Mithras Tauroktonos I

 

The dominant character of this ancient relief is a familiar representation of Mithras wearing the Phrygian cap. He is shown attempting to ride the bull, grasping the animal's head with his left hand, and plunging a knife into the bull's shoulder with his right hand. A dog jumps from the right toward the knife in order to lick the blood squirting from the wound. A scorpion and a serpent approach from the bottom, apparently to bite the animal's genitals. The upper left-hand corner of the slab is occupied by a bust of Helios, corresponding to Luna crowned with a crescent on the opposite side. Besides the Sun god, a bird seems to be perching on Mithras' flying cape. On the left, under Helios, is a small human figure clad in a short tunic, wearing a Phrygian cap and holding what appears to be a torch. He may represent Cautes, a companion of Mithras. 

Provenance: Si'a. Found by the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition in front of the temple of Dusares, it was stored at the Teacher's College (Dār al-Muʿallimīn) at al-Mazzā, and subsequently brought to the National Museum.  
Era: 3rd century CE. 
Substance: basalt.  
Dimensions: H 72 cm, W 58 cm, D about 10 cm. 
Text: Weber (p133). Also published by Wulzinger and Watzinger (p. 108, pl. VII,7) and Abdul-Hak (p. 64).    

Collection: National Museum of Damascus. 

Sélim et Andrée Abdul-Hak. Catalogue Illustré du Département des antiquités Gréco-Romaines au Musée de Damas, 1951.     

Wulzinger & Watzinger. Damaskus, die antike Stadt 1921. 

Mithra Tauroctone