The Mithraeum at Marino

The Mithraeum at Marino PDF Author: M. J. Vermaseren
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004294783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
Preliminary material -- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING AND PAINTINGS -- THE ICONOGRAPHY AND THE DATING OF THE PAINTINGS -- THE RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION OF THE MITHRAEUM AND ITS PAINTINGS -- INDEX -- LIST OF PLATES -- PLATE.

The Mithraeum at Marino

The Mithraeum at Marino PDF Author: M. J. Vermaseren
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004294783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
Preliminary material -- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING AND PAINTINGS -- THE ICONOGRAPHY AND THE DATING OF THE PAINTINGS -- THE RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION OF THE MITHRAEUM AND ITS PAINTINGS -- INDEX -- LIST OF PLATES -- PLATE.

Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae

Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae PDF Author: M.J. Vermaseren
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401505128
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
The publication of this Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis M ithriacae is due mainly to the activities of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van Wetenschappen, Kunsten en Schone Letteren (The Royal Flemish Academy of Arts and Sciences) at Brussels, for this work was begun as an entry in a compe tition organized by their Department of Fine Arts and Literature. It was then awarded a prize by a committee elected by the Academy and consisting of the theologian Prof. J. Coppens, the orientalist Prof. G. Rijckmans and the archaeolo gist, the late Prof. H. van de Weerd. Among the first who should be mentioned with respect and gratitude is my teacher Dr. F.J. de Waele, Professor in Archaeology and Ancient History at the Nijmegen University and member of the Royal Flemish Academy. This remarkable teacher inspired a deep interest in the study of Archaeology and of the Mithras cult, and his help has always been invaluable. I am also greatly indebted to the renowned Belgian scholar Prof. Franz Cumont. He was among the first to recognize the necessity of a revision of his standard work Textes et Monuments relatifs aux Mysteres de Mithra. During the last few years before his de'ath he showed a lively interest in the present study, supplied much material and often gave advice, devoting a great part of his leisure and his love of Classical Culture to this new publication of the Mithraic Monuments.

The Mind of Mithraists

The Mind of Mithraists PDF Author: Luther H. Martin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147258421X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
The Roman cult of Mithras was the most widely-dispersed and densely-distributed cult throughout the expanse of the Roman Empire from the end of the first until the fourth century AD, rivaling the early growth and development of Christianity during the same period. As its membership was largely drawn from the ranks of the military, its spread, but not its popularity is attributable largely to military deployments and re-deployments. Although mithraists left behind no written archival evidence, there is an abundance of iconographic finds. The only characteristic common to all Mithraic temples were the fundamental architecture of their design, and the cult image of Mithras slaying a bull. How were these two features so faithfully transmitted through the Empire by a non-centralized, non-hierarchical religious movement? The Minds of Mithraists: Historical and Cognitive Studies in the Roman Cult of Mithras addresses these questions as well as the relationship of Mithraism to Christianity, explanations of the significance of the tauroctony and of the rituals enacted in the mithraea, and explanations for the spread of Mithraism (and for its resistance in a few places). The unifying theme throughout is an investigation of the 'mind' of those engaged in the cult practices of this widespread ancient religion. These investigations represent traditional historical methods as well as more recent studies employing the insights of the cognitive sciences, demonstrating that cognitive historiography is a valuable methodological tool.

The Mysteries of Mithras

The Mysteries of Mithras PDF Author: Attilio Mastrocinque
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161551123
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
Attilio Mastrocinque explains the mysteries of Mithras in a new way, as a transformation of Mazdean elements into an ideological and religious reading of Augustus' story. The author shows that the character of Mithras played the role of Apollo in favoring Augustus' victory and the birth of the Roman Empire.

Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period

Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period PDF Author: Kamal-Aldin Niknami
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303041776X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
This collection of twenty-eight essays presents an up-to-date survey of pre-Islamic Iran, from the earliest dynasty of Illam to the end of Sasanian empire, encompassing a rich diversity of peoples and cultures. Historically, Iran served as a bridge between the earlier Near Eastern cultures and the later classical world of the Mediterranean, and had a profound influence on political, military, economic, and cultural aspects of the ancient world. Written by international scholars and drawing mainly on the field of practical archaeology, which traditionally has shared little in the way of theories and methods, the book provides crucial pieces to the puzzle of the national identity of Iranian cultures from a historical perspective. Revealing the wealth and splendor of ancient Iranian society – its rich archaeological data and sophisticated artistic craftsmanship – most of which has never before been presented outside of Iran, this beautifully illustrated book presents a range of studies addressing specific aspects of Iranian archaeology to show why the artistic masterpieces of ancient Iranians rank among the finest ever produced. Together, the authors analyze how archaeology can inform us about our cultural past, and what remains to still be discovered in this important region.

Sol

Sol PDF Author: S. E. Hijmans
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004521585
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 638

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Book Description
Hijmans demonstrates that a sophisticated analysis of images of Sol sheds an entirely new light on the role of the sun in Roman religion. This book includes a discussion of relevant theory and a number of case studies. This is part II of a two-part set.

Romanising Oriental Gods

Romanising Oriental Gods PDF Author: Jaime Alvar Ezquerra
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004132937
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 507

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Book Description
The traditional grand narrative correlating the decline of Graeco-Roman religion with the rise of Christianity has been under pressure for three decades. This book argues that the alternative accounts now emerging significantly underestimate the role of three major cults, of Cybele and Attis, Isis and Serapis, and Mithras. Although their differences are plain, these cults present sufficient common features to justify their being taken typologically as a group. All were selective adaptations of much older cults of the Fertile Crescent. It was their relative sophistication, their combination of the imaginative power of unfamiliar myth with distinctive ritual performance and ethical seriousness, that enabled them both to focus and to articulate a sense of the autonomy of religion from the socio-political order, a sense they shared with Early Christianity. The notion of 'mystery' was central to their ability to navigate the Weberian shift from ritualist to ethical salvation.

Networks and the Spread of Ideas in the Past

Networks and the Spread of Ideas in the Past PDF Author: Anna Collar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 042976930X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Networks and the Spread of Ideas in the Past: Strong Ties, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange gathers contributions from an international group of scholars to reconsider the role that strong social ties play in the transmission of new ideas, and their crucial place in network analyses of the past. Drawing on case studies that range from the early Iron Age Mediterranean to medieval Britain, the contributing authors showcase the importance of looking at strong social ties in the transmission of complex information, which requires relationships structured through mutual trust, memory, and reciprocity. They highlight the importance of sanctuaries in the process of information transmission, the power of narrative in creating a sense of community even across geographical space, and the control of social systems in order to facilitate or stifle new information transfer. Networks and the Spread of Ideas in the Past demonstrates the value of searching the past for powerful social connections, offers us the chance to tell more human stories through our analyses, and represents an essential new addition to the study and use of networks in archaeology and history. The book will be useful to academics and students working in the Digital Humanities, History, and Archaeology.

The Age of the Parthians

The Age of the Parthians PDF Author: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857733087
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
The Parthians are a fascinating but little-known ancient civilization. In the mid-third century BCE a bold and ambitious leader called Arshak challenged Hellenic rule and led his armies to victory. The dynasty which he founded ruled over what became a mighty empire and restored the glory of Iran following the region's conquest by Alexander the Great. This imperial eastern superpower, which lasted for 400 years and stretched from the Hindu Kush to Mesopotamia, withstand the might of Rome for centuries. The Parthians were nomadic horse-warriors who left few written records, concentrating rather on a rich oral and storytelling tradition. What knowledge we have of this remarkable people derives primarily from their coinage, which mixed Hellenism with Persian influences. In this book, distinguished scholars examine - from a variety of perspectives - the origins of the Parthians, their history, religion and culture, as well as perceptions of their empire through the lens of both imperial Rome and China.

Roman Cult of Mithras

Roman Cult of Mithras PDF Author: Manfred Clauss
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 147446579X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Since its publication in Germany, Manfred Clauss's introduction to the Roman Mithras cult has become widely accepted as the most reliable, as well as the most readable, account of its elusive and fascinating subject. For the English edition the author has revised the work to take account of recent research and new archaeological discoveries. The mystery cult of Mithras first became evident in Rome towards the end of the first century AD. During the next two centuries, carried by its soldier and merchant devotees, it spread to the frontier of the western empire from Britain to Bosnia. Perhaps because of odd similarities between the cult and their own religion the early Christians energetically suppressed it, frequently constructing churches over the caves (Mithraea) in which its rituals took place. By the end of the fourth century the cult was extinct.Professor Clauss draws on the archaeological evidence from over 400 temples and their contents including over a thousand representations of ritual in sculpure and painting to seek an understanding of the nature and purpose of the cult, and what its mysteries and secret rites of initiation and sacrifice meant to its devotees. In doing so he introduces the reader to the nature of the polytheistic societies of the Roman Empire, in which relations and distinctions between gods and mortals now seem strangely close and blurred. He also considers the connections of Mithraicism with astrology, and examines how far it can be seen as a direct descendant of the ancient cult of Mitra, the Persian god of contract, cattle and light. The book combines imaginative insight with coherent argument. It is well-structured, accessibly written and extensively illustrated. Richard Gordon, the translator and himself a distinguished scholar of the subject, has provided a bibliography of further reading for anglophone readers.