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This article is about the Zoroastrian yazata Mithra (Miθra). For other divinities with related names, see the general article Mitra.
Mithra (Avestan Miθra, modern Persian مهر Mihr, Mehr, Meher) is an important Yazata of Zoroastrianism and later Persian mythology and culture.
Mithra is descended, together with the Vedic deity Mitra, from a common proto-Indo-Iranian entity *mitra. The Graeco-Roman Mithras may, in turn, have evolved from a Zoroastrian (or later Persian) Mithra, but such a connection has yet to be conclusively established (See: Mithraism).
Etymology
The proto-Indo-Iranian word *mitra- could mean either "covenant, contract, oath, or treaty", or "friend". A general meaning of "alliance" might adequately explain both alternatives. The second sense tends to be emphasized in Indic sources, the first sense in Iranian. The word is from a root mi- "to bind", with the "tool suffix" -tra-. A contract is thus described as a "means of binding" .
The first extant record of Mitra/Mithra is in the inscribed peace treaty between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van, c. 1400 BC. There Mitra/Mithra appears in the company of Varuna, Indra and the twin horsemen, the Nasatyas, as the five beings invoked as witnesses and keepers of the pact, and all of whom the rulers of the Mitanni apparently worshipped. (Campbell, 1964 p 256).
In Zoroastrianism
In Zoroastrianism, Mithra came into increased prominence as a major entity in the hierarchy of Angels as one of the protectors of human welfare. The Mazdaist/Zoroastrian Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha. In later Persian culture Mithra became Meher, the protector of truth and justice, and as the source of cosmic light.
The reform of Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) retained the multitudes of pre-Zoroastrian deities, reducing them in a complex hierarchy to "immortals" who, under the supremacy of the Creator Ahura Mazda, were now either ahuras or daevas, as all of the cosmos was now part of good or part of Evil.
Mithra is not present in the Gathas of Zarathustra (Zoroaster) but appears in the younger Yashts of the Avesta (Campbell p 257). There, Mithra comes to the fore among the created beings. "I created him" Ahura Mazda declares to Zoroaster, "to be as worthy of sacrifice and as worthy of prayer as myself" (Campbell, loc. cit.). In the Yashts, Mithra gains the title of "Judge of Souls" and is assigned the domain of human welfare (which he shares with the Creator). Mithra occupies an intermediate position in the Zoroastrian hierarchy as the greatest of the yazata, created by Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd in later Persian) to aid in the destruction of evil and the administration of the world. He is then the divine representative of the Creator on earth, and is directed to protect the righteous from the demonic forces of Angra Mainyu (Ahriman in later Persian).
As the protector of truth and the enemy of error, Mithra occupied an intermediate position in the Zoroastrian pantheon as the greatest of the yazatas, the beings created by Ahuramazda to aid in the destruction of evil and the administration of the world. He was thus a divinity of the realms of air and light, and, by transfer to the moral realm, the manifestation of truth and loyalty. As the enemy of darkness and evil spirits, he protected souls, accompanying them to paradise, and was thus a redeemer. Because light is accompanied by heat, he was the promoter of vegetation and increase; he rewarded the good with prosperity and annihilated the bad.
In Persian culture
While in older Zoroastrianism Mithra is seen as a creation of Ahura Mazda, in later Persian culture, Mithra evolved to be an incarnation of Ahura Mazda , and in his role as 'Judge of Souls' as the rewarder of good and annihilator of the bad. Mithra was seen as omniscient, undeceivable, infallible, eternally watchful, and never-resting.
Similarly, while in the Sirozeh, Mithra is also referred to as Dae-pa-Meher, or Creator of Meher, this separation between 'Meher' and the 'Creator of Meher' dissolves in later texts and the distinguishing characteristics of Mithra and Meher blend. Mithra, reincorporated as "Meher", thus also becomes the representative of truth and justice, and, by transfer to the physical realm, the divinity of air and light. As the enemy of darkness and evil spirits, he protected souls, a psychopomp accompanying them to paradise. As heat accompanying light, Mithra became associated with growth and resultant prosperity.
Mithra worship spread first with the empire of the Persians throughout Asia Minor, then throughout the empire of Alexander and his successors.
By at least the 3rd century BC, Mithra was identified as the progeny of Anahita, a mother-entity who is not mentioned in the Gathas of the very early Avesta texts, but is described in the fifth Yasht of the newer texts as "the wide-expanding and health-giving". The largest temple with a Mithraic connection is the Seleucid temple at Kangavar in western Iran (c. 200 BC), which is dedicated to "Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras".
The Parthian princes of Armenia were hereditary priests of Mithra, and an entire district of this land was dedicated to Anahita. Many temples were erected to Mithra in Armenia, which remained one of the last strongholds of the Mazdaist cult of Mithra until it became the first officially Christian kingdom.
Royal names incorporating Mithra's (e.g. "Mithradates") appear in the dynasties of Parthia, Armenia, and in Anatolia, in Pontus and Cappadocia.
In Manichaeism
Persian and Parthian-speaking Manichaeans used the name of Mithra current in their time (Mihryazd, i.e. Mithra-yazata) for two different Manichaean angels.
- The first, called Mihryazd by the Persians, was the "The Living Spirit" (Aramaic ), a savior-figure who rescues the "First Man" from the demonic Darkness into which he had plunged.
- The second, known as Mihr or Mihr yazd among the Parthians, is "The Messenger" (Aramaic īzgaddā), likewise a savior figure, but one concerned with setting up the structures to liberate the Light lost when the First Man had been defeated.
Remains
The calendar instituted by the Achaemenid dynasty (c. 648–330 BC), the first Persian empire, was based on the Egyptian solar calendar, which had months of the year and days of the month dedicated to their divinities. The Achaemenids replaced these with divinities from the Zoroastrian faith, and the fifteenth day of each month was consecrated to Mithra ("Dae-pa-Meher"). The sixteenth day of each month and one month of the year were consecrated to Meher, whose identity blends with that of Mithra in later Persian culture. These calendarial dedications are still present in the religious calendar of the Zoroastrians. The month that was consecrated to Meher in pre-Islamic times was revived as the name of the seventh month of the year in the official national calendar of Iran of 1925.
The festivities in the week following the winter solstice (after which the days grow longer), today called Shab-e Yalda in Iran, are a remnant of the culture which celebrated the birth of the divinity of light on that day. Yalda literally means "The birth of sun".
Prior to the fall of the Sassanid empire in 651 CE, after which Zoroastrianism and Mazdaism were supplanted by Islam, Mithraic temples could be found throughout the empire. The extant remains mentioned by David Fingrut, 1993 include:
- a temple at Khuzestan
- a few columns still standing at the temple of Khorheh in central Iran near present-day Mahallat
- at excavated Nisa in Turkmenistan (later renamed Mithradatkirt)
- at Hatra in upper Mesopotamia.
Popular culture
- 'Mithra' are also a race of cat-people found in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI.
- The Apollo asteroid 4486 Mithra was named after Mithra.
- Represented as twin boys with the voices of old men in the videogame Killer7. Mithra in this context is decribed as the god of contract, possibly Roman.
- The PS2 RPG Nocturne features Mithra as a playable character.
- In the computer game Rebel Moon Rising, the cheat code "fwmithra" gives temporary invulnerability
References
- List of CAIS articles on ancient Iranian calendars, customs, festivals & rituals
- List of CAIS articles on ancient Iranian mythology
See also
Persian gods | Persian mythology | Zoroastrianism | Solar deities | Yazatas
"Mithra"