Strabo chronicled that during the ruling of Achaemenid Empire the Armenian Satrap donated 20,000 horses to the annual Mithra celebration. Rome, marble, 180–192 AD ( Public Domain ) By killing the bull, Mithra was creating the world from its parts. He was naked except for the Phrygian hat on his head and he held a torch in his left hand which illuminated the world. It is said that within the salty sea (Lake of the Van), there was a rock, and when heaven was darkened the light fell on the rock and shortly after Mithra was born. Mithraic LegendsĪccording to Armenian ancient beliefs, 365 saints are living in the heart of the Sun and each of them is the owner of one day of the year, appointed in order to prevent evil. The cult of Mithra began to disappear in the fourth century BC. It’s believed that a temple dedicated to Mithra also has been found in Armavir, the ancient capital of Armenia. In the Armenian pantheon Mithra was the god of the light and purity. Statue of the god Mithras killing a bull in the thermal s mithraeum in archaeological excavations of Ostia Antica – Rome. In ancient sculptures Mithra was often portrayed as a powerful young man with a Phrygian or Armenian cap who kills a sacred bull, called the tauroctony. In the ancient Armenian “Daredevils of Sassoun” epic we can also see the character of Mithra. He can be seen sitting on the left side of Aramazd, creator god in pre-Christian Armenian myth. A statue of Mithra sits near the tomb of Antiochus I on Mount Nemrut (southeastern Turkey). In the city of Artashat, Mithraic temple ruins have been unearthed which were built from black marble and reconstructed in the first century AD by Tiridates I, King of Armenia of the Arsacid Dynasty. The temple of Garni was also dedicated to the cult of Mithra. In Upper Armenia, the main temple of Mithra (or Mihr) was built in the village of Bagaritch, Derjan region (eastern Turkish territories). So at first, in fourth century BC this cult spread from the Armenian Plateau to South Persia and India and in first century BC to North-West Europe.
There are more than four hundred Mithraic temple ruins throughout Europe. In the first century BC the cult of Mithra penetrated into Rome, and in the third century AD this religion had become international and spread from India to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Britain and Spain.
In the treaty text signed between the powerful kingdom of Mitanni (Mitanni was situated in the North of Armenian Plateau) of king Shativaza (unknown-1350 BC), and the Hittite king of Suppiluliuma (1380-1346 BC) we can see the name of Mithra. There are various opinions on the spread of the Mithra (or Mithras, Mitra) cult, but the most reliable one is the first written protocol about the Mithraic cult from 14th century BC. Mithra was the god of light, purity, goodness, and truth and occupied an important place in the faith of the ancient Aryans.
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