Aureliani to be built in Rome (Figure 1).

    The research focus of this paper study is to investigate the hypothetical role of astronomical orientation of Mithraic temples as a supplement to  traditional approaches to the History of Architecture, e.g., iconography, inscriptions, geometry, literature, and mensuration, (see Scavi et al. 2016).  The present study examines the orientation of four Mithraic temples (mithraea) adjacent to imperial Roman army forts (three on Hadrian’s Wall and one at Dura-Europos, Syria).  The paper presents counter evidence rejecting the claim that the major axes of two  of these mithraea were oriented to the sunrise on the Winter Solstice (December 22nd) or Dies Natalis Invicti (December 25th) (cf. Sparavigna 2017a, 2017b).  Rather, all three known mithraea on Hadrian’s Wall are oriented respectively to the rise of the three brightest stars of constellations represented in the Mithraic bull-slaying tableau (tauroctonos) ca. AD 250, viz.: Aldebaran (α Taurii), Antares (α Scorpii), and Sirius (α Canis Major), thereby independently confirming the astral interpretation of K.B. Stark (1869).  Every 19 years, the Dura-Europos mithraeum in Syria is oriented to the midwinter Full Moon rise at the minor lunar standstill, just as a mithraeum on Hadrian’s Wall is oriented to the Full Moon rise marking the death of Deified Hadrian (July 10th) .

En el año 1979 se define por primera vez el término enteógeno, refiriéndose a aquellas drogas utilizadas en contextos rituales que favorecía el contacto con los dioses. Ese mismo año se publica Road to Eleusis, el primer trabajo que propone que estas sustancias eran utilizadas por los griegos antiguos en los Misterios de Eleusis. El uso de enteógenos por distintas culturas puede abordarse desde distintas disciplinas; además de ser estudiada por historiadores, ha sido analizada por antropólogos, sociólogos, y también desde el punto de vista de la Farmacología y las Neurociencias.
En nuestro estudio, nos hemos acercado a fuentes y documentos de todas ellas, sin olvidar que el objetivo fundamental es el conocimiento del uso y consumo de enteógenos en el mundo griego y romano de la Antigüedad desde un punto de vista histórico, es decir, utilizando fuentes y metodología propias del área de conocimiento de la Historia Antigua.
Metodológicamente, nuestro trabajo ha consistido en buscar y analizar la documentación literaria, arqueológica, iconográfica y numismática que nos acerque al contexto cultural y religioso de estudio y, por otra parte, nos ha parecido fundamental la búsqueda de información farmacológica, científicamente contrastada, sobre los efectos de las sustancias estudiadas.
A partir de todos estos datos presentaremos, en primer lugar, las plantas y sustancias enteógenas consumidas en el Mundo Antiguo y analizaremos sus bases farmacológicas y neuropsicológicas, así como los efectos que producen sobre el cuerpo y la mente humana, principalmente en relación con los denominados Estados Alterados de Conciencia de carácter místico y/o religioso. Como ejemplo destacado del conocimiento de estas plantas analizaremos las fuentes numismáticas y la iconografía de una de las plantas de mayor utilización en el Mundo Antiguo: la adormidera o amapola del opio.
Tras revisar brevemente los antecedentes históricos del consumo de sustancias psicoactivas desde la Prehistoria, nos centraremos en el mundo griego y en el debate que se generado en torno a la posible existencia del denominado «chamanismo griego». Para ello, comenzaremos analizando el fenómeno chamánico como tal, propondremos una herramienta conceptual, el chamán-tipo, que nos ayude a identificar a estas figuras y, posteriormente, volveremos a las fuentes antiguas para conocer con más profundidad a
aquellos sujetos de la Antigüedad que han sido identificados como chamanes historiográficamente. Finalizaremos proponiendo un nuevo acercamiento a la figura de las Pitias o sacerdotisas del Oráculo de Delfos.
Por último, estudiaremos en profundidad el consumo de enteógenos en tres grandes Misterios de la Antigüedad.
En primer lugar, los Misterios de Eleusis, los más importantes del mundo griego. Revisaremos las distintas propuestas realizadas hasta la fecha, especialmente la presentada por Wasson, Hoffman y Ruck en su Road to Eleusis y actualizaremos con datos arqueológicos la posibilidad del consumo de ergot contenido en una bebida ritual, el kykeon.
En cuanto a los Misterios de Mitra, la ausencia de textos litúrgicos y mitológicos obliga a una aproximación a partir de fuentes arqueológicas, iconográficas y literarias indirectas. En el libro titulado Mushrooms, Myth & Mythras (2011) se propone la relación entre los rituales mitraicos y el consumo de haoma, la droga utilizada por los antiguos iranios y que, tradicionalmente, se ha considerado equivalente al soma védico. Nuestro trabajo consistirá en contrastar esta hipótesis con las fuentes que nos han llegado.
Finalmente, retrocedemos en el tiempo y volvemos a Grecia para analizar los Misterios de los Grandes Dioses de Samotracia y de los Cabiros de Lemnos y Tebas. Proponemos un nuevo enfoque y asociamos el posible consumo de drogas psicoactivas con la danza ritual para obtener un Estado Alterado de Conciencia compatible con el éxtasis místico, favorecedor de la «experiencia de lo sagrado» propia de los Misterios.

The article reopens the problem of Mithraic grades. Even though they were usually seen as initiatory, hierarchically structured and at least theoretically mandatory for all Mithraists in the previous scholarship, this consensus has been recently questioned (Manfred Clauss, Robert Turcan). After careful analysis of old and new evidence, the author of this article comes to conclusion that this attempt to change our understanding of Mithraic grades is largely unwarranted and that they still can be seen as initiatory, universal and an integral part of Mithraic religious ideology.

The “religion” of Mithra was a Mystery cult and an oriental religion in the Roman Empire, but the god and his cult remain much of an enigma today. The analysis of the worship rite itself – the non-sacrificial ritual meal – and of the central iconography – the tauroctony – throws into light some chtonic aspects related to the “psychopompos” function of the god. Moreover, a close study of the emperor Julian’s texts leads to the explicit conclusion that this function had been enriched with neoplatonic theurgic beliefs on the one hand, and on the other hand that the mithraic initiation led to the revelation of Sol as the main god. This had probably taken place as early as the 3rd century A. D. within the emperor’s Roman Religion.

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.

Sažetak: Mitraizam je jedan od misterijskih kultova čija je popularnost u kasnoantičkom Rimu bila velika, posebno među legionarima. Mitra je bio ratničko, solarno božanstvo, a sakralna vizuelna predstava kulta bila je tauroktonija na kojoj Mitra ubija bika. U misterijama su učestvovali samo muškarci. Postojalo je sedam stupnjeva inicijacije, obeleženih maskama i atributima, a svaki je stajao pod zaštitom određene planete. Od prvih opsežnih istraživanja kulta koje je sproveo belgijski arheolog Franz Cumont (1868-1947), verovalo se da je Mitra preuzet iz persijskog panteona Mazdaizma, nakon čega je u Rimu poprimio minorne nove karakteristike. Međutim, 80ih godina prošlog veka predstavljene su nove teorije, koje pojavu rimske verzije Mitre povezuju sa Hiparhovim astronomskim otkrićem precesije ekvinocija. Precesijom je tačka prolećne ravnodnevice pomerena iz sazvežđa Bika u sazvežđe Ovna, pa je sa stanovišta geocentrične kosmologije izgledalo kao da je neka sila izvršila naginjanje čitave nebeske sfere za nekoliko stepeni. Simbolično "ubistvo" zodijačkog Bika pripisano je Mitri koji se razvio u novu predstavu izvankosmičkog božanstva, moćnog ratnika, nepobedivog drugog Sunca koje upravlja kosmosom. Pojava dva različita solarna božanstva u Mitraizmu, odabir astroloških simbola, kao i leontokefalus-bog ključar koji, obmotan zmijom, stoji na krajnjoj granici neba, daju dosta argumenata u prilog novom tumačenju, koje je prvi izneo američki istoričar religije David Ulansey.

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...

Roman cult of Mithra has its origin from Indo-Iranian religions. This article examines in detail how it arrived in the west and finally flowed into Christianity. Every major religion has its own passionate controversies and opinions regarding its origin and associated mythology. The author wants to emphasize the intent of this article is not to offend any religious beliefs of the followers but share the historical knowledge of cultural exchanges among various civilizations. The ultimate creator that created all of us, however, we have named him, are the master of the universe and our cosmos. Any religion that produces peaceful coexistence and message of universal brotherhood should enjoy equality and respect of all mankind. The subject of this article is discussed by many scholars for several decades and it may continue in the future, but from the historical point of view, the civilization exchanges had allowed people to practice from polytheisms phase of worshipping to monotheism phase of worshipping. In the ancient world, everyone practiced polytheism of worship involving the natural forces that governed the birth, lives, and death of the ancients.

Buddhism was one of the earliest monotheist faith that was propagated from India beginning in 19th century BCE, after Buddha’s death, the dating is adjusted to reflect the correction of the chronological error in Vikram Savant (Hindu era) and dating mistake created by the colonial historian related to misidentification of contemporary Indian kings. Please see my article at
https://www.academia.edu/40451947/Mahavira_and_Gautama_Buddha_were_not_contemporaries_as_we_thought_Introduction

If war was justified by Moses,the prophet of the god in the Old Testament,then why the son of the same god, decry war  and preach the command of love, in the New Testament?
How the warrrior god of of the Jews became the meek sacrificial lamb of the Christians? Is the Father,Son and the Holy Spirit the same as claimed? If the three are the same, can a fighter choose to become a sacrificial lamb like a slave ?
Also,no warrior will ever sacrifice his son for somebody else’s faults or sins.
Why this shift in policy of the God of Israel in a period of 1200-1500 years?
Is it because Israel had a god(king) who was a warrior(Thutmose) during Moses’s time and Israel was a slave nation without a god(king) during Christ’s time? A warrior wins by fighting his enemies,but  a slave wins by loving his master/ enemies as preached by Christ.

Although by its title, this book seems to be about a specialized topic, the spread of Mithraic societies and its avatars, in time and geographical expanse, much enhances its relevancy. From Roman legionaries to chivalry orders, from dervish circles to guild organizations, and from Freemasons to French revolutionaries, the hierarchy of Mithraic societies, their initiation rites, and their oaths of secrecy, provided a model for brotherhood organization that was efficient, but also flexible. They could adapt their philosophy to the prevailing politico-religion conditions of the day, because they did not worship any particular god. Mithra was the initial guarantor of their oath, and if need be it could be replaced by Jesus, Allah, or any other divinity. Their “religion” was their brotherhood, and as such they usually provided a counter-balance to the power elite, and had the potential to become politically active. Occasionally, they would even make a bid for power, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. By the same token, they could be comrades in arms with nascent religious movements, as with Christianity, or be an adversary when their paths diverged. In this book, its author traces back the appearance of these societies to the early days of the Achaemenid Empire and to the religious cataclysm that Herodotus has dubbed as Magophonia. The Mithraic magi were pursued and massacred, and to avoid persecution, they went underground, often literally. That’s how—secret—brotherhood societies were born.

Abstract
This thesis studies the relationship between architecture and cosmology based on recent research
in the interdisciplinary field of Archaeoastronomy. The main objective of this study is to
understand the symbolic morphology of ancient Iranian structures called chartaqi. These
structures characteristically incorporate a dome built on a cross and are intentionally and
accurately aligned with particular astronomical references of the horizon.
Taking the recent discoveries of the astronomical alignments of chartaqi as a starting point led to
the discovery of identical astronomical alignments in similar Roman structures. These parallels
are shown in detail in this thesis. Based on an analysis of these alignments and an investigation
of Mithraic artefacts, the author argues that the concepts incorporated in chartaqi are based on
Mithraic cosmology. In order to support this argument, this thesis develops an original
framework to understand Iranian Mithra and the Roman mystery cult of Mithraism.
2
Résumé
L'objectif principal de cette recherche est d'étudier la relation entre l'architecture et la cosmologie
fondée sur des recherches récentes dans le champ interdisciplinaire de archeoastronomy. Dans
cette étude, le principal problème est de comprendre la morphologie symbolique d'une structure
ancienne iranienne appelle chartaqi dans lequel un dôme construit sur une croix et est
volontairement et avec précision à alligned notamment des références astronomiques de
l'horizon.
Prendre les découvertes récentes des allignments astronomiques de chartaqi comme point de
départ a conduit à la découverte des allignments astronomiques identiques dans les structures
romaines semblables qui est représenté en détail dans cette thèse. L'auteur soutient que les
concepts incorporés dans chartaqi est basé sur la cosmologie de Mithra et propose un cadre
d'origine pour comprendre la relation entre iranien Mithra et Roman culte de Mithra.