May

Carrawburgh/Borcolitia

Grade:

Signs: Taurus/Gemini

Mithraeum at Carrawburgh. Photo by Northumberland County Council.

Date range: From Wiki, or more specifically, from the too awesome RIB:

They show its garrisoning units to have been as follows:

RIB 1550 – Hadrianic? c. AD133 – First Cohort of Aquitani

RIB 1563b – AD122-138 – First Cohort of Tungri

End 2nd century – Cohors I Cugernorum

RIB 1544, RIB 1553, and Notitia Dignitarum – AD213-222, AD237, and AD400 respectively – First Cohort of Batavians

First Cohort of Frisiavones

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Discovered in 1949 by a dog named Adam, this mithraeum is the one I’ve visited the most, and love the best. When I decided to recreate a mithraeum for the annual event, MithraCon at Yale University, Carrawburgh was the only choice for a model. I have chronicled my work on this project elsewhere, but now, years later, Carrawburgh remains the focus of my worship. (If you’re a Romanist you’ll see what I did there.)

The focus of one of my altars, while still a WIP.

In the main, this mithraeum is pretty much like its 400+ siblings. Long, dark, benches to recline on, the usual iconography, and an antechamber for domestications.

Shhhhh! Don’t tell them we’re looking in!

Food for ritual use would have been prepared offsite, and possibly reheated in the antechamber. We may never know how this potluck went, but eat they did. Food remains vary by location, which is not surprising, as well as by season and doubtless by finances as well. I’m sure imported food appeared when available, but here on the frontier we’ll be looking at domestic foodstuffs.