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__NOTOC__ Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3 January 1868 in
Aalst, Belgium Aalst (; french: Alost, ; Brabantian: ''Oilsjt'') is a city and municipality on the Dender River, northwest from Brussels in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, ...
– 20 August 1947 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre near
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
and student of
epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism.


Biography

Cumont was a graduate of the
University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...
(PhD, 1887). After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia (published in 1906) and in Syria, but he is best known for his studies on the impact of Eastern
mystery religion Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy as ...
s, particularly Mithraism, on the
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 Medite ...
. Cumont's international credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard Descamps, the Catholic Minister of Sciences and Arts at the
University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...
, refused to approve the faculty's unanimous recommendation of Cumont for the chair in Roman History, Cumont having been a professor there since 1906. There was a vigorous press campaign and student agitation in Cumont's favor, because the refusal was seen as blatant religious interference in the University's life. When another candidate was named, in 1912, Cumont resigned his positions at the University and at the Royal Museum in Brussels, left Belgium and henceforth divided his time between Paris and Rome. He contributed to many standard encyclopedias, published voluminously and in 1922, under stressful political conditions, conducted digs on the shore of the Euphrates at the previously unknown site of
Dura-Europos Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the v ...
; he published his research there in 1926. He was a member of most of the European academies. In 1936 Franz Cumont was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences. In 1947, Franz Cumont donated his library and papers to the Academia Belgica in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, where they are accessible to researchers. His works include *'' Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum'' (1898–1953) *''Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra'' (1894–1900, with an English translation in 1903) is the study that made his international reputation, by its originality and massive documentation. *''Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain'' (1906, widely translated) *''After-Life in Roman Paganism,'' lectures delivered at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, published in 1922, was cautiously expressed, but it corrected many false impressions of pagan rite that Christian apologists had made. *''Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans'', published in 1912 (available in a Dover reprint) After his death, critics of his interpretation of Mithras as the descendant of the Iranian deity Mithra began to be heard, and surfaced at the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies in Manchester England, 1971. Modern interpretation of Mithras as the astronomical bull-slayer have continued to move away from Cumont's interpretations, though his documentation remains valuable. In 1997 the Royal Library, Brussels, observed the fiftieth anniversary of Cumont's death appropriately, with a colloquium on
syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
in the Mediterranean world of Antiquity. In 2010 the Belgian publisher Brepols started an edition of Cumont's collected works. The volumes are published in two series as 'major' and 'minor' writings identified by the acronyms BICUMA and BICUMI.Bibliotheca Cumontiana
Scripta Maiora et Scripta Minora, ed. by various, Brepols, 2010 -


References


Bibliotheca Cumontiana

*2010 ''Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain'', BICUMA 1 *2010 ''Lux perpetua'', BICUMA 2 *2013 ''Les mystères de Mithra'', BICUMA 3 *2015 ''Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des Romains'', BICUMA 4 *2017 ''Comment la Belgique fut romanisée'', BICUMA 5 *2015 ''Astrologie'', BICUMI 4 *2017 ''Manichéisme'', BICUMI 6 *2020 ''Doura-Europos'', BICUMI 7 * F. Cumont, ''Lux perpetua'', B. Rochette, A. Motte (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols Publishers, 2010, * F. Cumont, ''Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain'', C. Bonnet, F. Van Haeperen (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols Publishers, 2010,


Works by Cumont online

* *

by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com

by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com

by Franz Cumont at sacred-texts.com


Critiques



David Ulansey's
zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The p ...
al interpretation of Mithraism


External links


Academia Belgica:
Franz Cumont

Franz Cumont {{DEFAULTSORT:Cumont, Franz 1868 births 1947 deaths Ghent University faculty Belgian classical scholars Belgian archaeologists 20th-century Belgian historians Ghent University alumni People from Aalst, Belgium Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy 19th-century Belgian historians