CIMRM 1938 - Tauroctony. Apulum / Alba Iulia, Arad, Romania.

This item was discovered in 1905 in Apulum (Alba Iulia, Gyulafehérvár) by Béla Cserni, but was thought to be lost. It was in fact still in the Museum of Arad as noted by Vermaseren. The relief was rediscovered by Csaba Szabó, who traced its modern history and published it properly with photographs in 2014. He determined that it was found in Marospartos (Partoş – Colonia Aurelia Apulensis) where it was used as a bench in front of a house. He also located the photograph originally sent to Cumont, and discovered that "CIMRM 1986" is in fact the same monument.

CIMRM entry

1938. Relief in limestone (H. 1.02 Br. 0.78 D. 0.08) found at Mures Port. At first in Museum at Alba Julia, now at Arad, Museum. The upper part of the relief is nearly completely lost. The bust of Sol (l); the raven; the upper part of Mithras; the head of the bull and its forelegs; the r. torchbearer; the lower part of Luna; no inscription.

Bibliography

• Csaba Szabó, George Valentin Bounegru, Victor Sava: "Mithras rediscovered. Notes on CIMRM 1938", in: Ziridava: Studia Archeologica 28 (2014), pp.149-156. Online at Academia.edu here.
• Csaba Szabó, "Mithras Rediscovered II. Further notes on CIMRM 1938 and 1986", in: Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 2 (2015), 67-73. Online at Academia.edu here.