The Roman cult of Mithras was the most widely-dispersed and
densely-distributed cult throughout the expanse of the Roman Empire
from the end of the first until the fourth century AD, rivaling the
early growth and development of Christianity during the same period.
As its membership was largely drawn from the ranks of the military,
its spread, but not its popularity is attributable largely to military
deployments and re-deployments. Although mithraists left behind no
written archival evidence, there is an abundance of iconographic
finds. The only characteristic common to all Mithraic temples were the
fundamental architecture of their design, and the cult image of
Mithras slaying a bull. How were these two features so faithfully
transmitted through the Empire by a non-centralized, non-hierarchical
religious movement? The Minds of Mithraists: Historical and Cognitive
Studies in the Roman Cult of Mithras addresses these questions as well
as the relationship of Mithraism to Christianity, explanations of the
significance of the tauroctony and of the rituals enacted in the
mithraea, and explanations for the spread of Mithraism (and for its
resistance in a few places). The unifying theme throughout is an
investigation of the 'mind' of those engaged in the cult practices of
this widespread ancient religion. These investigations represent
traditional historical methods as well as more recent studies
employing the insights of the cognitive sciences, demonstrating that
cognitive historiography is a valuable methodological tool.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781472584212
Publisert
2015
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Bloomsbury Academic
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter