In the colossal statuary erected by King AntiochusI (69–34BCE) at Mount Nemrut, Mithras is shown beardless, wearing a Phrygian cap [3] [72] Mithraism declined with the rise to power of Christianity, until the beginning of the fifth century, when Christianity became strong enough to exterminate by force rival religions such as Mithraism." [129] Mythras is derived from one of the seminal fantasy roleplaying game systems with over 30 years of history. Now in a brand-new edition everything you need for exciting adventure in fantastic worlds is presented in one volume.

In physical sources depicting Mithras, he is shown killing a sacred bull, although today’s scholars are unsure what this meant. In Persia, Mithras was god of the rising sun, contracts and friendship, and was shown dining with the god of the sun, Sol. Note, however, that no inscription naming Arimanius has been found engraved on a lion-headed figure. All of the dedications to the name Arimanius are inscribed on altars without figures. [ citation needed]

Sorry for the thread necromancy! But I've just gotten interested in Al-Qadim and I'm wondering if you've ever completed or made any headway on your conversion? If so are you willing to share? Would love to try this excellent setting but DnD is not my thing! Mithraic relief with original colors (reconstitution), c. 140CE–160CE; from Argentoratum. Strasbourg Archaeological Museum. perplexingly, a demonic figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Arimanius is known from inscriptions to have been a god in the Mithraic cult as seen, for example, in images from the Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM [35]) such as CIMRM [35]222 from Ostia, CIMRM369 from Rome, and CIMRM [35]1773 and 1775 from Pannonia. [38] The name Mithras (Latin, equivalent to Greek " Μίθρας" [11]) is a form of Mithra, the name of an old, pre-Zoroastrian, and, later on, Zoroastrian, god [g] [h] – a relationship understood by Mithraic scholars since the days of Franz Cumont. [i]

Porphyry's] De antro 6 is actually the sole explicit testimony from antiquity as to the intent of Mithraism's mysteries and the means by which that intent was realized. Porphyry, moreover, was an intelligent and well-placed theoretician of contemporary religion, with access to predecessors' studies, now lost. [95] The cave is described as persei, which in this context is usually translated Persian. According to the translator J.H.Mozley it literally means Persean, referring to Perses, the son of Perseus and Andromeda, [9] (p 29) this Perses being the ancestor of the Persians according to Greek legend. [9] (pp 27–29) Justin Martyr [ edit ] For a time, coins and other monuments continued to link Christian doctrines with the worship of the Sun, to which Constantine had been addicted previously. But even when this phase came to an end, Roman paganism continued to exert other, permanent influences, great and small. ... The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals — notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra." [42] Iranian Mithra and Sanskrit Mitra are believed to come from the Indo-Iranian word mitrás, meaning "contract, agreement, covenant". [20]

Alternative Depictions

Are you a nomad of the steppes, following the herd-trails? Perhaps you are a hardened barbarian used to the raids of your neighbours and the whims of the Gods. Maybe you are a city-dweller, used to the comforts and amenities of civilization. In Mythras where you come from is as important as who you are. Five small terracotta plaques of a figure holding a knife over a bull have been excavated near Kerch in the Crimea, dated by Beskow and Clauss to the second half of the 1stcenturyBCE, [ak] Image Credit: CC / Marie-Lan Nguyen 7. Archaeological finds have been the main source of modern knowledge about Mithraism One of the most characteristic and poorly-understood features of the Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic temples, named by the modern scholars with descriptive terms such as leontocephaline (lion-headed) or leontocephalus (lion-head). Since Cumont's reconstruction of the theology underlying the reliefs in terms of the Zoroastrian myth of creation depends upon the symbolic expression of the conflict of good and evil, we must now conclude that his reconstruction simply will not stand. It receives no support from the Iranian material and is in fact in conflict with the ideas of that tradition as they are represented in the extant texts. Above all, it is a theoretical reconstruction which does not accord with the actual Roman iconography. What, then, do the reliefs depict? And how can we proceed in any study of Mithraism? I would accept with R.Gordon that Mithraic scholars must in future start with the Roman evidence, not by outlining Zoroastrian myths and then making the Roman iconography fit that scheme. ... Unless we discover Euboulus' history of Mithraism we are never likely to have conclusive proof for any theory. Perhaps all that can be hoped for is a theory which is in accordance with the evidence and commends itself by (mere) plausibility." [109] (pp 303–304)

Although animal-headed figures are prevalent in contemporary Egyptian and Gnostic mythological representations, no exact parallel to the Mithraic leontocephaline figure has been found. [36] The most important Mithraic ceremony was the sacrifice of the bull. Opinion is divided as to whether this ceremony was pre-Zoroastrian or not. Zarathustra denounced the sacrifice of the bull, so it seems likely that the ceremony was a part of the old Iranian paganism. This inference is corroborated by an Indian text in which Mitra reluctantly participates in the sacrifice of a god named Soma, who often appears in the shape of a white bull or of the moon. On the Roman monuments, Mithra reluctantly sacrifices the white bull, who is then transformed into the moon. This detailed parallel seems to prove that the sacrifice must have been pre-Zoroastrian. Contract and sacrifice are connected, since treaties in ancient times were sanctioned by a common meal. From July 2016, the name Mythras takes over from the previous trademark, but the same great rules continue, bringing you d100-based roleplaying adventure centred on logical, consistent, straightforward mechanics, coupled with innovative approaches to character creation, combat, magic and monsters. The name may have changed, but the song remains the same. Porphyry is writing close to the demise of the cult, and Robert Turcan has challenged the idea that Porphyry's statements about Mithraism are accurate. His case is that far from representing what Mithraists believed, they are merely representations by the Neoplatonists of what it suited them in the late 4th century to read into the mysteries. [93]According to Cumont, the imagery of the tauroctony was a Graeco-Roman representation of an event in Zoroastrian cosmogony described in a 9th-century Zoroastrian text, the Bundahishn. In this text the evil spirit Ahriman (not Mithra) slays the primordial creature Gavaevodata, which is represented as a bovine. [bj] These ‘Mithraeum’ were private, dark and windowless spaces, built to replicate the mythological scene of Mithras killing a sacred bull – the ‘tauroctony’ – within a cave. The story where Mithras kills the bull was a defining characteristic of Roman Mithraism, and has not been found in original Middle Eastern depictions of the deity. 5. The Romans did not call the cult ‘Mithraism’ The name Mithras comes from a root mei- (which implies the idea of exchange), accompanied by an instrumental suffix. It was therefore a means of exchange, the 'contract' which rules human relations and is the basis of social life. In Sanskrit, mitra means 'friend' or 'friendship', like mihr in Persian. In Zend, mithra means precisely the 'contract', which eventually became deified, following the same procedure as Venus, the 'charm' for the Romans. We find him invoked with Varuna in an agreement concluded circa

At this period a certain Pallas devoted a monograph to Mithras, and a little later Euboulus wrote a History of Mithras, although both works are now lost. [126] Almost no Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives; [o] with the exception of the aforementioned oath and catechism, and the document known as the Mithras Liturgy, from 4th century Egypt, whose status as a Mithraist text has been questioned by scholars including Franz Cumont. [x] [47] The walls of mithraea were commonly whitewashed, and where this survives, it tends to carry extensive repositories of graffiti; and these, together with inscriptions on Mithraic monuments, form the main source for Mithraic texts. [48] Feasting [ edit ]

Contents

That covers some of the territory detailed on my map, with various areas being detailed in upcoming Classic Fantasy adventure modules, and a more detailed treatment to be included in the Unearthed Companion.