Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEIndividual fellowship2022–2025

CAMRIP · Cognitive Aspects of Mithraic Rituals in Pannonia

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2022-08-01 → 2025-01-31
EU contribution
€183,601
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Cognitive Aspects of Mithraic Rituals in Pannonia

The ‘Cognitive Aspects of Mithraic Rituals In Pannonia’ (CAMRIP) research project examined the range of ritual practices and religious experiences that occurred within Mithraic religious communities in the Roman provinces of Pannonia Superior and Inferior (Objective 1). By applying interdisciplinary cognitive and sensory theoretical perspectives, the project explored how rituals were performed, learned, remembered and diffused (Objective 2), and how religious networks were created between different Mithraic communities in Pannonia (Objective 3). The cult of the divinity Mithras became one of the most popular religions in the Roman Empire between the second and the fourth century A.D. (approx. A.D.150-350), with Mithras being the second-most popular divinity in the Roman provinces of Pannonia Superior and Inferior (parts of modern-day Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia). Despite his popularity, Mithras' cult is considered as a ‘mystery’ religion, where religious knowledge and rituals were transmitted to initiates in secret. Therefore, scholars still struggle to demystify what types of religious rituals and ritual experiences occurred within Mithraic communities; how these rituals were learned, performed, remembered, diffused and transformed; and what role these rituals played in religious and social bonding among initiates, including in the formation of religious ties. Although recent scholarship from the cognitive sciences has made great advancements in understanding ritual practices and ritual experiences, scholarship focusing on the examination of Mithraic evidence from Pannonia Superior and Inferior has largely ignored cognitive and sensory theoretical approaches, and a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of Mithraic communities in Pannonia Superior and Inferior and their ritual practices has been lacking. To address this gap in scholarship, this project provides an innovative interdisciplinary analysis of Mithraic ritual practices and ritual experiences in the Roman provinces of Pannonia Superior and Inferior. This project also contributes to furthering debate on rituals and ritual experiences within the wider context of Graeco-Roman cults, with potential for broader theoretical and comparative transdisciplinary applications.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Traditional scholarship focusing on the examination of archaeological material from the Roman province of Pannonia has ignored cognitive and sensory theoretical approaches, particularly when it comes to the study of Roman religion and ritual. Although the cult of Mithras was extremely popular in Roman Pannonia, we still know little about 1) how ritual practices were learned, performed, remembered, diffused and transformed between different Mithraic communities in Pannonia, and 2) how Mithraic religious networks were formed. My research project aims to bridge this gap in scholarship by applying interdisciplinary cognitive and sensory theoretical perspectives to the analysis of archaeological, epigraphic and iconographic evidence for the cult of Mithras from various Pannonian settlements, in order to investigate and answer 1) and 2). I hypothesize that the project will demonstrate that Mithraic communities throughout Pannonia exhibit localized variations of ritual practices, thereby challenging traditional interpretations of homogeneity of Mithraic ritual. The project will be developed as a series of case studies, where evidence from Mithraic communities and settlements across Pannonia will be analyzed, compared and contrasted. These case studies will be published in the form of peer-reviewed articles. The University of Vienna is the ideal place to conduct this research, firstly because of Vienna's archaeological heritage as an important Roman Pannonian settlement; secondly because of Vienna's museums, archives and libraries which hold Austro-Hungarian excavation reports and archaeological materials; and thirdly due to Vienna's strategic location on the Roman Danube frontier and its proximity to many other Pannonian archaeological sites. Most importantly, collaboration with Prof. Dr. Günther Schörner, a leading international scholar on Roman rituals and cognition, will enable me to broaden my research expertise and contribute to research output at UNIVIE.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITAT WIEN · WienCoordinatorAustria

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union