MITANNI

MITANNI. – State in Upper Mesopotamia between approximately 1500 and 1365 B.C. which, especially under its king Saušatar (ca. 1450), dominated Nuzu (v.) east of the Tigris, as well as Assyria, extending westward to the kingdom of Alalah (Tell el-‘Aṭāneh) near the Orontes, and probably as far as the Mediterranean. Its capital was Waššukkani, which was probably situated in the upper region of the Ḥabur River.

Tresor dòn felibrige (1878–86), indispensable for knowledge of the linguistic material of modern Provence.

The name M. is first and foremost political in character. Other names are synonymous with it: Hanigalbat, which is older, is rather of geographical origin; Naharin, also a name of geographical origin and explainable as an originally dual form (but cf. Revue biblique, 57 [1950], p. 448): it was used by the Egyptians (naharin) and by the western Semites (naḥrima of el-‘Amārnah, nahḍrajim of the Bible); Hurri, a much-discussed name in the formula “king of Hurri,” as though it were meant to indicate a kingdom distinct from M.: but it is more probable, as E. Meyer already believed (Geschichte des Altertums, II, 1, Stuttgart–Berlin 1928, p. 372), that, being of ethnic origin, it was used when the people of M. wished to distinguish themselves from foreigners. The use of these names varied according to circumstances.

Various cuneiform documents make known the following kings of M., with the approximate dates of the contemporary pharaohs:

Egypt (18th Dynasty)

Tuthmosis I ca. 1525

Ḥatšepsut 1490

Tuthmosis III 1469–1435

Amenophis II 1435–1414

Tuthmosis IV ca. 1414–1406

Amenophis III ca. 1406–1370

Amenophis IV ca. 1370–Suttarna III

As is known from a new inscription (S. Smith, The statue of Idri-mi, London 1949), Barattarna was sufficiently powerful, having Idrimi, the king of Alalah, as his vassal. Saušatar has been discussed above. Each of his three successors gave a daughter in marriage respectively to the pharaohs Tuthmosis IV, Amenophis III, and IV, indicating the good relations that existed between the two kingdoms. Suttarna II and Dušratta still ruled Assyria. But the gravest danger came from the north-west, from the Hittites, who, under Suppiluliumas and after the murder of Dušratta, finally succeeded in destroying the kingdom of M., reducing Matiwaza to vassal status east of the Euphrates. With his death, the history of M. as a great power came to an end forever.

The social and ethnic structure of M. is now fairly well known. M. was a semi-feudal state, as is clearly shown by the title marjannu, which designated the social rank of the nobles, who served in wartime mounted on chariots, and by the adoption contracts of Nuzu, which were formulated to conceal the sale of land held by the State. Then, although ethnically composed of many peoples, M. was above all a mixture of

(courtesy of Massimo Pellice)

MISURATA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF – Cathedral.

(phot. Museo di Roma)
MITHRA AND MITHRAISM – Mithraeum in Via de' Cerchi – Rome.

HURRITI (HURRI) (v.) and Indo-Aryans. The Hurrites, widely dispersed, were related to the Horites of the Bible, and their language, neither Semitic nor Indo-European, apparently was precisely the one used in the kingdom of M. The Indo-Aryans, although a minority, as is shown by the onomastics, nevertheless formed the ruling class: thus the names of the kings of M. mentioned above, as well as those of other leaders in the kingdom, are Indo-Aryan in character. The predominance of the Indo-Aryans is perhaps explained by their greater skill in the use of the horse and the means of warfare.

I MITHRA and MITHRAISM. -

I. MITHRA

He is an Indo-Iranian deity, invoked as the protector of contracts, according to the meaning of his name. In the Vedic years, he is associated with Varuna, god of the sky, and in the Avesta he is found as the companion of Ahura Mazda, of whom he is the eye. Mithra is a god of light, who bestows fertility upon the world and aids his followers in the struggle against the principle of evil.

After the conquest of Babylonia, astronomical and astrological theories, along with speculations about the planets and the zodiac, penetrated Mithraism, and Mithra, from a god of light, became a solar god and was identified with Samaš.

Mithra entered Rome (67 B.C.) with the prisoners from Cilicia, captured by Pompey (Plutarch, Vita Pompeii, 24). His diffusion increased under the Flavians and even more under the Antonines and the Severans. With Aurelian, the cult of the Sun became official in the Empire and was identified with that of Mithra. Inscriptions from this period frequently bear the expression Sol invictus Mithras, deus invictus Mithras et Sol socius; the emperor Diocletian, in the dedicatory inscription of Carnuntum, even designates him as fautor imperii sui (CIL, III, 4413) and even Mithras invictus Deus sol omnipotens (Notizie degli Scavi, 1909, p. 84); in the Mithraeum beneath the Barberini garden, there are three scenes of Mithra with Helios, who in the Mithraeum beneath S. Prisca is depicted at a banquet. Traces of his cult are found especially in maritime cities, along trade routes, major rivers, and places where Roman garrisons were stationed, because the most active propagandists of his cult were slaves and military personnel, often of Eastern origin. Mithraea in Rome were located beneath the Capitoline, near S. Clemente, beneath the Antonine Baths, beneath the Palazzo dei Musei di Roma (formerly Pantanella), near S. Maria in Cosmedin, beneath S. Prisca, beneath the Barberini garden at the Quattro Fontane, etc. In Italy, the most notable Mithraeum is that discovered at S. Maria di Capua Vetere, with the fresco of Mithra’s sacrifice (A. Minto, Scopertu di una cripta mitriaca a S. Maria di Capua Vetere, in Notizie degli Scavi, 1924, p. 523 ff.). Then in the Danubian provinces, Germany, and Gaul; less frequent in Spain, Britannia, and Pannonia. Greece shows no traces of the cult except at Patras, while it penetrated Dacia, Moesia, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Armenia, and as far as Dura Europos in Mesopotamia.

II. DOCTRINE

Archaeological monuments are the most important sources for reconstructing the doctrine, as written sources are lacking. At the head of the Mithraic divine hierarchy stands Zervan-Akarana (Infinite Time), depicted with a human body coiled in the folds of a serpent, winged, and with a lion’s head. The serpent’s coils sometimes bear the signs of the zodiac; in its hand, it holds a scepter, or keys, or lightning. This leontocephaline monster is identified with Cronos-Saturn and with Destiny (Heimarmene). Zervan’s successor is Jupiter (Ahura Mazda), from whose union with Juno the other deities are born. Opposed to his kingdom of light is the dark realm of evil, ruled by Ahriman and his treacherous demons. Between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman stands Mithra (Plutarch, De Is. et Osir., 45-47; cf. Pletho, Oracula magica Zoroastris, in C. Alexandre, Traité des lois, Paris 1858, p. 279 ff.). In the struggle between the two principles, the god will emerge victorious and save humanity.

III. LEGEND

Mithraic bas-reliefs depict the story of Mithra, whose main outlines can be reconstructed as follows. Mithra is born from stone and covers himself with the leaves of a tree. A flood follows, then a drought, but Mithra saves mankind by causing water to spring from a rock. He goes, obeying an order, to hunt a bull, which first eludes him but is then captured and dragged by its legs into a cave (transitus), where Mithra slaughters it with a knife (tauroctony). From the bull’s blood wheat ears sprout, and from its seed plants and animals arise, a creation vainly hindered by the scorpion’s bite. A pact between Mithra and the Sun follows; the two sit together at a banquet, then ascend together in the solar chariot toward heaven.

IV. THE MYSTERY

The Mithraic initiation was secret and preceded by an oath not to reveal the rite’s secret. The frescoes of the sanctuary at Capua (A. Minto, in Not. Scavi, 1924, p. 523) depict the initiate with blindfolded eyes and wrists bound by cords, which the mystagogue cuts with a sword, acting as a "liberator" (Pseudo-Augustine, Quaest. Vet. et Novi Test.: PL 34, 2214).

Once admitted as a confrere of the Mithraic community, the initiate could ascend the seven degrees of the hierarchy: raven (corax), bridegroom (nymphus), soldier (miles), lion (leo), Persian (perses), Sun-runner (heliodromus), father (pater). The various Mithraic degrees in hierarchical order are

(from Kurt Weitzmann, Byzantine Art and Scholarship in America, LI, 1917, rev. 103 A)

MITHRA AND MITHRAISM

The sun and Mithra. Fresco from the 3rd century from the Mithraeum of Dura Europos – Yale, University Art Gallery.

Listed by St. Jerome in his letter to Laeta (Ep. 107, 2 in CSEL, 55, 292). In the Mithraeum discovered beneath the basilica of S. Prisca in Rome, the initiates clad in these ranks are depicted under the protection of a planet (A. Ferrua, Il mitreo sotto la chiesa di S. Prisca, in Bull. della commiss. archeol. comunale, 68 [1940], pp. 59-66). Some of them belong to the category of servants (ὑπερησόντες), others to that of participants (μετέχοντες). In the graffiti of Dura Europos, preparatory ranks are also mentioned. The head of the Mithraic sanctuary is called poter patrum.

V. CULT

Mithraea are underground constructions that reproduce the appearance of a cave (spelaeum, antrum), symbolizing the sky. They feature a central space flanked on either side by two podia, upon which the initiates are arranged. At the back of the sanctuary stands the scene of the tauroctony and the altar. The various scenes related to the god serve as an example to the faithful. In the ritual agape, meat and wine were used, and sacred formulas were pronounced. On either side of Mithra the bull-slayer stand two torchbearers: one holds the torch raised, the other inverted. Together with Mithra, they symbolize the sun at dawn, midday, and sunset in the daily sky, and spring, summer, and autumn in the annual sky. The sacred hymns sung during these various solar phases have been lost. The god’s birth (Natalis Invicti) was particularly commemorated on December 25. Excavations conducted at Dieburg, Neuheim, and Dura Europos have yielded depictions of solar Mithra hunting on horseback.

VI. MITHRAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Christian apologists combated Mithraism as their principal enemy and regarded the Mithraic ritual as a diabolical imitation of Christianity (Tertullian, De praescriptione haereticorum, 40), not only for its lustrations that recalled Baptism, for its doctrine, for the belief in the resurrection of the dead and in the final judgment presided over by Mithra as savior, but above all for the ritual banquet. After the official recognition of Christianity in the 4th century, the struggle between the two religions was definitively decided in favor of Christianity. With Theodosius' victory over Eugenius, the cult was suppressed in Rome in 394, while in the provinces it resisted longer, especially in the East. - Vedi tav. LXXVI.