Search Results: Mithraic Mysteries

The Mithraic Mysteries, also known as Mithraism, were a mystery cult in the Roman world where followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithras (Akkadian for "contract") as the god of friendship, contract and order. The cult first appeared...

It is rare when a new find creates renewed interest in an old subject. Here, the new find is a leontocephaline (lion-headed) figure of unknown provenance, weighing 5.8 kg and 37 cm in height with a width of 14 cm. Its base is partially broken...

The Rites of Eleusis, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, were the secret rituals of the mystery school of Eleusis and were observed regularly from c. 1600 BCE - 392 CE. Exactly what this mystic ritual was no one knows; but why the ancient Greeks...

Mithras looks away from the dying bull, up to the moon. Also, Mithras has a few little helpers that accompany him in taking the bull's fertility: a dog and a snake drink from the bull's blood, and a scorpion stings the bulls scrotum. A raven...

Mystery cults, or mystery religions, were ancient religious associations characterized by secrecy and initiation rites. They typically surrounded one primary deity, but some mystery cults venerated multiple deities in their rites. Members...

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower' class of ancient Greece. In Homer's Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley...

Eleusis was a deme of Athens and most famous for its annual festival of the Mysteries in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The site was also an important fortress protecting Attica and held several other important festivals, notably the Thesmophoria...

We know a lot about our past but some things, despite research, archaeology and endless debate, still remain largely unknown. This collection looks at some of the great unsolved mysteries from the ancient world to try and discover the facts...

Demeter was one of the oldest gods in the ancient Greek pantheon. Demeter was a goddess of agriculture and guaranteed the fertility of the earth. She protected both farming and vegetation. The close connection with the earth was inherited...

The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii owes its fame to the exquisite wall paintings that cover the walls of one of its reception rooms. A mysterious scene with life-size figures in the Second Pompeian Style seems to depict the initiation...