Discoveries since 1960

The following Mithraea have been discovered recently.

This list contains a mixture of links and material that I am gathering in order to create a page for each discovery. The basis of the list is mainly that by Csaba Szabó, supplemented with material by John W. Brandt's handlist, and from elsewhere, and the links are to wherever information may be currently found. I am gradually creating new pages for each item and linking to them instead.

1. Before 1970

• 1953 - Heidelberg Second Mithraeum.

• 1963 - Marino Mithraeum.

• 1965 - Duino Mithraeum.

• 1965 - Dardagana Tauroctony.

• 1969 - Castra Peregrinorum, Rome.

• 1969 - Ponza Mithraeum (first formal investigation but known since 19th c.)

• 1969 - Köln II.

2. 1970's

• Intercisa Mithraeum, (Dunaujváros / Dunapentele) Hungary - Discovered: 1973
  Coordinates: 46° 58' 50" N, 18° 54' 46" E / 46.98066° N, 18.91268° E
  See CIMRM 1819-1837 for Intercisa stuff; but the Mithraeum itself was undiscovered then.
  
  • Tóth, István - Zsolt, Visy, "Das grosse Kultbild des Mithräums und die Probleme des Mithras-Kultes in Intercisa", in: Specimina Nova. Dissertationum ex Instituto Historico Universitatis Quinqueecclesiensis de Iano Pannonio Nominatae, Pécs, 1986, 37-56. Online here. But this says no Mithraeums are known, but counts how many must have existed.
  • Istvan Toth (Ed), "The composition of the Mithras Relief from Intercisa", in: Antaeus 24, 1997-1998, pp. 535-537, Eng. (Pannonia and beyond. Studies in honour László Barkóczi). Online here.
  • Toth, Istvan. "Das Grosse Mithras Kultbild von Intercisa", in: Mithras Pannonicus: Esszek-Essays. Pecs-Budapest: Martin Opitz, 2003. Pp. 97-134.
  • See also Beck here; ref to CIMRM 1822. Sol drives outwards rather than in.
  • On Intercisa see here.
  • Cumont knew of Mithras at Intercisa here.
  • Inscription at Intercisa at Ubi erat lupa.
  

  (From here

  (From Ubi erat lupa, no. 8064.)

• 1974 - Valdarno Tauroctony, Italy. A broken statue discovered by two children.

• 1974-5 - Caesarea Mithraeum, Israel.Recently finished reports for publication, according to Csaba Szabó.

• 1974 - Riegel Mithraeum. Sandstone foundations, timber walls and roof. 2nd century AD.

• 1975 - Vulci Mithraeum. (Need to obtain the excavation report)

• 1976 - Mainz-Ballplatz Mithraeum. Discovered during building work. Mithraeum was looted and destroyed.

• Biesheim - 1977.
  Discovered: 1977 near Haut-Rhin, France
  Coordinates 48° 02' 30" N, 7° 32' 38" E / 48.0417° N, 7.5439° E
  
  • F. Petry and E. Kern. "Un mithraeum a Biesheim (Haut-Rhin)", Cahiers Alsaciens d'Archeologie d'Art et d'Historie 21 (1978), pp. 5-28.
  • Plouin, Cecile. "Le Mithraeum de Biesheim (Haut-Rhin)", Chantiers historiques en Alsace. No. 7 (2004), pp. 9-21 & Annex 334-341. Online here (PDF)

  Clauss says: F. Petry & E. Kern, "Un mithraeum a Biesheim (Hat-Rhin)," Cahiers Alsaciens d'Archeologie et d'Histoire 21 (1978) 4-32.

  Image of head from Mithraeum.

• Pons Aeni (Pfaffenhofen) Mithraeum - Discovered: 1977/78 at Pfaffenhofen near Rosenheim
  Coordinates: 47° 51' 0"N, 12° 8' 0" E / 47.8500°N, 12.1333° E
  • J. Garbsch, "Das Mithraeum von Pons Aeni", Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter 50 (1985), pp. 355-462. NF5, P574.b.33

  Lots of information here. "The coin series cease ... at Pons Aeni in Raetia (Pfaffenhofen am Inn) with Honorius (408)."¹ "At Pons Aeni (Pfaffenhofen am Inn), the remains of wooden shelving, lockable cupboards and chests for storing the crockery have been found: Garbsch 1985, 364."²

3. 1980's

• Krefeld-Gellep Mithraeum - Discovered: 1981
  Coordinates: 51° 20' 0" N 6° 34' 0" E / 51.3333° N, 6.5667°
  • Pirling, Renate, "Die Grabungen in Krefeld-Gellep 1981/1982 in Ausgrabung in Rheinland 81/82", in: Kunst und Altertum am Rhein Fuehrer des Rheinischen Landesmuseum Bonn, Nr. 112. Koeln, 1983, 130p.
  • Pirling, Renate and Margareta Siepen, Die Funde aus den roemischen Grabern von Krefeld-Gellep: Katalog der Graeber 6348-6361, 2006. 620p. West Room: order S460:01.a.8.27

• 1984 - Septeuil Mithraeum.

• 1987 - Bordeaux Mithraeum.

• 1988 - Mundelsheim Mithraeum.

• Wiesloch Mithraeum - 1989. Discovered: 1989 at Wiesloch in LKR Rhein-Neckar. Coordinates: 49° 17' 39" N, 8° 41' 54" / 49.2942 N, 8.6986 E.
  Hensen,Andreas. "Das Mithraeum im Vicus von Wiesloch", Archaeologische Nachrichten aus Baden 51/52 (1994), pp. 30-37.
  Richard Gordon article Gordon, Richard: "Mithraeum in the vicus of Wiesloch, Lkr. Rhein-Neckar (Baden-Württemberg), Germany", EJMS, Volume I, 2000 (English, Zipped Word97)

4. 1990's

• Martigny mithraeum, Switzerland - 1993.
  Construction workers were clearing an area in Martigny, southern Switzerland, for apartment buildings, when, to their surprise, they found a Mithraeum built between A.D. 150 and 200. A long room with benches on either side, this Mithraeum has a podium at the end for a tauroctony and other votive objects. Dedicatory offerings here ranged from coins to an earthenware vase bearing a Greek inscription from one Theodoros to the Greek sun god Helios. This offering reinforces the notions of Mithras's worship under various epithets.
  Discovered; 1993 by Francois Wible, archaeologist
  Coordinates: 46° 6' 21" N, 7° 4' 44" E / 46.1000° N, 7.0667° E
  • Cole, Andrew. Martigny (VS), le mithraeum. Lusanne: Acad. Swisse des Sciences Humanes et Sociales, ITMS, 1999. Series: Inventaire des travailles monetaires swisses, # 5.
  • Wible, Francois. Martigny-la-Romaine. Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2008. 351p.
  • Wible, francois. "Le mithraeum de Forum Claudii Vallensium/ Martigny (Valais)", Archeologie swisse. Vol. 18 (1995) No. 1, pp 1-15.

• Orbe Boscéaz, Suisse – 1996
  Villa d'Orbe-Bosceaz Mithraeum - Discovered: 1976
  Coordinates: 46° 43' 00" N, 6° 32' 00" E / 46.717° N, 6.533 E
  
  • Luginbuehl, Thierry, Jacques Monnier, & Yves Muehlemann. "Le mithraeum de la villa d'Orbe-Bosceaz (Suisse): du mobilier aux rites", in: Roman Mithraism: the evidence of the Small Finds. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage, 2004. Pp 109-133.

• 1997 - Two altars from Cakovec, Croatia, one of Cautes, one of Cautopates.

• 1998 - Hawarti / Hawarte, Syria. Brilliantly painted Mithraeum which supplies new information on the mysteries.
  Griffith, Alison B. : "A New Mithraeum in Hawarti, Syria", EJMS, Volume I, 2000 (English, Zipped Word 97) zip

• Tienen mithraeum, Belgium - 1998
  Discovered: 1999. Coordinates: 50° 48' N, 0° 56' E / 50.8056° N, 4.9394° E.
  
  • Martens, Marleen. "The Mithraeum: Roman Mithraism: the Evidence of the S in Tienen (Belgium): small finds and what they can tell us," Roman Mithraism: the Evidence of the Small Finds. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological heritage, 2004. Pp. 25-56.
  • Martens, Marleen. "The ritual deposit of the temple of Mithras, Tienen (Belgium)," Journal of Roman Archaeology 17 (2004), pp.

• 1998 - Doliche spelaeum, Turkey.

• 1998 - Kuenzing Mithraeum, Quintana, Bavaria.

• Bornheim Sechtem, Germany – 1999.
  Discovered 1998/99
  Coordinates: 50° 46' 59" N, 6° 57' 00" E / 50.7833° N, 6.9500° E
  
  • Cornelius Ulbert, "Das Mithraeum von Bornheim-Sechtem bei Bonn: Baubefunde und Fundumstande," Roman Mithraism: the Evidence of Small Finds, Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage, 2004, pp.81-88.
  • Johann-Christoph Wulfmeier, "Ton, Steine, Scherbenskulpturen und Reliefkeramiken aus dem Mithraeum von Bornheim," Ibid., pp. 89-94

• 1999 - Güglingen Mithraeum I.

• Koenigsbrunn Mithraeum - Discovered: 1999
  Coordinates: 48° 16' 0" N 10° 53' 0" / 48.26667° N, 10.883333° E
  
  • Polleres, Julia. "Ein roemische Ansiedlung mit Mithraeum in Koenigsbrunn, Landkr. Augsburg," Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins fuer Schwaben 95 (??), pp. 7-26.

5. 2000's

• 2000 - Crypta Balbi, Rome
  

• 2001 - Aigio, Greece.

• 2002-4 - Güglingen Mithraeum II.

• 2003 - Héviz mithraeum, Hungary.

• 2003 - Lugo mithraeum (Lucus Augusti), Spain.

• 2004 - Els Munts mithraeum, Tarragona, Spain.

• Santo Stefano ai Lupi - Italy – 2004 (not sure if it is a mithraeum)

• Apulum mithraeum, Alba Iulia, Romania - 2003 (2013) – not yet specified the functionality of the building

• Apulum mithraeum, Alba Iulia, Romania - 2008 (2013)

  From: here This is CIMRM 1947. Article on it by Szabo here.

• Szombathely, Savaria mithraeum, Hungary – 2008.
  A Mithraeum was discovered under a modern shopping mall in Szombathely in northwestern Hungary by archaeologist Peter Kiss. This temple is the first example for Mithraism in Szombathely, though evidence for the cult has appeared elsewhere in Hungary. Thus far, the excavated area consists of an outer room and an entranceway. The temple burned down in the 4th century, as evidenced by pieces of ceiling and wall paintings found on the floor. Currently, an artistic restorer is working to recreate the shattered paintings, which used expensive pigments in their construction. Coordinates: 47° 14' 06" N, 16° 37' 19" E / 47.23512 N, 16.62191 E.
  Kiss, Peter. "Mithras-Altäre aus Savaria," in: Irene Lazar (editor). Religion in Public and Private Sphere. Acta of the 4th International Colloquium - The Autonomous Towns of Noricum and Pannonia. Celje: Univerzitetna Zalozba Annales, Koper 2011. Pp. 185-194.

• 2009 - Veii. Italian police found a tauroctony in a barn, being readied for sale in Japan.

• 2009 - A very dubious report of a Mithraeum in Dohuk, Iraq.

6. 2010's

• 2010 - Inveresk Mithraeum, Scotland (UK).

• 2010 - Angers mithraeum, France.

• 2010 - Thermes, Greece. Close to the border with Bulgaria, and political tensions have prevented excavation for a century.

• London mithraeum (new excavations) – UK, 2013

• Carmona mithraeum, Spain – 2013 (uncertain if it is a Mithraic sanctuary!)

• New excavations and interpretations of the Mitreo di Circo Massimo

• 2015 - Possible Mithraeum at Bingen in Germany. Article.

• 2015 - New Mithraeum at Kempraten in Switzerland.

• 2016 - An international conference on Mithraic studies took place in Italy. Report by Csaba Szabo here.

• 2017 - New Mithraeum discovered at Lucciana in Corsica.

• 2017 - New Mithraeum discovered at Zerzevan Castle, Diyarbekir, Turkey.

Note also Csaba Szabo, "The material evidence of the Roman cult of Mithras in Dacia - CIMRM Supplement", Acta Ant. hung. 58 (2018), 325-357, which goes through all the CIMRM material for Dacia, from the CIMRM and later. Online here.

7. Items to process

This reconstruction from Twitter here. "Mithras Thermin Tile. (from Bad Vilbel, at @Archaeol_Museum) #Roman #Germania"

Interesting material for further investigation: photos of the Mithras grotto at Saarbrücken here. And an an altar from Mainz.

A further list here

Useful page of images here.

Gordon, Richard: "Archaeological Notes 2003", EJMS, Volume III, 2003 (English, Zipped Word 2000) zip.

More finds in Clauss.

Jaime Alvar on Mithras in Spain here.

Michael Fuller's collection Housesteads, London, Yorkshire, Dura, and Naples.

Some pictures that I don't know where to put yet!

Mithraic altar during excavation in the Aquincum legionary fortess in the 1980s. From: Twitter.

Samian ware of Rheinzabern manufacture (form Drag.37) found during control excavation of the Symphorus mithraeum in the Aquincum Civil Town. From: Twitter. By Orsolya Láng

Roman marble statue of the young god Mithras. 2nd century. From: Twitter. Not sure where this is held.

[img:cimrm1083-wiesbaden.jpg|left|300px|1977 image by John Cox, via Flickr.] This is NOT CIMRM1083, tho.

Bibliography

• Csaba Szabó's list.
• Archaeology magazine - at the bottom.
• John W. Brandt, Mithraea discovered since 1960, private communication, 2013.