Thursday, July 25, 2024

More on Zerzevan Castle's Mithras temple

ARCHAEOLOGY UPDATE: In the 1,900-year-old underground temple of Mithras religion in Zerzevan Castle, an area where participants of secret rituals stayed was unearthed (Oguz Buyukyildirim, Arkeonews). HT Archaeologica News.
Indicating that this is a very important discovery, [excavation director Aytaç] Coşkun said: “Because it is the first sanctuary found on the eastern border of the Roman Empire, it is one of the last Mithras sanctuaries in the world. Mithras is the esoteric and mystery belief of the Roman Empire. Its ceremonies and rituals are secret; all these secret ceremonies and rituals were held in underground structures and temples at Zerzevan Castle.”

“During the excavations, we found where Mithras adherents from different parts of the Roman Empire stayed during certain periods of the year. We are continuing the excavations in this area. We will present our work to the scientific community,” he added.

I noted the 2017 discovery of this Mithras sanctuary here. For PaleoJudaica posts involving Mithras and Mithraism, see the links collected there, plus here and links.

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