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David Ulansey

The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World Paperback – March 28, 1991

by David Ulansey (Author)

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In the centuries following the conquests of Alexander the Great the dramatic unification of the Mediterranean world created exceptionally fertile soil for the growth of new religions. Christianity, for example, was one of the innovative religious movements that arose during this time. However, Christianity had many competitors, and one of the most remarkable of these was the ancient Roman "mystery religion" of Mithraism.
Like the other "mystery cults" of antiquity, Mithraism kept its beliefs strictly secret, revealing them only to initiates. As a result, the cult's teachings were never written down. However, the Mithraists filled their temples with an enigmatic iconography, an abundance of which has been unearthed by archaeologists. Until now, all attempts to decipher this iconography have proven fruitless. Most experts have been content with a vague hypothesis that the iconography somehow derived from ancient Iranian religion.
In this groundbreaking work, David Ulansey offers a radically different theory. He argues that Mithraic iconography was actually an astronomical code, and that the cult began as a religious response to a startling scientific discovery. As his investigation proceeds, Ulansey penetrates step by step the mysteries concealed in Mithraic iconography, until finally he is able to reveal the central secret of the cult: a secret consisting of an ancient vision of the ultimate nature of the universe.
Brimming with the excitement of discovery--and reading like an intellectual detective story--Ulansey's compelling book will intrigue scholars and general readers alike.

Print length

168 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

March 28, 1991
Dimensions

8.24 x 5.52 x 0.49 inches
ISBN-10

0195067886
ISBN-13

978-0195067880
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ulansey's style is highly readable and I would unhestatingly recommend it as reading for students who want to learn about this fascinating religion. Ulansey has demystified the mysteries marvelously and with admirable lucidity."―Nicholas D. Humez, Montclair State University

"An excellent, well-researched, comprehensive analysis of the origins of a tradition popular throughout Europe and the Near East for hundreds of years."―Antonia Tripolitis, Rutgers Univ.

"The illustrations and diagrams play a useful part in this clear and lively exposition concerning the origin of a major reigion which for a time rivalled Christianity."―Shadow

"...sets a new standard for both scholarly and popular works on Mithras."―Timothy O'Neill, Gnosis Magazine

"A very interesting interpretation of the symbolism of the Mithras-religion."―Journal for the History of Astronomy

"Lucid....A surprisingly convincing and readable book, and I heartily recommend it to the educated general reader."―Biblical Archaeologist

"[A] thrilling book....Bravo for Ulansey."―Religious Studies Review

"Why are the Mysteries of Mithra such a mystery to us?...The astronomical explanation...has been revived in our time under different forms, but never as convincingly, with such an impressive array of arguments―iconographic, geographic, mythological, numismatic, and literary―as those offered by Dr. David Ulansey."―Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, Institut de France

"Ulansey's extremely interesting book throws a completely new light on the origin of the Mithras religion."―B.L. van der Waerden, University of Zurich

"Ulansey has put the development of western Mithraism in an utterly new perspective."―Martin Schwartz, University of California, Berkeley

"An important contribution toward the comprehension of a religious cult tht spanned Greco-Roman and Near Eastern cultures in late antiquity. Erudite, well written, and fascinating to read....This excellent book is a welcome addition to research on the mysteries of Mithras, and firmly establishes the basis for furhter examination of an important cult of antiquity."―Bulletin for the Center for the Study of World Religions

"Fascinating reading."―Choice

"A fascinating and. to me, compeltely persuasive scholarly detective story."―The Key Reporter

"Ulansey's book addresses a very large audience, from undergraduate to scholars of religion and/or history."―The Journal of Religion

From the Back Cover

The teachings of the ancient Roman 'mystery religion' of Mithraism--one of the most important competitors of early Christianity--were guarded with the utmost secrecy, reveled only to select initiates. While the Mithraists never wrote down their secret doctrines, they did leave a key to them in the arcane iconography which filled the walls of their underground temples. Until now, all attempts to decipher this iconography have proven fruitless. Most experts have been content with a vague hypothesis that these images somehow derived from ancient Iranian religion.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Revised edition (March 28, 1991)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 168 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195067886
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195067880
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.24 x 5.52 x 0.49 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #455,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #478 in Cosmology (Books)
- #568 in Archaeology (Books)
- #968 in Folklore & Mythology Studies

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4.4 82 ratings

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Mark Lee

Informative, Mistitled, Scholarly Paradigm-Shift in Mithraic Studies

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2005

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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.

19 people found this helpful

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Christopher R. Travers

A Great, if Speculative, Contribution

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2011

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First, this book is quite speculative and necessarily so (there is no other way to interpret religious artifacts without substantial textual sources). The author lays out the problems in investigation early on, as well as various views on the origins of Mithraism. He then follows one of those traditions (the astronomical theory) in the hopes of making his own contribution--- a comprehensive theory as to the origins of Mithraism.

Personally, I don't expect that Ulansey's theory will be exactly right. It is pioneering, and consequently introduces a large number of new contributions to the field, some of which we can expect not to hold up to further investigation. Even if his theories survive in their overall outlines, some of the details could be radically different. Indeed there are a few notable omissions in avenues of investigation which could be used to check (and perhaps confirm or deny) some parts of Ulansey's theories.

Additionally I am not certain that many of the theories of the origins of Mithraism are mutually exclusive. Just as we can see complex sources for early Christianity, it seems unlikely to me a religion as complex as Mithraism has a single source in astronomy and astrology.

However, the book makes a number of fairly well-argued, and carefully connections that are new, such as the Perseus/Mithras connection. Additionally on the whole it is quite thought-provoking, and therefore represents in my view a major contribution to the study of Mithraism specifically, and even to Hellenistic religion more generally.

Recommended.

7 people found this helpful

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RK

Very Inciteful and Well Reseached Book

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2018

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This is a very well written scholarly analysis of Mithraism. I have always been fascinated with ancient religions, especially the mystery schools. The author does a great job of supporting all of his arguments. He does not make incoherent logical leaps to in order to make his points, which I find many authors do when dealing with topics shrouded in mystery. The author provides the geographic, cultural, and historical contexts in which the mystery religion arose. For anyone who wants to understand Mithraism from a serious, scholarly basis then he/she should read this book.

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Corax

A good starting point....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2011

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Following recent visits to San Clemente in Rome and Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall, I became interested in the religion that linked these two parts of the Roman Empire ie the Mysteries of Mithras. The question was: where to start? If, like me, you are looking for a readable introduction to the Mysteries, this book is a good starting point. But this recommendation does come with a health warning: some of Ulansey's theories are not universally accepted by other scholars of the Mysteries. These include his theory that Mithras represents the constellation of Perseus and that the tauroctony (the sculpture of the bull-killing by Mithras) represents his victory as the power that shifts the world's axis (the precession of the equinoxes). Ulansey interprets the Mysteries as a religion based on this hypothesis.

His arguments are fascinating and by the conclusion I was convinced that I knew all there was to be known about the Mysteries, as all the arguments fell so neatly into place. But, although it is an excellent read, I would not recommend reading this work in isolation without considering other points of view.

For a contrasting view I would recommend the painstaking and cerebral work by Roger Beck: "The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire - Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun". He stresses that his investigations do not pretend to decipher Mithraic doctrine in a "definite and comprehensive" way and he warns the reader that he may find this disappointing. Personally, I like the way in which he never loses sight of the relevance of the ancient texts (eg Porphyry "De Antro Nympharum") and their description of the Mysteries, as well as the importance of the design of the Mithraeum (temple).

This is not an easy book to read and, for me, would probably have proved too complex as a starting point. I am still working through it and it is well worth the effort. If you are serious about learning about the religion of Mithras I would recommend reading both books to give a balanced view, but with Ulansey's work as a good starting point.

4 people found this helpful

Clifford

Mithraic Mysteries

Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2014

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I bought this book on recommendations, and I wasn't disappointed. The book develops a thesis on the origins of the Mithraic Mysteries. There is still much we don't understand about Mithraic Mysteries, but his book I believe is the key to open our understanding of them. Many of the Mithraic sites in Roman Empire were taken over by Christians, and churches built over top of the Mithraeums. (over a 1000 of these known --- I understand). As a mystery religion, the beliefs of this mystery religion were not written down. These mithraeums were generally built underground, and filled with iconography. This book by David is an outgrowth of his dissertation work in which he puts together clues from iconography in these mithraeums to build his case. His hypothesis is that astronomy based beliefs drove the mystery religion.
Mithraism started it appears around 100BC o, and continued until around 300BC. Some authors have speculated that some Mithraic congregations converted on mass to Christianity and in other situations Christians force ably took over locations, and perhaps still other the sites were simply bought by Christians. Regardless, there was some sort of competition and cross fertilization between Mithraism and Christianity.

Anyone with an interest in mystery religions will find this book exciting. Folks interested in early Christianity will also find this work interesting. The book of revelations has some astronomy type overlays, and this mithraic understanding may help unlock some of book of revelations also.

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Georgina

Revelatory

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2019

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That has been a revelatory reading for me. The author brings some solid arguments to support his theory against the traditional assumptions regarding the ROman Mithraic cult. The illustrations are precious.

Aadisht

Kooky Historical Speculation

Reviewed in India on July 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is crankism masquerading as history.

Yes, I know more about Mithraism now than I did earlier, but Ulansey's thesis massively fails Occam's Razor. Faced with traditional theories that don't fit all the facts, Ulansey comes up with a new theory that does, but which also requires us to believe that there was advanced measurement of the precession of the equinoxes two thousand years ago, which in turn led to backward calculation of the sky map as it would have been six thousand years before that, and that this was thought important enough to make it into religious iconography.

Feh to such conspiracy theories.

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