CIMRM Supplement - Tauroctony engraved on gemstone. Ploiesti, Romania.

Gabriela Filip & Alin Anton, "Reprezentarea zeului Mithras pe o gemă din Muzeul Judeţean de Istorie şi Arheologie Prahova/ The representation of The God Mithras on a gemstone from The County Museum of History and Archeology Prahova," in: Muzeul Olteniei Craiova. Oltenia. Studii şi comunicări. Arheologie-Istorie. Vol. 27 (2020), p.153-5. Online here. In the engraved gemstones collection of the County Museum of History and Archeology Prahova,in Ploiești, there is a gemstone with the representation of the god Mithras. The iconographic type fits within the limits of the well-known iconographic variant and captures the scene of the Mithraic ceremony of the sacrifice of the bull. According to our knowledge, this is the only representation of the god Mithras on a gemstone from Dacia, without completely ruling out the possibility that the piece came from the south of the Danube. In the absence of any details regarding the context of discovery, the gemstone with the god Mithras representation can be dated between the 2nd and the 3rd centuries AD. Muzeului Județean de Istorie și Arheologie Prahova -Ploiești, inv. 6.4.-547171. Technical description. The piece was worked from a variety of greenish-gray jasper with a matte luster on the surface. The shape is oval, and in section it is plano-convex, with the main face convex. The gemstone shows signs of wear that have deformed its edges, and the upper part is chipped. Deeply engraved on the surface of the gem is the scene of the bull being sacrificed by Mithras. Proposed date. In the absence of any details regarding the context of discovery, a common-sense framework chronologically places the gemstone from Ploiești in the c. II-III AD Chr.3. Discussion. The Mithraic representation on the gem in the Ploiesti museum falls within the limits of the well-known canon: Mithras, wearing a hat on his head and a chlamys on his shoulders, rests with his left knee on the bull's hump, which he holds by the head with his right hand, in while with his left hand he prepares to stab him with a knife. This type of representations, Mithras Tauroktonos, is widespread in Dacia. There are no supporters or other characters or animals represented, this is probably due to the limited space available, the maximum diameter of the piece measuring only 1.3 cm. According to our knowledge, this is the only representation of the god Mithras on a gem from Dacia; certainly, we do not exclude the possibility that the piece comes from another location, from the south of the Danube, possibly from Dobrogea, just like other pieces from the collections of the Ploiești museum. Even so, the discovery is unique in the territory of Romania, if not the representations of Sol on some gems discovered in Romula - the capital of the province of Dacia Inferior. In relation to this last location, the large number of Mithraic finds (votive plaques, a fountain ornament, statuettes and gems) should be noted, as well as a temple, dug on the banks of the river Teslui that passes through the middle of the town. We must also take into account the large number of Roman gems discovered here, with a considerable variety of representations. Also, further north of Romula, in Slaveni, on the banks of the Olt river, not far from the Roman fort here, a similar temple was discovered, together with several inscriptions and sculptural representations. Other Mithraic cult inscriptions or pieces also come from southern Dacia, from Sucidava, Cioroiu Nou and Drobeta. We can only note the novelty of the Mithraic representation engraved on a gem in the Ploiești museum, as well as the extent to which the cult of the god Mithras had taken in our regions.