The Mysteries of Mithra - Softcover

Cumont, Franz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585092835 ISBN 13: 9781585092833

Publisher: Book Tree, 2007

Synopsis

This classic work has been long known as the best introduction and overview of the early cult of Mithraism. He traces the original worship of Mithras back to ancient Hinduism and up through Persia, but points out that this particular expression, found in the Roman Empire, originated there. Before Christianity stamped it out, it had gained strength rapidly and was the main pagan religion of its time. This book puts Christianity and Mithraism side by side in the Roman Empire and reveals exactly how and why Christianity survived and the Mithraism did not. The author, Cumont, spent years researching everything about Mithraism and few other experts can rival his knowledge in this area. Chapters include The Origins of Mithraism, The Dissemination of Mithraism in the Roman Empire, Mithra and the Imperial Power in Rome, The Doctrine of the Mithraic Mysteries, The Mithraic Liturgy, Clergy and Devotees, Mithraism and the Religions of the Empire, and Mithraic Art. Includes 50 detailed illustrations and index.

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About the Author

About the Author:

"Franz-Valery-Marie Cumont (Aalst, Belgium, January 3, 1868 – Brussels, August 25, 1947) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism. Cumont was a graduate of the University of Ghent (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 religions, particularly Mithraism, on the Roman Empire. 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, 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; 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, where they are accessible to researchers." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Edition details

• Publisher: Book Tree
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1585092835
• ISBN 13: 9781585092833
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256