Timeless are pleased to offer an intricately cast ROMAN BRONZE MOUNT, probably depicting the god Mithras.
Mithras was an enigmatic deity with a very secretive following. The followers of Mithras (who were initiatied into the Mithraic Mysteries) would meet in subterranean chambers and cellars decorated with scenes of sacrifice and ritual. It is thought by many historians that Mithraism in the third century AD was second only to Christianity in terms of popularity. In fact, the scholar Ernest Renan famously commented, "If the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic."
Mithras is often portrayed with curled hair beneath a Phrygian cap (as in this piece).
The item is around 2.5cm in length. Read about Sol Invictus and the Mithraic Mysteries here
Now available in the Timeless Galleries
ROMAN BRONZE HEAD MOUNT
Acquired by Timeless on the UK Antiquities market, 2020. From a private home counties collection, formed 1970 - 1980