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Tauroctony
''Tauroctony'' is a modern name given to the central cult reliefs of the Roman Mithraic Mysteries. The imagery depicts Mithras killing a bull, hence the name ''tauroctony'' after the Greek word (, "bull killing"). A ''tauroctony'' is distinct from the sacrifice of a bull in ancient Rome called a ; the was mainly part of the unrelated cult of Cybele. Despite the name, the scene is symbolic, and to date there is no known physical evidence that patrons of the Roman cult ever performed such a rite. Like all Greco-Roman mysteries, the Mithraic Mysteries was limited to initiates, and there is very little known about the cult's beliefs or practices. However, several images of the bull include a ribbon or blanket, which was a Roman convention to identify a sacrificial animal, so it is fairly certain that the killing of the bull represents a sacrificial act. And, because the main bull-killing scene is often accompanied by explicit depictions of the sun, moon, and stars, it is also fai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tauroctony Heddernheim
''Tauroctony'' is a modern name given to the central cult reliefs of the Roman Mithraic Mysteries. The imagery depicts Mithras killing a bull, hence the name ''tauroctony'' after the Greek word (, "bull killing"). A ''tauroctony'' is distinct from the sacrifice of a bull in ancient Rome called a ; the was mainly part of the unrelated cult of Cybele. Despite the name, the scene is symbolic, and to date there is no known physical evidence that patrons of the Roman cult ever performed such a rite. Like all Greco-Roman mysteries, the Mithraic Mysteries was limited to initiates, and there is very little known about the cult's beliefs or practices. However, several images of the bull include a ribbon or blanket, which was a Roman convention to identify a sacrificial animal, so it is fairly certain that the killing of the bull represents a sacrificial act. And, because the main bull-killing scene is often accompanied by explicit depictions of the sun, moon, and stars, it is also fai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithraic Mysteries
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linked to a new and distinctive imagery, with the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice debated. The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from about the 1st to the 4th-century CE. Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves ''syndexioi'', those "united by the handshake". They met in underground temples, now called ''mithraea'' (singular '' mithraeum''), which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its center in Rome, and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far as Roman Dacia, as far north as Roman Britain, and to a lesser extent in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithras
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linked to a new and distinctive imagery, with the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice debated. The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from about the 1st to the 4th-century CE. Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves ''syndexioi'', those "united by the handshake". They met in underground temples, now called ''mithraea'' (singular ''mithraeum''), which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its center in Rome, and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far as Roman Dacia, as far north as Roman Britain, and to a lesser extent in Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithras Tauroctony Louvre Ma3441b
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linked to a new and distinctive imagery, with the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice debated. The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from about the 1st to the 4th-century CE. Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves ''syndexioi'', those "united by the handshake". They met in underground temples, now called ''mithraea'' (singular ''mithraeum''), which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its center in Rome, and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far as Roman Dacia, as far north as Roman Britain, and to a lesser extent in Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taurobolium
In the Roman Empire of the second to fourth centuries, ''taurobolium'' referred to practices involving the sacrifice of a bull, which after mid-second century became connected with the worship of the Great Mother of the Gods; though not previously limited to her cult, after AD 159 all private ''taurobolia'' inscriptions mention the ''Magna Mater''. History Originating in Asia Minor, its earliest attested performance in Italy occurred in AD 134, at Puteoli, in honor of '' Venus Caelestis'', as documented by an inscription. The earliest inscriptions, of the second century in Asia Minor, point to a bull chase in which the animal was overcome, linked with a ''panegyris'' in honour of a deity or deities, but not an essentially religious ceremony, though a bull was sacrificed and its flesh distributed. The addition of the ''taurobolium'' and the institution of an ''archigallus'' were innovations in the cult of the Magna Mater made by Antoninus Pius on the occasion of his ''vicenn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attis
Attis (; grc-gre, Ἄττις, also , , ) was the consort of Cybele, in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, the ''Galli'', as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis castrating himself. Attis was also a Phrygian vegetation deity. His self-mutilation, death, and resurrection represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring. According to Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', Attis transformed himself into a pine tree. No connection to the god Atys Nineteenth century scholarship wrongly identified the god ''Attis'' with the similar-sounding name of the god ''Atys''. The ''name'' "Atys" is often seen in ancient Aegean cultures; it was mentioned by Herodotus, however Herodotus was describing Atys, the son of Croesus, a human in a historical account. The 19th century conflation of the man Atys's name with the mythology of the god he was presumably named after, "Atys the sun god, slain by the boar's tusk of winter", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sagittarius (constellation)
Sagittarius is one of the constellations of the zodiac and is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Its old astronomical symbol is (♐︎). Its name is Latin for "archer". Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur pulling back a bow. It lies between Scorpius and Ophiuchus to the west and Capricornus and Microscopium to the east. The center of the Milky Way lies in the westernmost part of Sagittarius (see Sagittarius A). Visualizations As seen from the northern hemisphere, the constellation's brighter stars form an easily recognizable asterism known as "the Teapot". The stars δ Sgr (Kaus Media), ε Sgr (Kaus Australis), ζ Sgr (Ascella), and φ Sgr form the body of the pot; λ Sgr (Kaus Borealis) is the point of the lid; γ2 Sgr (Alnasl) is the tip of the spout; and σ Sgr (Nunki) and τ Sgr the handle. These same sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scorpius (constellation)
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Greeks; it is one of the 48 constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. Its old astronomical symbol is (♏︎). Notable features Stars Scorpius contains many bright stars, including Antares (α Sco), "rival of Mars," so named because of its distinct reddish hue; β1 Sco (Graffias or Acrab), a triple star; δ Sco (Dschubba, "the forehead"); θ Sco (Sargas, of unknown origin); ν Sco (Jabbah); ξ Sco; π Sco (Fang); σ Sco (Alniyat); and τ Sco (Paikauhale). Marking the tip of the scorpion's curved tail are λ Sco (Shaula) and υ Sco (Lesath), whose names both mean "sting." Given their proximity to one another, λ Sco and υ Sco are sometimes referred to as the Cat's Eyes. The constellation' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libra (constellation)
Libra is a constellation of the zodiac and is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for weighing scales. Its old astronomical symbol is (♎︎). It is fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars, and lies between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east. Beta Librae, also known as Zubeneschamali, is the brightest star in the constellation. Three star systems are known to have planets. Features Stars Overall, there are 83 stars within the constellation's borders brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5. The brightest stars in Libra form a quadrangle that distinguishes it for the unaided observer. Traditionally, Alpha and Beta Librae are considered to represent the scales' balance beam, while Gamma and Sigma are the weighing pans. Alpha Librae, called Zubenelgenubi, is a multiple star system divisible into two stars when seen through binoculars, The primary (Alpha2 Librae) is a blue-white star of magnitude 2.7 and the secondary (Alpha1 L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virgo (constellation)
Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for maiden, and its old astronomical symbol is (♍︎). Lying between Leo (constellation), Leo to the west and Libra (constellation), Libra to the east, it is the second-largest constellation in the sky (after Hydra (constellation), Hydra) and the largest constellation in the zodiac. The ecliptic intersects the celestial equator within this constellation and Pisces (constellation), Pisces. Underlying these technical two definitions, the sun passes directly overhead of the equator, within this constellation, at the September equinox. Virgo can be easily found through its brightest star, Spica. Location Virgo is prominent in the spring sky in the Northern Hemisphere, visible all night in March and April. As the largest zodiac constellation, the Sun takes 44 days to pass through it, longer than any other. From 1990 and until 2062, this will take place from September 16 to October 30. It is located in the third ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo (constellation)
Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, between Cancer (constellation), Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo (constellation), Virgo the maiden to the east. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles meaning 'Glory of Hera' (known to the ancient Romans as Hercules) as one of his Twelve Labours, twelve labors. Its old astronomical symbol is (♌︎). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Leo remains one of the 88 modern constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its many bright stars and a distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion it depicts. The lion's mane and shoulders also form an asterism (astronomy), asterism known as "The Sickle," which to modern observers may resemble a backwards "question mark." Features Stars Leo contains many bright stars, many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
