ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This concluding chapter revisits the summary description of the religion of the Mithras cult proposed in Chapter 1.
This concluding chapter revisits the summary description of the religion of the Mithras cult proposed in Chapter 1.
ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This introductory chapter provides an introduction to interpreting Mithraism as a mystery cult. The sense in which ‘religion’ is used is defined. Old methods are contrasted with a new method that ...
More
This introductory chapter provides an introduction to interpreting Mithraism as a mystery cult. The sense in which ‘religion’ is used is defined. Old methods are contrasted with a new method that focuses on cognition, on how the initiate gets to know his religion through apprehending ‘images, suppositions, and representations’. A summary description of the cult's religion is given in terms of ‘axioms’, instantiated in ‘motifs’ (e.g. descent and ascent), operating in ‘domains’ (e.g. the sublunary world), on ‘structured sites’ (e.g. the mithraeum), in ‘symbolic modes’ (e.g. ritual action), by means of a ‘symbolic idiom’ (i.e. ‘star-talk’). The axioms postulated for Mithraism are (1) deus sol invictus Mithras (the cult title of the god), and (2) ‘harmony of tension in opposition’.Less
This introductory chapter provides an introduction to interpreting Mithraism as a mystery cult. The sense in which ‘religion’ is used is defined. Old methods are contrasted with a new method that focuses on cognition, on how the initiate gets to know his religion through apprehending ‘images, suppositions, and representations’. A summary description of the cult's religion is given in terms of ‘axioms’, instantiated in ‘motifs’ (e.g. descent and ascent), operating in ‘domains’ (e.g. the sublunary world), on ‘structured sites’ (e.g. the mithraeum), in ‘symbolic modes’ (e.g. ritual action), by means of a ‘symbolic idiom’ (i.e. ‘star-talk’). The axioms postulated for Mithraism are (1) deus sol invictus Mithras (the cult title of the god), and (2) ‘harmony of tension in opposition’.
I. Randolph Daniel and Michael Wisenbaker
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781683400226
- eISBN:
- 9781683400950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400226.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter describes attempts to elucidate the internal site structure of the Suwannee-Bolen component at Harney Flats which was a major goal of the project. SYMAPS of the flake distributions and ...
More
This chapter describes attempts to elucidate the internal site structure of the Suwannee-Bolen component at Harney Flats which was a major goal of the project. SYMAPS of the flake distributions and piece-plotted artifact distributions for each excavation area are illustrated and examined with respect to ethnoarchaeological models of hunter-gatherer site structure. Spatial patterning within each area is less clear than patterning between areas. That is, while the three areas are generally similar in the range of tool types they contain, they do differ in the relative frequencies of those tool types. The assemblages of Areas 2 and 3 are interpreted to represent activities primarily associated with tool manufacture and core reduction. The Area 1 assemblage differs from the other two areas and is interpreted as a living area. Moreover, Area 1 is situated on the highest and flattest portion of the site, with Areas 2 and 3 situated farther downslope.Less
This chapter describes attempts to elucidate the internal site structure of the Suwannee-Bolen component at Harney Flats which was a major goal of the project. SYMAPS of the flake distributions and piece-plotted artifact distributions for each excavation area are illustrated and examined with respect to ethnoarchaeological models of hunter-gatherer site structure. Spatial patterning within each area is less clear than patterning between areas. That is, while the three areas are generally similar in the range of tool types they contain, they do differ in the relative frequencies of those tool types. The assemblages of Areas 2 and 3 are interpreted to represent activities primarily associated with tool manufacture and core reduction. The Area 1 assemblage differs from the other two areas and is interpreted as a living area. Moreover, Area 1 is situated on the highest and flattest portion of the site, with Areas 2 and 3 situated farther downslope.
