Brooch of Mithras killing the bull

Found in Ostia in 1899. It came together with the Sir John Evans Collection to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 1927.
Date: second century AD. Diam. 0.07. Bronze.

Maarten Vermaseren wrote: "The scene is the usual one of Mithras slaying the bull, but has some unusual features. The god, in oriental dress, and with a nimbus and wreath of nine rays, kneels in the normal manner on the bull, which bears two bands round its body and has a tail ending in a single tuft. It is noteworthy that the god is not represented at the moment of thrusting the dagger into the bull's body, but with his weapon raised after the stroke. The wound is clearly visible and the dog stands by with open mouth to lick the blood. The snake creeps over the ground and the scorpion clasps the testicles. The raven, at which Mithras is looking, sits on the god's billowing cloak. The busts of Sol and Luna are omitted, obviously for want of space; and, perhaps for the same reason, two birds take the place of the two torchbearers; one, a cock, stands facing the bull's mouth, the other, a smaller bird, perches on the victim's tail. The cock, which by its crowing chases away evil beasts and announces the rising of the sun, is often represented in the Mithraea, especially in connexion with Cautes, the torchbearer with raised torch. Moreover, in the Mithraic cult the cock is a sacrificial animal and also plays a part in the initiation rites. If, therefore, in this example we identify the cock as representing the rising light, we may assume that the other bird represents the waning light, a part belonging especially to the nightingale in antiquity."

CIMRM 318, fig. 87; M.J. Vermaseren, "A Mithraic Brooch in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford", Antiquaries Journal 28 (1948), 177-179 and Pl. XXVIIa; Summary Guide to the Department of Antiquities of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1951, 59 and Pl. XLVII B; SO II, 129f. and Pl. XXXVIII, 1. Photo: Twitter, Carole Raddato. Ashmolean Museum info.