Relief representing Mithra at The Louvre, Lens

Mithra is the Zoroastrian angelic Divinity (yazata) 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 (the Mystery Religion known as Mithraism) to Persian or Zoroastrian sources relating to Mithra. However, since the early 1970s, the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities, and those Mysteries are now qualified as a distinct Roman product. This relief depicts Mithra sacrificing a bull. 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 Iranian civil calendar of 1925 adopted Zoroastrian month-names, and as such also has the seventh month of the year named 'Mihr'). 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 (like all other such intersections) dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, and is celebrated with a Jashan (from AvestanYasna, Worship) in honor of that Divinity. In the case of Mithra, this was Jashan-e Mihragan, or just Mihragan in short. While Mithra is not the Divinity of the Sun in Zoroastrian scripture (or in Indian scripture either), this being the role of Hvare.khshaeta (literally Radiant Sun, whence also Middle Persian Khorshed for the Sun), in Zoroastrian/Iranian tradition, Mithra became the Divinity of the Sun. How, when or why this occurred is uncertain, but it is commonly attributed to a conflation with the Babylonian Shamash, who – in addition to being a Sun God – was a judicial figure like Mithra. In the Hellenistic era (i.e., in Seleucid and Parthian times), Mithra also seems to have been conflated with Apollo, who – like Mithra – is an all-seeing Divinity of the Truth. This object is part of Scan The World. Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email [e-mail] to find out how you can help.密特拉（Mithra）是琐罗亚斯德教（Zoroastrian）中司掌契约与誓言的天使性体（yazata）。除作为契约之神外，密特拉同时亦是司法神祇、全视的真理守护者，以及牲畜、丰收与水源的护佑者。 罗马人将其密特拉秘仪（Mithraic Mysteries，即密特拉教神秘宗教）的起源归因于波斯或琐罗亚斯德教体系中与密特拉相关的传统。但自20世纪70年代初以来，主流学术研究已指出二者存在显著差异，如今该秘仪被认定为独立的罗马本土产物。 这件浮雕描绘了密特拉献祭公牛的场景。在琐罗亚斯德教历法中，每月第16日与每年第7月均以密特拉为名，并受其护佑。1925年启用的伊朗民用历法沿用了琐罗亚斯德教的月份命名规则，因此其年度第7月也被命名为"米赫尔（Mihr）"。第16日与第7月的设定反映了密特拉在神性层级中的地位：二者分别为月度下半程的首日与年度下半程的首月。当日历中日名与月名的供奉日重合时（与其他此类重合情况一致），该日将专门供奉对应日/月的神性，并会举行亚斯纳（Jashan，源自阿维斯陀语Yasna，意为"礼拜"）仪式以纪念该神性。就密特拉而言，这一仪式即为密特拉节（Jashan-e Mihragan，简称Mihragan）。 尽管在琐罗亚斯德教经典（乃至印度教经典）中，密特拉并非太阳神——太阳神的职责由胡瓦雷赫沙塔（Hvare.khshaeta，字面意为"闪耀的太阳"，中古波斯语（Middle Persian）中也由此衍生出太阳的称呼Khorshed）担任，但在琐罗亚斯德教/伊朗传统中，密特拉逐渐被视为太阳神。这一转变的具体时间、缘由与过程尚未明确，但通常认为是因其与巴比伦太阳神沙马什（Shamash）的融合：沙马什同样兼具太阳神与司法神祇的身份，与密特拉的职能重合。在希腊化时代（Hellenistic era，即塞琉古（Seleucid）与帕提亚（Parthian）时期），密特拉也被认为与阿波罗（Apollo）产生了融合：阿波罗与密特拉一样，是全视的真理之神。 这件藏品属于"扫描世界（Scan The World）"项目。"扫描世界"是由MyMiniFactory推出的非营利性倡议，旨在构建可供公众免费获取的全球可3D打印雕塑、艺术品与地标数字档案库。该项目为开源社区协作项目，若您身边有可贡献的有趣藏品，可发送邮件至[e-mail]了解参与方式。