MITTANNI. – A state in Upper Mesopotamia between approximately 1500 and 1365 BC, which, especially under its king Saushtatar (c. 1450), dominated Nuzu (v.) east of the Tigris, as well as Assyria, extending as far as the kingdom of Alalah (Tell el-‘Atsāneh) near the Orontes in the west, and probably reaching the Mediterranean. Its capital was Waššukkani, which is likely to be located in the upper region of the Ḥabur River.
The name M. is primarily of a political nature. Other names are synonymous with it: Ḥanigalbat, which is older, is rather of geographical origin; Naharim, a name also of geographical origin, can be explained as originally a dual form (but cf. Revue biblique, 57 [1950], p. 448): it was used by the Egyptians (naharim) and by the Western Semites (nahrima of el-‘Amārnah, nahārajim in the Bible); Hurri, a name much debated in the formula “king of Hurri,” as if it were intended 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. Depending on circumstances, the use of these names varied.
Various cuneiform documents reveal the following kings of M. with approximate dates alongside contemporary pharaohs:
| Egypt (18th Dynasty) | M. (Hurri) |
|----------------------|------------|
| Tuthmosis I c. 1525 | .......... |
| Hatshepsut | .......... |
| Tuthmosis III 1460- | .......... |
| Tuthmosis V c. 1414-| .......... |
(thanks to Massimo Pellas)
MISURATA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF – Cathedral.
MITHRAISM. –
I. HISTORY
The cult of Mithras spread in the Roman world from the 1st century AD onwards, especially among the lower classes of society. Three scenes of Mithras with Helios are represented under S. Prisca in 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 propagators of his cult were slaves and soldiers, often of Eastern origin. Mithraea in Rome were located beneath the Capitoline Hill, near S. Clemente, under the Baths of Antoninus, beneath the Palazzo dei Musei (formerly Pantanella), near S. Maria in Cosmedin, under S. Prisca, and under the Barberini garden at the Quattro Fontane, among other places. In Italy, the most notable mithraeum is the one discovered at S. Maria di Capua Vetere, with its fresco of the sacrifice of Mithras (A. Minto, Scoperta di una cripta mitriaca a S. Maria di Capua Vetere, in Notizie degli Scavi, 1924, pp. 523 ff.). Mithraea are also found in the Danubian provinces of Germany and Gaul; they are less frequent in Spain, Britain, and Pannonia. Greece shows no traces of the cult except at Patras, though it penetrated into 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, while written sources are lacking. The head of the divine hierarchy of Mithraism is Zervan-Akarana (Infinite Time), depicted with a human body entwined in the coils of a serpent, winged and with a lion’s head. Sometimes the signs of the zodiac are represented in the coils of the serpent; in his hand he holds a scepter, keys, or a thunderbolt. This lion-headed monster is identified with Cronus-Saturn and with Fate (Heimarmene). Iuppiter (Ahura Mazda) succeeds Zervan, and from his union with Juno the other deities are born. Opposed to his realm of light is the dark realm of evil, with Ahriman and his wicked demons. Between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman stands Mithras (Plutarch, De Is. et Osir., 45-47; cf. Pletho, Oracula magica Zoroastris, in C. Alexandre, Traité des lois, Paris 1858, pp. 279 ff.). In the struggle between the two divine principles, God will be victorious and will save humanity.III. LEGEND
Mithraic reliefs depict the story of Mithras, which can be reconstructed in its main lines as follows. Mithras is born from a rock, clothed in the leaves of a tree. A flood follows, then drought, but Mithras saves humanity by causing water to gush from a stone. He goes, obeying an order, to hunt a bull that first eludes him but is then captured and dragged by its legs into a cave (transitus), where Mithras slays it with a knife (tauroctony). From the bull’s blood spring ears of grain, from its seed plants and animals, a production vainly hindered by the sting of the scorpion. This is followed by a pact between Mithras and the Sun; the two sit together at a banquet, then ascend together in the solar chariot to the heavens.IV. THE MYSTERY
Mithraic initiation was secret and preceded by an oath not to reveal the secrets of the rite. 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 that are cut by the mystagogue, acting as a “liberator” (Pseudo-Augustine, Quaest. Vet. et Novi Test.: PL 34, 2214).Once admitted as a member 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), and Father (pater). The various Mithraic degrees in hierarchical order are:
The Hurrians (v.) and Indo-Aryans. The Hurrians, widely diffused, were related to the Horites of the Bible, and their language, neither Semitic nor Indo-European, appears to have been the one used in the kingdom of M. The Indo-Aryans, though a minority, as evidenced by onomastics, nonetheless 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 of Indo-Aryan character. The predominance of the Indo-Aryans may perhaps be explained by their greater skill in the use of the horse and military tactics.