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H: Roman Constellations
17: Mithraic uranography
A Mithraic tauroctony 'bull slaying' scene (Museo Nationale Roma). (The representation of Mithras slaying a bull is known as a tauroctony.)
We know very little for certain about the cult of Mithras. There is almost a complete lack of written evidence to tell us what the archaeological finds mean. The more frequent Christian sources are simply biased and distorted.
Roman Mithraism was a mystery-religion that had a unique development that was quite separate from its earlier history in Iran, India, and Upper Mesopotamia. It gained a widespread following in the Roman Empire during the first four centuries of the present era, especially in the Roman army. (There was a god Mithra in the Zoroastrian Yashts (hymns to Ahura Mazda) forming part of the Avesta collection of the sacred texts of the Zoroastrian religion. There was also a god Mitra in the Hindu pantheon. The first written reference to Mitra originates from the Hurrian kingdom (Upper Mesopotamia) of the Mitanni.)
The bull slaying scene was the fundamental iconography of Western Mithraism. Within the Roman cult of Mithras this depiction held the place of honour in every Mithraeum (temple). In its various depictions throughout the Roman Empire it retained a striking sameness. Only minor variations are evident in over 500 representations of the bull slaying scene that have been found. The Roman Mithraic mysteries are likely the product of the syncretistic tendency of late antiquity. The meaning of the Mithraic tauroctonies (and frescoes) has continued to remain a puzzle to scholars.
There is no clear or agreed understanding amongst scholars of the meaning of the Mithraic tauroctony (or other Mithraic iconography). Interpretations remain speculative. This is because there is no extant literary source that can provide help to clarify the meaning of the complex symbolism inherent in Mithraic art. The usual interpretation of the tauroctony has been that it depicts an animal sacrifice scene. Inscriptions identify Mithras with the Invincible Sun (Sol Invictus). Mithras is also frequently depicted wearing a star-studded cloak. Figures of Sol (Sun) and Luna (Moon) frequently appear at the two upper corners of the tauroctone scene. Also frequently depicted are the four winds, the twelve planetary gods, and/or the twelve zodiacal signs. The two torchbearers flanking the figure of Mithras to the left and right (Cautes and Cautopates) frequently correspond to the anthropomorphic figures of Sol (Sun) and Luna (Moon) at the upper left and right corners. As such one possibility is that Cautes may symbolise light and Cautopates may symbolise darkness.
Three of the earliest European scholars (all French) to propose an astronomical interpretation of Mithraic iconography (i.e., an identification of its depictions with constellations (signs)) were Charles Dupuis (Origine des tous les cultes: ou, Religion universelle, 1795), Georg. Zoega (Abhandlungen (edited by F. Welcker), 1817), and Félix. Lajard (Recherches sur le Culte Public et les Mystères de Mithra, 1867). Regarding the Mithraic tauroctony: Dupuis held that the depictions of a dog, a serpent, a scorpion, and a raven represented zodiacal signs and constellations. Zoega held that the snake is the constellation Draco, the dog is the star Sirius, the scorpion is the constellation (sign) Scorpius, and the bull represents the earth or moon. Lajard held that the tauroctony is a representation of the sky when the vernal equinox fell in the constellation (sign) Aries.
However, since 1836 (Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Völker by Georg Creuzer (4 volumes, 3rd revised edition, 1836-1842)), a number of scholars began to propose detailed arguments that the tauroctony is actually a star map - a symbolic representation of particular equatorial constellations. Within the star map interpretation Mithras has a celestial persona and is either identified with Perseus located above Taurus the bull or Orion which is located beside Taurus the bull. The other figures present on tauroctonies are also given a celestial identification. The bull is Taurus, the dog is Canis Minor, the snake is Hydra, the scorpion is Scorpio, the raven is Corvus, the wheat ear (depicted on the bull's tail) is Spica (= Alpha Virginis, a proxy for Virgo), the twins Cautes and Cautopates are Gemini, the lion is Leo, crater is Crater, Sol is the Sun, Luna is the Moon, and the cave is the Universe. Quite often Corvus, Spica, Leo, and Crater are missing from tauroctonies. Mithras' sword is Aries. It is clear that the elements comprising the Mithraic bull-slaying scene were intentionally chosen to symbolise particular celestial phenomena in an organised manner.
Appendix: David Ulansey on Mithraism
David Ulansey's attempt (The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (1989)) to substantiate his assumption that knowledge of precession is the central secret of the Roman Mithraic mysteries, and such is discoverable in Mithraic iconography, lacks any credible evidence or argument and is nothing more than fanciful speculation.
According to David Ulansey Mithraism originated among the 20,000 strong pirates of Cicilia (Asia Minor = Turkey), the capital city of which was Tarsus.
David Ulansey holds (or rather speculates) that, in the late 2nd-century BCE, a group of Stoics in the city of Tarsus originated Mithraism. The impetus and foundation doctrine is held by Ulansey to be the recent discovery by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of the precession of the equinoxes. The group of Stoics are further asserted by Ulansey to have carried out the painstaking effort for the precise reconstruction of the equinoxes at past epochs and the bull-killing scene represents the end of the spring equinox falling in the "Age of Taurus" circa 4000-2000 BCE. The hypothetical group of Stoics at Tarsus appropriated the precession to the god Mithras. Mithras is the god they identified as responsible for precession through his power to shift the axis of the universe. The constellation of Perseus is identified with the god of precession (Mithras) by Ulansey.
Not explained by Ulansey is how a little-known and little-understood astronomical discovery by Hipparchus was swiftly transmitted from the Greek island of Rhodes to a group of Stoics (who were not astronomers) in the city of Tarsus in Asia Minor and correctly understood by them. (Tarsus was the capital of Cicilia (Asia Minor = present-day Turkey.) Very few ancient astronomers knew of the discovery and were capable of understanding Hipparchus' discovery of precession. Also, several scholars who knew of it did not believe it and rejected the notion. Furthermore, nowhere in the ancient world did the Stoics, whose doctrines embraced cosmology and astronomy, show any awareness of precession at all. (Stoicism was a school of Hellenistic philosophy. It was founded by Zeno of Citium (a city on the island of Cyprus) in 322 BCE, and flourished until the closing of the Athenian schools in 429 CE.)
The original conclusions made by Ulansey in his 1989 book has been kept by him and forms the basis for his continuing rejection of the theories of recognized Mithraic scholars. (From Ulansey's ongoing involvement in web discussions it is clear that he does not admit any requirement to modify his original position set out in his 1989 book.)
Mithraic experts who are opponents of David Ulansey's ideas on the origin of Mithraism include Roger Beck, Manfred Clauss and Helmut Waldmann.
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