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Celestial map of the Northern Hemisphere, split into three sections: Scorpius; the bifurcated section of the Milky Way; and Taurus. The silhouette of the Milky Way from the middle section is repeated below and compared with two silhouettes of Mithras: Mithras A: Double-sided Mithraic relief, from Nida, Heddernheim, Germany. Wiesbaden). Detail from figure 1, rotated (image of Mithras digitally isolated, with cloak and knife removed).

Celestial map of the Northern Hemisphere, split into three sections: Scorpius; the bifurcated section of the Milky Way; and Taurus. The silhouette of the Milky Way from the middle section is repeated below and compared with two silhouettes of Mithras: Mithras A: Double-sided Mithraic relief, from Nida, Heddernheim, Germany. Wiesbaden). Detail from figure 1, rotated (image of Mithras digitally isolated, with cloak and knife removed).

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Figure 1. Mithraic tauroctony scene. Two-sided monument from Nida,...
Figure 2. Mithraic tauroctony scene, found in the Walbrook Mithraeum,...
Figure 4. Nike sacrificing a bull. Arch of Trajan, Benevento, Italy....
Figure 5. Heracles and the Ceryneian Hind, metope from the Athenian...
+4 Figure 6. Limestone sculptures of the two Mithraic torch-bearers: Left:...
R. Jelbert: 'Illuminating Mithraic Iconography: Mithras, God of Light, as the Milky Way', Culture and Cosmos, vol. 26, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2022), pp.51-78.
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  • Oct 2022
Although the iconography of the ancient Roman cult of Mithras is not thoroughly understood, it has been suggested by a number of scholars that the image of the deity sacrificing a bull (the tauroctony) referenced two constellations, namely Taurus and Scorpius. Roger Beck, Stanley Insler and others theorise that the animals of the tauroctony scene s...
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