BEYOND THE ROMAN EAST: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE MITHRAEUM BASED ON ITS ARCHITECTURAL AUTHENTICITY AT CASTRUM ZERZEVAN (DİYARBAKIR, TURKEY)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/j.v9i2.724Keywords:
Roman World, castrum, Zerzevan, cult, paganism, MithrasAbstract
A rock-cut Mithraic sanctuary (2nd-3rd centuries) was excavated in Castrum Zerzevan. With its architectural authenticity and connectedness to the neighbouring structures, it has remained intact since it was purposefully buried probably around 4th century. The authors argue that it stands as the only known Mithraeum on the eastern border of Rome until proven otherwise. The close up of the site is expressible with the transition process from paganism to monotheistic practices. In the spatio-temporal context, it must have been one of the oldest sanctuaries, due to interactions over the Persian peripheries, of the Mithras belief adopted by the Romanly world.
Downloads
References
ABAY 2020
Abay, N., Lykoina’da Mithras Kültünün İzlerine Dair Bazı Değerlendirmeler (Some Evaluations on the Traces of the Mithras Cult in Lykonia), Amisos 5/9, 270-280.
ALIBAIGI/BISOTUNIB/RAHIMIC/KHOSRAVIA/ALIBAIGID
Alibaigi, S./Bisotunib, A.M./Rahimic, F./Khosravia, S./Alibaigid, H., The Late Sasanian Treasury of Qouri Qaleh Cave: Votive Offerings for a Mithra Temple in Kermanshah, Western Iran, Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 55, 227-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2017.1355515
ALVAR 2008
Alvar, J., Romanizing Oriental Gods Myth, Salvation and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele, Isis and Mithras (Leiden, Boston: Brill).
BETZ 2003
Betz, B.D., The “Mithras Liturgy”: Text, Translation and Commentary (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck).
BIBLIOTHÉQUE PAHLAVI (TÉHÉRAN-LIÉGE) 1978
Bibliothéque Pahlavi (Téhéran-Liége), Études Mithriaques. Actes du 2e Congrés, 1-8 Septembre 1975, Téhéran. International [Acta Iranica 17] (Leiden: Brill).
BECK 2006
Beck, R., The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
BLÖMER/CROWTHER 2014
Blömer, M./Crowther, C., Eagles on Stags. An Underground Sanctuary in Perrhe, Commagene. In: Winter, E. (ed.), Asia Minor Studien, Kult und Herrschaft am Euphrat, Dolichener und Kommagenische Forschungen VI (Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Hablet Gmbh), 343-373.
BİLGİN 1996
Bilgin, M.S., Yazatalar ve Homa. Aryan Mitolojisi (İstanbul: Doz).
CICERO
Cicero, De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods). Trans. by H. Rackham [Loeb Classical Library]. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: W. Heinemann 1933).
CLAUSS 2001
Clauss, M., The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His Mysteries (New York: Routledge).
COOK, S.A./ADCOCK, F.E./CHARLESWORTH, M.P./BAYNES, N.H. 1939
Cook, S.A./Adcock, F.E./Charlesworth, M.P./Baynes, N.H., The Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
COOPER 1996
Cooper, D.J., Mithras: Mysteries and Initiation Rediscovered (York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser Inc.).
COŞKUN 2017
Coşkun, A., Zerzevan Castle in the Light of Recent Archaeological Researches, Anadolu/Anatolia 43, 91–110.
COŞKUN 2019
Coşkun, A., Zerzevan Kalesi - Roma’nın Sınır Garnizonu/Zerzevan Castle - Roman Border Garrison (Diyarbakır Valiliği: TC Diyarbakir Valiligi / TC Kültür ve Turizm Bakanligi).
COŞKUN 2020.
Coşkun, A., Zerzevan Kalesi 2018 Yılı Kazı Çalışmaları, Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 41/1, 567-586.
CUMONT 1896
Cumont, F., Textes et Monuments Figurés Relatifs Aux Mystéres de Mithra. Tome II. (Bruxelles: Lamertin).
CUMONT 1956a
Cumont, F., The Mysteries of Mithra. Trans by T.J. McCormack (London: Routledge).
CUMONT 1956b.
Cumont, F., The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism (New York: Dover Publications).
DANILOVA 2020
Danilova, A., The Mithras Cult and Collegia at Ostia: A Spatial Perspective. In: McCarty, M.M./Egri, M. (eds.), The Archaeology of Mithraism: New Finds and Approaches to Mithras-Worship (Leuven: Peeters), 93-104.
DEICHMANN/ PESCHLOW 1977
Deichmann, F.W./Peschlow, U., Zwei Spatäntike Ruinenstätten in Nordmesopotamien (München: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften).
DRIVEN/ MCCARTY 2020.
Driven, L./Mccarty, M.M., Rethinking the Dura-Europos Mithraeum Diversification and Stabilization in a Mithraic Community. In: McCarty, M.M./Egri, M. (eds.), The Archaeology of Mithraism: New Finds and Approaches to Mithras-Worship, (Leuven: Peeters), 165-182.
DÜRÜŞKEN 2000
Dürüşken, Ç., Roma’nın Gizem Dinleri (İstanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları).
DOWNEY 1978
Downey, S.B., Syrian Images of Mithras Tauroctonos. In: Études Mithriaques. Actes du 2e Congrés, du 1-8 Septembre 1975 [Acta Iranica 17] (Leiden: Brill), 135-151.
DURSUN/COŞKUN 2020.
Dursun, F./Coşkun, A., A Preliminary Study on Material Properties of The Zerzevan Castle, Turkey, Materials Science and Engineering 949, 1-8.
GÜNALTAY 1987
Günaltay, Ş., Yakın Şark II: Anadolu (Ankara).
HENSEN 2004
Hensen, A., Das Zweite Mithräeum von Heidelberg. In: Martens, M./De Boe, G. (eds.), Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds (Brussel: Museum Het Toreke), 95-107.
INGLE 2019
Ingle, G., A Fourth Century Tomb of the Followers of Mithras from the Catacomb of SS. Peter and Marcellinus in Rome, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 23, 227-242. https://doi.org/10.12797/SAAC.23.2019.23.11
LAVAGNE 1978
Lavagne, H., Importance de La Grotte Dans le Mithriacisme en Occidént. In: Études Mithriaques. Actes du 2e Congrés, du 1-8 Septembre 1975 [Acta Iranica 17] (Leiden: Brill), 271-278.
LE GLAY 1978
Le Glay, M., La Δεξίωσις Dans les Mystères de Mithra. In: Études Mithriaques. Actes du 2e Congrés, du 1-8 Septembre 1975 [Acta Iranica 17] (Leiden: Brill), 279-305.
LO RUSSO/BRÖNNIMANN/DESCHLER-ERB/EBNÖTHER/RENTZEL 2022.
Lo Russo, S./Brönnimann, D./Deschler-Erb, S./Ebnöther, C./Rentzel, P., Mithraism Under the Microscope: New Revelations About Rituals Through Micromorphology, Histotaphonomy and Zooarchaeology, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14, 46.
MARTENS/ERVYNCK/GORDON 2020
Martens, M.M./Ervynck, A./Gordon, R., The Reconstruction of a Banquet and Ritual Practices at the Mithraeum of Tienen (Belgium): New data and Interpretations. In: McCarty, M.M./Egri, M. (eds.), The Archaeology of Mithraism: New Finds and Approaches to Mithras-Worship (Leuven: Peeters), 11-22.
MEYER 1987
Meyer, M.W., The Ancient Mysteries (New York: Harper San Francisco).
PHILOSTRATUS
Philostratus. Vita Apollonii (Apollonius of Tyana). Vol.II: Life of Apollonius of Tyana (Books 5-8). C.P. Jones (ed.) [Loeb Classical Library] (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2005).
PLUTARCH
Plutarch, Plut. Vit. Pomp. 24, 1. Plutarch’s Lives (Vol. 5). Trans. by Bernadette Perrin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1968).
PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA
Procopius of Caesarea, De Aedificiis (On Buildings). Trans. by H.B. Dewing [Loeb Classical Library] (London: W. Heinemann 1949).
SCHMIDT 1978
Schmidt, H.-P., Indo-Iranian Mitra Studies: The State of the Central Problem. In: Études Mithriaques. Actes du 2e Congrés, du 1-8 Septembre 1975 [Acta Iranica 17] (Leiden: Brill), 345-393.
STRABO
Strabo. Geographika: Antik Anadolu Coğrafyası (Books 12-14). Trans. by A. Pekman (İstanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları 2005).
TYANALI APOLLONIUS (APOLLONIUS OF TYANA)
Tyanali Apollonius (Apollonius of Tyana). Mektuplar (Letters). Trans. by C.C.Çevik (İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası 2020).
VERMASEREN 1956
Vermaseren, M.J., Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorium Mithriacae (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff).
VERMASEREN 1978
Vermaseren, M.J., Mithriaca IV: Le Monument D’Ottaviano Zeno Et Le Culte De Mithra Sur Le Célius. Études Préliminaires Aux Religions Orientales dans L'Empire Romain (Leiden: Brill).
VERMASEREN 1982
Vermaseren, M.J., Mithriaca III: The Müthraeum at Marino. Études Préliminaires Aux Religions Orientales dans L'Empire Romain (Leiden: Brill).
WALTERS 1974
Walters, W.J., The Cult of Mithras in the Roman Provinces of Gaul. Études Préliminaires Aux Religions Orientales dans L'Empire Romain (Leiden: Brill).
WINTER 2014.
WINTER, E., Asia Minor Studien, Kult und Herrschaft am Euphrat, Dolichener und Kommagenische Forschungen VI (Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Hablet Gmbh), 343-373.
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal, we use CC BY-NC-ND license (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs) wich only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
