Mithra is the Zoroastrian angelic Divinity of Covenant and Oath. In
addition to being the Divinity of Contracts, Mithra is also a judicial
figure, an all-seeing Protector of Truth, and the Guardian of Cattle, the
Harvest and of The Waters. The Romans attributed their Mithraic
Mysteries to Persian or Zoroastrian sources relating to Mithra.
Etymology Together with the Vedic common noun
mitra, the Avestan common noun miθra derives from proto-Indo-Iranian *mitra,
from the root mi- "to bind", with the "tool suffix" -tra- "causing to." Thus,
etymologically mitra/miθra means "that which causes binding", preserved in the
Avestan word for "Covenant, Contract, Oath".
In Middle Iranian languages, miθra became mihr, from which New Persian مهر
mehr, Wanetsi and Wazirwola mērə/myer, and Armenian mihr/mher ultimately
derive. In scripture
Like most other Divinities, Mithra is not mentioned by name in the Gathas, the
oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and generally attributed to Zoroaster
himself, or by name in the Yasna Haptanghaiti, a seven-verse section of
the Yasna liturgy that is linguistically as old as the Gathas. As a member of the
Irianian ahuric triad, a feature that only Ahura Mazda and Ahura Berezaiti
also have, Mithra is an exalted figure. Together with Rashnu "Justice" and
Sraosha "Obedience", Mithra is one of the three judges at the Chinvat Bridge,
the "Bridge of Separation" that all Souls must cross. Unlike Sraosha, Mithra
is not however a Psychopomp. Should the Good Thoughts, Words and Deeds outweigh
the Bad, Sraosha alone conveys the Soul across the Bridge.
As the Divinity of Contract, Mithra is undeceivable, infallible, eternally
watchful, and never-resting. Mithra is additionally the protector of cattle,
and his stock epithet is "of Wide Pastures." He is Guardian of the waters
and ensures that those pastures receive enough of it.
The lack of Mithra's presence in the texts was once a cause of some
consternation amongst Iranists. An often repeated speculation of the first half
of the 20th century was that the lack of any mention of Mithra in these texts
implied that Zoroaster had rejected Mithra. This ex silentio speculation is
no longer followed. Building on that speculation was another series of
speculations, which postulated that the reason why Zoroaster did not mention
Mithra was because the latter was the supreme god of a bloodthirsty group of
daeva-worshipers that Zoroaster condemned. However, "no satisfactory
evidence has yet been adduced to show that, before Zoroaster, the concept of a
supreme god existed among the Iranians, or that among them Mithra – or any other
divinity – ever enjoyed a separate cult of his or her own outside either their
ancient or their Zoroastrian pantheons." The Avestan Hymn to Mithra is the
longest, and one of the best preserved, of the Yashts. Mithra is described in
the Zoroastrian Avesta scriptures as "Mithra of Wide Pastures, of the
Thousand Ears, and of the Myriad Eyes,"(Yasna 1:3), "the Lofty, and the
Everlasting...the Province Ruler,"(Yasna 1:11), "the Yazad of the Spoken
Name"(Yasna 3:5), and "the Holy,"(Yasna 3:13) The Khorda Avesta also refer to
Mithra in the Litany to the Sun, "Homage to Mithra of Wide Cattle
Pastures,"(Khwarshed Niyayesh 5), "Whose Word is True, who is of the Assembly,
Who has a Thousand Ears, the Well-Shaped One, Who has Ten Thousand Eyes, the
Exalted One, Who has Wide Knowledge, the Helpful One, Who Sleeps Not, the Ever
Wakeful. We sacrifice to Mithra, The Lord of all countries, Whom Ahura Mazda
created the most glorious, Of the Supernatural Yazads. So may there come
to us for Aid, Both Mithra and Ahura, the Two Exalted Ones,"(Khwarshed
Niyayesh 6-7), "I shall sacrifice to his mace, well aimed against the Skulls of
the Daevas,". Some recent theories have claimed Mithra represents the Sun
itself, but the Khorda Avesta refers to the Sun as a separate entity – as it
does with the Moon, with which the Sun has "the Best of Friendships,".
In inscriptions Mithra is invoked in the inscriptions of
two Achaemenid emperors. In Artaxerxes II's trilingual
inscription at Susa and Hamadan, which have the same text, the emperor appeals
to "Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mithra protect me against all evil", and in
which he beseeches them to protect what he has built.
Although the Behistun inscription of Darius invokes Ahuramazda and "the Other
Gods who are", this inscription of Artaxerxes II is remarkable as no
Achaemenid king before him had invoked any but Ahura Mazda alone by name. Boyce
suggests that the reason for this was that Artaxerxes had chosen Anahita and
Mithra as his patron/protector Divinities.
Mithra is invoked again in the single known inscription of Artaxerxes III,
A3Pa, found at Persepolis. In that inscription, that emperor too appeals to
"Ahuramazda and the God Mithra preserve me, my country, and what has been built
by me." In tradition
In the Zoroastrian calendar, the sixteenth day of the month and the
seventh month of the year are dedicated to, and under the protection of,
Mithra.. The position of the sixteenth day and seventh month reflects Mithra's
rank in the hierarchy of the Divinities; the sixteenth day and seventh month are
respectively the first day of the second half of the month and the first month of
the second half of the year. The day on which the day-name and month-name
dedications intersect is dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, and is
celebrated with a Jashan in honor of that Divinity. In the case of Mithra,
this was Jashan-e Mihragan, or just Mihragan in short.
Royal names incorporating Mithra's 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 for two different
Manichaean angels. The first, called Mihryazd by the
Persians, was the "The Living Spirit", 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",
likewise a savior figure, but one concerned with setting up the structures
to liberate the Light lost when the First Man had been defeated.
The second figure mentioned above, the Third Messenger, was the helper and
redeemer of mankind, and identified with another Zoroastrian divinity, Narisaf.
Citing Boyce, Sundermann remarks, "It was among the Parthian Manicheans that
Mithra as a Sun God surpassed the importance of Narisaf as the common
Iranian image of the Third Messenger; among the Parthians the dominance of
Mithra was such that his identification with the Third Messenger led to cultic
emphasis on the Mithraic traits in the Manichaean God."
Unrelated to these Mihrs are Parthian and Sogdian Mytr or Mytrg. Although
sharing linguistic roots with the name Mithra, Werner Sundermann established
that those names denote Manicheanisms equivalent of Maitreya.
See also Mithraism
Mithras Mitra
Mitra References
Bibliography