The Lost Fort

My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times


17 Jul 2007
  Mithraeum at Brocolita (Carrawburgh)

Mithras came from the Mespotamian and Persian pantheon, god of light, of oaths and treaties, of truth and justice. He supposedly was the god of the warrior élites in Mesopotamia and Persia, though in the latter religion he stood in competition to Ahura Mazda.

His cult was carried west by the soldiers of the Roman Empire, and at the end of the first century AD he had become one of the most popular gods among the soldiers. Caves and grottos were now seen as places sacred to Mithras. The Mithras mysteries were celebrated in subterranean buildings, the mithraea. A good number of these has been discoverd all over the Roman Empire. Central part of the celebration was the killing of a bull, replaying the killing of the primordial bull by Mithras, the fight of Good against Bad, in some versions the creation of life.

Mithraeum at Brocolita, overview

Even some emperors (Commodus, Julian Apostata) became members of the Mithras mysteries. Because of its popularity, the cult stood in competition with the Christian religion, and there were similarities between both. The Mithras cult knew something like the last supper where the members shared bread and wine in commemoration of the last supper Mithras shared with his disciples before he entered his sun chariot and descended to heaven. They also believed in ressurrection and eternal life after the body went through the spheres of the planets (the 7 then known) and some sort of final judgement.

Closeup of the sanctuary

Almost everything we know about the Mithras cult comes from iconography (sculptures and reliefs), there is little written information because the cult was supposed to be a mystery to all but the initiated. There have been seven grades of initiation, and membership was restricted to men. Its aim was the fight against untruth, treason, and bad morals. Membership in the Mithras mysteries didn't exclude membership in other religious cults.

Closeup of the anteroom
The blue umbrella peeking out from the entrance is mine. :)

The mithraeum at Brocolita (Carrawburgh) was built about 200 AD. The altars were dedicated by the officers of the Batavians stationed in the nearby fort, the main altar depicting Mithras slaying the bull has been destroyed - assumably by Christians who saw the the Mithras ceremonies like the above mentioned final supper as parody of their own religion.

The mithraeum was originally a dark room with only few lights, most of them close to the altar. The anteroom was probably used for initiation tests. In the central nave, stone benches would have stood on both sides. At the far side lies the sanctuary. Mithraea were small and usually didn't hold more than 30 to 40 people.

The mithraeum seen from the other angle

The mithraeum at Brocolita was discovered by chance when after a dry period the ground sank and some stones became visible. It was excavated in 1949. The altars have been replaced by replica; the originals are in the museum at Newcastle, while other finds are displayed at Chesters.

To the left is a closeup of one of the altars depicting Mithras as Sun Charioteer. If you look closely, you can see that the rays surrounding his head are cut out of the stone, and behind them is an hollow where an oil lamp would be put so the rays shone in the dark. Time has destroyed part of the corona.

The identification with the sun god became so strong that Mithras was celebrated as Sol Invictus in the Roman pantheon.


I want to thank my very kind hostess in the B&B in Haltwhistle for having been able to see this one. She had offered to come and give me a ride back from Housesteads because the bus time schedule was such a mess, and then asked if I was in for some more walking through wet grass and rain, and drove me to Brocolita. It was worth getting wet.
 
Comments:
Awesome pictures, and thanks for the explanations. It's all very interesting to me.
 
Great photos and a very useful explanation, thank you. The Mithras cult features prominently in Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy.
 
Very interesting info. Thanks!
 
Fascinating post!
 
Great post! What sort of initiation tests do you think they would have had? Love the photos and the umbrella made me laugh.
 
Thank you, everyone.

Shelley,
there are only speculations. Some present the initiation like somehting Masonic, others say it involved the blood of a bull and tests of courage. Probably a blindfold, too. :)
 
Interesting stuff with great pics as usual.
 
I'd better not time travel there, then. I'm not that good with blood. I'd definitely need the blindfold.
 
Ah, I just remembered it was men only. I'm safe :-)
 
Shelley, yes it was a Men Only club. Which is one of the reasons I'm surprised that some Christians saw the Mithras mysteries as such a threat to their religion.
 
Hey, happy to found this blog...very interesting...thanks for sharing... tarja
 
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The Lost Fort is a travel and history blog based on my journeys in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, the Baltic Countries, and central Europe. It includes virtual town and castle tours with a focus on history, museum visits, hiking tours, and essays on Roman and Mediaeval history, illustrated with my own photos.


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I'm a blogger from Germany with a MA in Literature and History, interested in everything Roman and Mediaeval, avid reader and sometimes writer, opera enthusiast, traveller with a liking for foreign languages and odd rocks, photographer, and tea aficionado. And an old-fashioned blogger who still hasn't got an Instagram account.
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The Battle at the Harzhorn
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The Batavian Rebellion
A Short Introduction

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The pilum
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Alaric
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Isis Worship
Memorial Stones
The Mithras Cult

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Roman Water Supply

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Villa Rustica Wachenheim

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Other Times

Neolithicum to Iron Age

Germany

Development of Civilisation
European Bread Museum, Ebergötzen
The Hutewald Project in the Solling
Open Air Museum Oerlinghausen

Neolithic Remains
Stone Burials of the Funnelbeaker Culture
The Necropolis of Oldendorf

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The Nydam Ship

Scotland

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The Neolithic Landscape of Orkney
Ring of Brodgar
Skara Brae
Life in Skara Brae

Bronze Age / Iron Age
Clava Cairns
The Brochs of Gurness and Midhowe - Their Function in Iron Age Society

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Bronze / Iron Age
The Ship Setting of Gnisvärd / Gotland


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Explorers and Discoveries

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Fram Expedition to the South Pole

Discoveries
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Raising a Wreck, Now and Then (Vasa Museum in Stockholm)


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The Weimar Classicism
Introduction


Geology

Geological Landscapes: Germany

Baltic Sea Coast
Chalk Cliffs on Rugia
Flint Fields on Rugia

Harz Mountains
Bode Valley and Rosstrappe Cliff
The 'Hübichenstein' Rock
Karst Formations in Southern Harz
The Lonau Falls
The Rhume Springs
Sandstone Formations: Daneil's Cave
Sandstone Formations: Devil's Wall
Sandstone Formations: The Klus Rock

Meissner / Kaufunger Wald
Blue Dome near Eschwege
Diabase and Basalt Formations
Karst Formations
Salt Springs at the Werra

Solling-Vogler
Raised Bog Mecklenbruch
Hannover Cliffs

Geological Landscapes: Great Britain

The Shores of Scotland
Staffa

Geological Landscapes: Baltic Sea

Lithuania
Geology of the Curonian Spit

Fossils and Other Odd Rocks

Fossilized Ammonites
The Loket Meteorite (Czechia)



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