MITHRA is a three-year cooperation project between three European museums: the Royal Museum of Mariemont (Belgium), the Museum of Saint-Raymond in Toulouse (France) and the Archaeological Museum of Frankfurt (Germany). It is funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
This project creates the first exhibition dedicated to Mithras, one of the most fascinating deities in Ancient Rome, a god of Persian origins who generated an immensely popular cult, as evidenced by more than 150 sanctuaries uncovered all over Europe, from Scotland to North Africa, from Syria to Spain.
The objective is to increase public understanding of this significant piece of European heritage from Roman Antiquity and connect European cultural operators, scholars and technical partners around the topic. The resulting innovative exhibition is set to be presented in Belgium, France and Germany between 2021 and 2023.
The scientific and cultural network developed as part of this project is to disseminate the latest research and explore little-known aspects of the Mithraic cult – such as religious behaviours, development of local and global identities, and migration – which resonate in today’s Europe and support the notion of shared heritage and values and the ever-changing nature of cultures and religions.
Today, most European archaeological museums hold Mithraic artefacts in their collections. Yet, outside museum professionals and academics, little is known about this cult(s) system of beliefs, worshipping and rich iconography.
Mapping of the Mithraic artefacts featured in the exhibitions
Private collection, Clifford Thring
Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum
visit websitePtuj, Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj-Ormož
visit websiteMuseu Nacional de Arqueologia
Museo Nacional de Arte Romano
Rome, Academia Belgica
St. Albans, Verulamium Museum
Deva Muzeum
Sibiu, National Museum Brukenthal
Cluj, Muzeul National de Istorie a Transilvaniei
Sarajevo, Zemaljski Muzej Bosne i Hercegovine
Split, Arheološki Muzej
Zagreb, Arheoloski Muzej
Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum
Klagenfurt, Landesmuseum Kärnten
Leiden, Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum
Hambourg, collection privée Skoluda
Bad Homburg, Römerkastell Saalburg
Dieburg, Museum Schloss Fechenbach
Güglingen, Römermuseum
Ladenburg, Lobdengau Museum
Konstanz, Archäologisches Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg
Stuttgart, Landesmuseum Württemberg
München, Archäologisches Staatssammlung
Speyer, Historisches Museum der Pfalz
Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum
Köln, Römisch-Germanisches Museum
Trier, Rheinisches Landesmuseum
Frankfurt am Main, Archäologisches Museum
Bordeaux, Musée d’Aquitaine
Alise-Sainte-Reine, MuséoParc d’Alésia
visit websiteStrasbourg, Musée archéologique
Douai, Musée-Parc archéologique Arkéos
St Germain-en-Laye, Musée des Antiquités Nationales
Angers, INRAP
Nice-Cimiez, Musée archéologique
Dijon, Musée archéologique
Paris, Fondation Masson
Paris, Galerie Lelong
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Bavay, Musée archéologique
Liège, Grand Curtius
Ghent University
Tongres, Musée gallo-romain
visit websiteTienen, Museum Het Toreke
Nivelles, Musée communal d’archéologie et d’art religieux d’Amay
› Reference for the map above The New Mithraeum
› Online database of Mithraic monuments
› News about Mithras (archaeological discoveries, exhibitions, etc.)
› London Mithraeum website
› 3D models of mithraism in the Roman Empire
› 3D Modelle – Mithras-Heiligtümer