Archaeologists Decipher 1,700-Year Aramaic Text on Mithras Temple Closure by Christians
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 6
Archaeologists Decipher 1,700-Year Aramaic Text on Mithras Temple Closure by Christians
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 6
Summary
A 1,700-year-old Aramaic inscription at Zerzevan Castle in southeastern Turkey has been deciphered as direct evidence that early Christians closed and symbolically sealed a Roman Mithras temple.
Professor Mehmet Sait Toprak said the text—found at the temple entrance beside a cross—mentions both Mithras and Jesus Christ, marking a religious shift that had gone unread since the inscription's 2017 discovery.
Letter forms and comparisons with Old Syriac and other Aramaic texts date the engraving to the third or fourth century A.D., matching earlier coin finds that had only suggested the sanctuary was abandoned then.
Researchers say it is the first known Aramaic inscription documenting a Mithras temple's closure, adding rare written proof to a broader pattern of early Christian remains emerging across Asia Minor.
What other secrets does Turkey's new World Heritage Site hold about Rome's forgotten religions?
What does a 1,700-year-old 'closure notice' reveal about how Christianity triumphed over its rivals?
Beyond conquest, did early Christians absorb and transform the pagan religions they replaced?
Deciphering a 1,700-Year-Old Aramaic Inscription: Direct Evidence of Christian Closure of a Mithras Temple at Zerzevan Castle
Overview
A remarkable 1,700-year-old Aramaic inscription was discovered in the ancient Mithras Temple at Zerzevan Castle and deciphered by Professor Mehmet Sait Toprak. This inscription provides a direct account of early Christians formally closing the Mithras temple, marking a crucial moment in the shift from pagan beliefs to Christianity. It uniquely mentions both the 'Invincible Sun God Mithras' and Jesus Christ, along with an invocation of the Holy Cross. This rare combination offers invaluable evidence of the religious tensions and transformations during the late Roman Empire, making it the first known Old Aramaic text to document such a transition.