The Archaeology of Mithraism

New Finds and Approaches to Mithras-Worship

Edited by M. McCarty Edited by M. Egri

Book cover: The Archaeology of Mithraism

Extent: 226 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Classical Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Babesch Supplements

Series volume number: 39

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(July 2020)

ISBN: 9789042943520

Price: $98.00

In stock

PDF (Published)

(July 2020)

ISBN: 9789042943261

Price: $98.00

Over the course of the second century CE, worship of the Persianate god Mithras swept across the whole of the Roman Empire. With its distinctive traces preserved in the material record-including cave-like sanctuaries and images of Mithras stabbing a bull-the cult has long been examined to reconstruct the thought-systems of Mithraism, its theology, through such monumental trappings. This volume starts from the premise that, like much “religion” in the Roman world, the cult of Mithras must be examined through its practices, the ritual craft knowledge which enabled those rites, and the social structures thus created. What did Mithras-worshippers do? How do we explain the unity and diversity of practices observed? Archaeology has the potential to answer these questions and shed new light on Mithras-worship. Presenting new discoveries, higher resolution archaeological data on finds and assemblages, and re-evaluations of older discoveries, this volume charts new paths forward in understanding one of the Roman Empire’s most distinctive cults.

  • Edited by M. McCarty
  • Edited by M. Egri

"This is an important, well-curated collection of articles that is relatively consistent in substance and quality, if not always in style. It succeeds admirably in communicating the recent trajectory of Mithraic studies, and in doing so opens up many new lines of inquiry. . . . The numerous photographs, plans and charts communicate a prodigious quantity of information. Unusual for edited volumes, the whole is much greater than the sum of the individual parts." --Griffith, Alison, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 5.2.2021
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