__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 Baardege ...

– 20 August 1947 in

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre () or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as well as t ...

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 th ...

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 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 linke ...

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 t ...

(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 ass ...

s, particularly

, on the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. 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

, 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 vil ...

; 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 The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize named after Émile Francqui. Normally annually since 1933, the Francqui Foundation awards it in recognition of the achievements of a scholar or scientist, who at the start ...

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 (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

, where they are accessible to researchers. His works include *''

Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum ''Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum'' (''CCAG'') is a 12-volume (including appendices) catalogue of astrological writings in Greek. The ''CCAG'' edited, described, and excerpted from texts found in libraries throughout Europe, most edited ...

'' (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 research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, 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, th ...

in the Mediterranean world of Antiquity. In 2010 the Belgian publisher

Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout ( Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

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 path ...

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