Customer Reviews

The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World

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I devoured this book in a cheap, high-windowed hotel room in Rome on the eve of my first visit to the Mithraeum below the cathedral of San Clemente. It was the week before Easter and I was traveling with a group to whom I needed to explain something about Mithras. Being a religious studies major in college, I thought I knew all there was to know about this mysterious, seemingly dull cult of the Romans. How could I have guessed that this rainy April night, buried in a book, would so change my life? Ulansey brings to life a world, an era, a relationship to the stars which, in our time, is difficult to fathom. Ever since reading Origins Of The Mithraic Mysteries I am captivated by anything about Perseus; I am drawn to stare longingly at the name Tarsus on ancient maps. This sounds over-the-top effusive, but truly any other reaction from me would not do justice to his work. This is a rare scholarly investigation which extends out to the heavens themselves. Recommended to neophytes and mystics, the casually interested and committed scholars. My deepest thanks to the author (and to our mutual teacher, Paul Matthews who lent me the book).

I bought the book hoping/expecting to read something about the relationship of the mithric mysteries to early christianity. this is certainly NOT what the book is about. if you desire this type of information try _background of early christianity_ by ferguson. but the book was not a disappointment at all, for it reads more like a detective story then anything else, certainly a quick and interesting read.
It is about the author's theory that the mithraic mysteries have nothing to do with the mithras of persian origin but rather has everything to do with the precession of the equinoxes. he builds a convincing case for me, not a professional astronomer by any means. the book is well done and at a layman's level requiring little to no background in astronomy to understand the arguments. what makes the book rather interesting in itself is that it is a good example of how to do scientific research. particularly how to interact with past theories so as to integrate new ideas without being to dependent on past heroes.
i am still looking for references on mithraic relationship to early christianity but i am glad i found this book. i've bought several books on this learning curve and they're often so partisan or reflect some off the wall religious beliefs so as to be useless for scholarship/understanding. this book is straightforward and a good example of legitimate scholarship directed at a field fraught with problems due to its religious nature.

What an amazing book! Ulansey's explanation of the Mithraic Mysteries is one of those ideas that seems so obvious after you encounter it that you can't understand how no one thought of it before. Every piece of this ancient jigsaw puzzle ends up fitting together perfectly, and as other reviewers have said it is written so well that it is as much fun to read as a great detective novel. The last reviewer claimed that the book didn't reveal the "mystery" of Mithraism, but he must not have read the same book that I did, since the book certainly DOES reveal-- and in a mind-boggling and utterly convincing way-- the central secret of the Mithraic cult . The fact that this secret was an idea and not a ritual means only that the Mithraic cult was more like Gnosticism than it was like earlier mystery cults, but given its time period that makes perfect sense to me. I have rarely encountered an academic book (the book is from Oxford Press) that provides as much pure intellectual excitement as this one. If you have any interest in ancient religion you owe it to yourself to read this book-- especially since it's only 125 pages (without the footnotes), which means you can easily read it in a few hours. Once again-- amazing!

This book is simply great. The theories introduced by David Ulansey are absolutely innovative if compared to what is the current average knowledge of scholars, archeologist and experts on the religion of Mithra. The book provides large evidence in support of the theories, as well as disseminates intriguing questions and answers about cosmogony and salvation in the ancient world. Most of all it is a book written with an outstanding passion, but also very easy to read, and therefore may easily suit not only the scholar but also anyone interested in the subject, or simply curious and also students from high school onwards.

Ulansey's book is an excellent discussion of Mithraism. His suggestion that the cult arose in Cicilia, as a product of new astrological discoveries grafted onto the existing cult of Perseus, is most interesting, and very well argued. The book is quite readable, and as a statement of a position works well. Like most modern scholars, he discards Cumont's theory that the Persian deity Mitra is the same as Mithras. The cult must have been devised, in his view, some time around 70 BC, based on the statement in Plutarch, "Pompey", that the Cicilian pirates were devoted to Mithras.

However I came away feeling that he had started with a theory, around which the evidence was moulded. In one or two places, I felt that the narrative adopted the tricks of the Von Daniken school, whereby a problem is raised purely in order to introduce a pre-determined solution, giving the reader a quite fallacious feeling of 'investigation.' Surely the story should arise naturally from the data, not be imposed on it?

The book presumes a general familiarity with the evidence for Mithraism, and so would not be the best book to start with. A better starting point would be Manfred Clauss, "The Roman Cult of Mithras." This suggests that the cult originated in Rome in the first century AD. Cumont's book -- the conclusions from his magisterial survey of all the data translated into English -- is now out of date. After reading Clauss, then one might read both Ulansey and Cumont.

Ulansey writes with such contagious enthusiasm that it is almost impossible to not share in his excitement as he unfolds his theory on the origins of Mithraism. This author clearly loves what he does and he engages the reader in a writing style that is not merely explanatory, but is exceptionally captivating and addicting. He writes not as a distant scholar, although his work is exceptional scholarship, he is a nearby instructor. On many occasions I said to myself "wow, amazing!".

Though this work is short it is a complete and exceptional explanation of Mithraic origins. Describing the various iconography of this mystery religion, and the beliefs and intellectual environment of its birthplace of Tarsus, he effectively explains how the discovery of the rotation of the cosmic equator (known to us as the wobbling of the earth around its axis) that results in the movement of the familiar constellations led to a new astral religion that was extremely attractive and cohesive. The amazing 2nd century B.C.E. discovery by Hipparchus of the rotating cosmic equator presaged a new religion of a cosmic god that was exceedingly more powerful than any god imagined before him. A god that was powerful enough to move the entire heavens at will, that ruled the cosmic sphere, and had the ability to usher in entirely new ages of history. One can see echoes of Pauline Christianity in such ideas: Paul's cosmic Christ has exactly the same features and power. All of the iconography that is found in the ancient mithraeum (sp?) makes perfect sense in light of his extraordinary theory. One often wonders how ancient peoples could hold to beliefs that to the modern mind seem so mysterious and peculiar, but Ulansey essentially takes the reader back to the time period in question and relates how an earth-shattering discovery of how the heavens operated could easily lead to the founding of this new religion. Considering the relative simplicity of these people's astonomical understanding, it is easy to see how this could happen. The mystery of how Mithraism could originate and spread becomes obvious to the reader in the light of this knowledge.

Ulansey focuses, as the title suggests, on the origins and not the practices and theology of ancient Mithraism. He only briefly alludes to some of the practices and belief systems. I found myself wanting to know more; most especially regarding the substance and significance of the new life imagined by the practice of the killing of the bull and the particular beliefs regarding the afterlife. The belief that the Milky Way contained the spirits of those entering and exiting this world is also fascinating.

Really an outstanding book and extremely engaging; I read it in one sitting.

This isn't really about the "origins" of the Mithraic mysteries. In fact, the author - David Ulansey - states up front that Mithraism is architecture rich but literature poor. Since the religion was reserved for initiates and apparently nothing was written down, we don't have papyri or parchments as we do for the sister religions of the day, including the brand new sister religion, Christianity. Ulansey also respectfully criticizes the work of the man responsible for most of what many people currently believe about Mithraism, Franz Cumont. In Cumont's view, Roman Mithraism was related to the worship of the Iranian "Mithra," so the Roman artifacts were viewed through that lens. Ulansey takes this view of Roman Mithraism and sets it aside, in essence starting all over.

What Ulansey then does is take the reader through this Roman mystery cult through the surviving art and iconography. Roman Mithraism rose in the 1st century CE and was overwhelmed by Christianity in the late 4th century. Ulansey examines the persistent patterns in iconography - the ubiquitous "slaying of the bull" and stars (the "tauroctony") and ties it in with the writings of Neoplatonist Porphyry and Greek Christian Origen to explain possible astral symbolisms of the tauroctony.

From there, Ulansey leads us into what he believes to be the astronomical representation of Mithras himself, based on surviving iconography, and then Perseus - another Mithraic figure. In the process of doing this, Ulansey demonstrates a unique Roman mystery religion mentioned in Greco-Roman writings from time to time, far removed from the Persian Mithra and likely centered in the movements in the stars which would have been very important to the seafaring peoples of the Hellenized Roman empire. His chapters on "The Meaning of the Bull Slaying" and "Mithraic Cosmic Symbolism" involve speculation indeed, but it is academically based and not unreasonable.

In short, this book should interest people who are students of ancient religions and the Roman Empire. Ulansey's thoughts may or may not be vindicated in time, but they were thought-provoking for me.

The author is careful to document his sources and makes no assumptions in his evaluations. The book is specifically written to disclose the origins of the Mithraic Mysteries. Thus, specific discussions of rituals, etc. are left to the reader to obtain from other sources. I felt that the author did an excellent job in sticking to the intent of the book, and the book is a nice source for anyone interested in learning HOW Mithratism originally developed, and WHY it was so popular during the time of the first century A.D. You do not have to be a scholar to understand this work, and I applaud the author for a job well done.

This book presents an original and convincing re-interpretation of the origins and meaning of Mithraism. I've always been somewhat unsatisfied with the usual explanations of Mithraism as a direct import from the East, and of the interpretations traditionally given to Mithraic paraphernalia. Ulansey's work addresses these issues in a convincing way. I have re-read his book many times, and find it an inspiration. I too often see "five star" reviews given, but I am sufficiently impressed by this book to give him high marks.

Once more a researcher has been couragious enough to challenge those who dismiss astronomical significance to the origins of ancient religions. I was especially intrigued to see the representations of the two uniquely balanced constellations that marked the vernal and autumnal equinoxes of another, earlier epoch. I am referring to Tauroctonys with images of the scorpion on one of two torchbearers and the bull on the other. With a "matching" bright star in each of the two constellations (Aldebaran in Taurus, Antares in Scorpius)the sky was in miraculous balance and the precessionally caused "loss" or change of these equinoctial "markers"... (stars of Taurus the bull were effected first and the Mithraic representation of the bull being killed have images of the scorpion attacking his testicles), surely caused important myths to be created. The obvious fact is that the backward shifting of Taurus must have been noted and given great importance or the story would not have survived into an epoch where another duo of constellations (Aries and Libra) marked the equinoxes. This supports my postulation (in The Death Of Gods in Ancient Egypt)that this event was partly responsible for certain confusing aspects of the Egyptian text on the Shabaka Stone, commonly cited as The Memphite Theology. This was dealt with in the Chapter from my book titled, "The Judgement of the Council of the Gods" and the ancient text told of the conflict and trial between the two gods, Horus and Seth, and the resulting verdict and sentencing. Great job David Ulansey! Jane B. Sellers