Mithraeum

UNEARTHING THE MITHRAEUM

Originally an Iranian god, Mithras became especially popular in the Roman period among soldiers and the merchant class. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that he had a special status in the military garrison at Dura-Europos.

In 1933–34, during the seventh season of the excavations at Dura-Europos by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, a small shrine to Mithras was discovered along the western fortification wall in the northern part of the city. A dedicatory inscription found there, dated about A.D. 168–69, shows that the shrine was sponsored by Palmyrene archers who served in the Roman army.

There is no evidence of any earlier Mithraeum; it seems safe to assume that the god Mithras was not worshipped in Parthian Dura-Europos but came to the city with the Romans. The Mithraeum was rebuilt and augmented after the enlargement of the garrison in A.D. 209–11. An inscription from this phase shows that the dedicant of the renovation was a centurion named Antonius Valentius.

The building underwent yet another reconstruction and enlargement around A.D. 240. The decorations from this final phase were preserved by a defensive dirt embankment when the city was conquered by the Sasanians around A.D. 256 and are now part of the Yale University Art Gallery’s Dura-Europos Collection.

The cult of Mithras was a mystery religion that featured initiation, banquets, and the promise of salvation after death. Only men were allowed to join. Due to the exclusive nature of the cult, little is known about its rituals. There were seven levels, or grades, of initiation; graffiti at Dura-Europos listed names of initiates, given along with their Mithraic grade. Shrines dedicated to Mithras were generally located underground, commemorating the god’s birth in a cave; the Dura-Europos Mithraeum was unusual in that it was totally above ground.

The devotional focus of a Mithraic shrine was typically a cult relief showing Mithras slaying the Cosmic Bull (in a depiction known as the tauroctony), which symbolized the victory of light over primeval darkness.

While iconographic schemes varied among Mithraic shrines in different locations, this image was a constant. The Dura-Europos Mithraeum contained two such reliefs (at right). Their inscriptions show that they date from the earliest phase of the shrine. The only surviving elements of that phase, the reliefs were reused as cult images in each subsequent renovation. Both show Mithras and the Bull in characteristic fashion: Mithras, dressed in Persian costume, sits on the back of the Bull and pulls his head back with one hand while he stabs the animal in the neck with the other. A small dog drinks blood from the wound. In the larger of the two reliefs, the donors or dedicants of the relief are shown observing the scene. Mithraic iconography from this period generally omits donor images, so their presence here is another deviation for which the Dura-Europos shrine is notable.

A series of paintings showing scenes from the life of Mithras (including the slaying of the Bull, this time in a landscape with trees and altars), as well as representations of the signs of the zodiac, surrounded the reliefs.

The reliefs were flanked on both left and right by single seated figures who, like Mithras, wear Eastern dress. Russian scholar and Yale professor in the 1920s Michael I. Rostovtzeff proposed that the two were members of the shrine’s Palmyrene congregation, although others have suggested that they are prophets or magi.

On the side walls of the niche were two virtually identical scenes of Mithras as a mounted archer hunting wild animals in a wood. These hunting scenes are particularly Iranian in character and display an Eastern sensibility unlike other depictions of Mithras in the western Roman Empire. They emphasize the god’s role as divine archer, one that would have carried special meaning for the Palmyrene archers who worshipped him at Dura-Europos.

RECONSTRUCTING THE MITHRAEUM

The wall paintings and cult reliefs from the Mithraeum are a significant feature of the Dura-Europos Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery and have been on display several times since their relocation to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1935. Installed in a full-scale reconstruction on the third floor of the Gallery’s Egerton Swartwout building upon arrival, the Mithraeum remained a dominant feature of the space until 1977, when the entire installation was moved to the lower level of the museum’s Louis Kahn building. 

There, the paintings and reliefs were set into the walls of a new reconstruction very similar in design to the earlier one. The reconstruction remained in place until the Gallery moved out of the Kahn building in 2002, in preparation for the renovation of that building.

The 1977 reconstruction of the Mithraeum incorporated the paintings and reliefs into a structure made of 2 x 4-inch lumber and plywood, joined by plaster, wire lath, and copper wire. The plaster was used to reconstruct missing sections, frequently covering the edges of the original wall paintings.

The disassembly of the reconstruction in 2002 was carefully documented with descriptive text and photographs, and the paintings were removed from the supporting structure and placed in off-site storage. In 2009 the Gallery began developing plans for a major reinstallation of the Dura-Europos artifacts, including a reconstruction of the Mithraeum as a focal point. The initial concept was to rebuild the 1977 structure. 

A team was formed including staff from several departments: curatorial, conservation, installations, and exhibition design. This interdepartmental collaboration proved to be instrumental in creating an innovative and flexible design that would balance the requirements of this complex project.

The next step was to bring together the fragments of the Mithraeum and examine their structure, condition, and completeness. This was made possible by the large new facilities (approximately 426,000 square feet) available for storage and conservation at Yale’s West Campus.

A full-scale mock-up using wood and cardboard was created, starting with the ancient fragments themselves and placing strong emphasis on the documentary evidence from the 1930s excavations, including numerous photographs and drawings. An old drawing of the shrine by excavation team member Herbert J. Gute (at right) was particularly illuminating and ultimately provided a new vision. In many ways, the evolving collaboration reflected the convergence of talent that had existed in the field at Dura-Europos in the 1930s, where archaeologists, artists, architects, and photographers worked together to document their processes of discovery and treatment.

The Gallery’s reinstallation team strove to design a new reconstruction of the Mithraeum with minimal structural or aesthetic fills, where the ancient fragments would be highlighted and appreciated in their own right. The space would be fully accessible, not roped-off as in the earlier reconstructions. Security experts were consulted in order to ensure safety for the objects as well as for visitors.

The resulting inviting layout will allow for a more intimate experience of the art that has garnered such interest among scholars and the international community.

Once the team reached a collective vision for the project, various structural components and techniques were considered in order to best create the desired effect in displaying and protecting the ancient works of art. An arch-shaped armature was designed using plywood, built up in a brick overlay pattern for extra strength. An extra piece of wood running along the interior edge of the arch was added to provide reinforcement and allow for the placement of connecting rungs from which artifacts can be hung. The surface of the arch was covered with PVC foam and plaster. The wall painting fragments, which received a wooden lattice as part of their backing during excavation, were mounted to custom plywood backers with zip ties and/or wire. The limestone reliefs were installed on a frame behind the arch. This frame is an essential structural element, since the smaller of the two reliefs cannot bear the weight of the larger, heavier piece above it.

All materials for the installation were carefully selected for their museum-grade qualities, degree of rigidity, and strength. The end result is a reconstruction that highlights the extraordinary preservation of the Dura-Europos Mithraeum and the quality of the artwork, while giving visitors a true sense of the space in which Mithras was worshipped at ancient Dura-Europos.