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Mithras: Gods
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A second version of this scene is illustrated both in a painting in the Palazzo Barberini Mithraeum, Rome, and in a relief from Poetovio where in each case Mithras and Sol are shown standing on either side of an altar. In the example from Rome both are holding a small spit on the altar; at Poetovio (Fig. 23) both gods are holding out their hands to one another, and a spit can again be made out with small pieces of meat skewered on to it, as is still customary in Yugoslavia. The spit is being held over the altar while the raven comes to nibble at the meat, but on a painting at Dura-Europos the raven himself offers this spit for the sacred meal. It is clear... that the scene at Pettau is not to be regarded merely as a variant on the meal in which Sol and Mithras ultimately partake as fraternal allies, because in the Palazzo Barberini Mithraeum these two acts are portrayed on separate panels. The scene probably illustrates the formal confirmation of the pact of Sol and Mithras, an action which preceded the divine meal which itself took place before their ascent to heaven in the chariot of the sun.
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Before Mithras there was Krishna in India, circa 1200 BC. Krishna was born of the Virgin Mother Devaki after being visited by spirits to announce the impending birth of an immaculately conceived child who is God’s Sun and the “son of God.” His birth was attended by wise men, as well as shepherds. Krishna was presented at birth with frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Krishna worked miracles, restored sight, cast out devils, and raised the dead.
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A bronze image of Mithras emerging from an egg-shaped zodiac ring was found associated with a mithraeum along Hadrian's Wall (now at the University of Newcastle). An inscription from the city of Rome suggests that Mithras may have been seen as the Orphic creator-god Phanes who emerged from the world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the universe into existence. This view is reinforced by a bas-relief at the Estense Museum in Modena, Italy, which shows Phanes coming from an egg, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an image very similar to that at Newcastle.
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Worship of the god Mithras began around 4000 years ago in Persia where he was venerated as the protector of tribal society. Other gods in this ancient pantheon included Ahura-Mazda, the sky god, and Ahriman, the god of darkness. When Zoroaster (Zarathrusta), a prophet from the kingdom of Bactria, implemented a reform of polytheism (628-55 BCE), Mithras lost his place among the gods, lost his powers and attributes; and Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman were pushed to opposite ends of the deistic spectrum where Ahura-Mazda became the symbol of supreme good while Ahriman became the embodiment of ultimate evil. All of the other Persian gods then took on a hierarchical position beneath one of these two gods. This dichotomy of pure good versus pure evil influenced the Jews under Babylonian captivity (597 BCE) - the Babylonians venerated Mithras under the name of Shamash and had refined the theology, mythology, rituals, and doctrines of the Persians embedding them into their own belief system - creating the strong adversity between Yahweh and Ha Shatan which led to the Jehovah-Satan struggle of Christianity.
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Mithras was worshipped as guardian of arms, and patron of soldiers and armies. The handshake was developed by those who worshipped him as a token of friendship and as a gesture to show that you were unarmed. When Mithras later became the Roman god of contracts, the handshake gesture was imported throughout the Mediterranean and Europe by Roman soldiers.
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According to Persian traditions, the god Mithras was actually incarnated into the human form of the Saviour expected by Zarathustra. Mithras was born of Anahita, an immaculate virgin mother once worshipped as a fertility goddess before the hierarchical reformation. Anahita was said to have conceived the Saviour from the seed of Zarathustra preserved in the waters of Lake Hamun in the Persian province of Sistan.
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