Friday, June 26, 2026

Ancient Anatolian Mithraeum was closed by Syriac Christians

ARAMAIC WATCH: Ancient Aramaic inscription reveals early Christians sealed Türkiye's Mithras Temple (Türkiye Today).
{The decipherer, Professor Mehmet Sait] Toprak said the inscription refers symbolically to the "Invincible Sun God Mithras" and to Jesus, showing how the sanctuary was sealed in a Christian context.

He said the text includes expressions referring to the holy cross in the name of God, described as the one who orders, reforms and spreads love.

He described the inscription as the first known Old Aramaic written example showing the closure of a Mithras Temple. "This is an extremely important archaeological discovery," Toprak said, adding that both the writing and the cross at the entrance represented the symbolic closure of the temple.

I noted the 2017 discovery of this 1700-year-old Mithras sanctuary at the Zerzevan Castle in the Diyarbakır province in southeast Turkey here and here. Aramaic writing in a chapel in the same vicinity was discovered in 2015. I don't know if the latter is related to the newly deciphered inscription announced in this latest article.

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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