Mithra - Blog Posts
The Fake Texts of Ancient Greek 'Historians': the Behistun Inscription, Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Darius I the Great, and Semiramis
In a previous article published under the title 'Aristotle as Historical Forgery, the Western World’s Fake History & Rotten Foundations, and Prof. Jin Canrong’s Astute Comments', I wholeheartedly supported the position taken by the prominent Chinese Prof. Jin Canrong about Aristotle and I explained why Aristotle never existed as he is known today and most of his texts were not written by him, but by the pseudo-Christian Benedictine monks of Western Europe for the purpose of the ferocious imperial and theological battle that Rome carried out against New Rome-Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire. You can find the table of contents and a link to the publication at the end of the present article.
Contents
Introduction
I. A fictional concept: the origin of the fraud
II. A construct based on posterior textual sources
III. The deceitful presentation
IV. 5th century BCE texts found in 15th c. CE manuscripts do not make 'History'.
V. Abundant evidence of lies and deliberate distortions attested in the manuscript transmission
VI. Darius I the Great, the Behistun inscription, and Ctesias
VII. The historical Assyrian Queen Shammuramat and the fictional Queen Semiramis of the 'Ancient Greek sources'
VIII. The malignant intentions of the Benedictine liars: from the historical Darius I the Great to the fictional Semiramis
IX. The vicious distortions of the Benedictine liars: from Ctesias to Herodotus
The Behistun inscription
Introduction
In the present article, I will offer a typical example of text falsification carried out by the Catholic monks, who did not 'copy and preserve' manuscripts of ancient Greek and Latin texts, as it has been mendaciously said by Western European and North American academics and lying scholars, but they purposefully falsified, distorted, concealed, destroyed and/or contrived numerous texts.
This enormous forgery took place in Western Europe between the 2nd half of the 8th century and the 1st half of the 15th century; the colonial era was launched exactly afterwards. For this reason, few manuscripts with Ancient Greek and Roman texts date before the 8th c.; in fact, most of them have been either distorted and replaced or hidden in the vast libraries still owned, controlled and administered that the anti-Christian Roman Catholic Church.
The purpose of this devious and evil effort was the fabrication of a fake narrative about the forged antiquity and the supposed importance of the Western Europeans according to the needs of world conquest, prevalence and preponderance of the pseudo-Christian Roman Catholic Church; this bogus-historical dogma, as direct opposition to and ultimate rejection of Orthodox Christianity, would be initially imposed as the 'scientific discipline of History' in Western Europe and subsequently projected onto the rest of the world by means of colonial invasion, indigenous identity destruction, moral integrity demolition, cultural heritage disintegration, educational subordination, economic exploitation, military subjugation, and socio-political domination.
In other words, the monastical scribes and copyists created an entirely fake Euro-centric past, which became the rotten foundation of Western Europe. This fallacy became known as Judeo-Christian world and Greco-Roman civilization. However, the decipherment of ancient languages (Egyptian hieroglyphic, Old Achaemenid Iranian, Assyrian-Babylonian, Sumerian, Hurrian, Hittite, Urartu, Ugaritic, etc) and the study of millions of original texts, which were not copies of earlier sources but contemporaneous to the events that they narrated, sounded the death knell of the era of history fabrication programs.
With the post-Soviet rise of the great continental powers (China, India, Russia, etc.), the economic-military-political-ideological-educational-academic-cultural tyranny of the Western World started being overthrown throughout the earlier colonized world. The historical forgery that the colonial rulers imposed collapsed, the falsehood of the Eurocentric dogma of World History started being revealed and rejected, and an overwhelming project of total de-Westernization appeared as a prerequisite for the liberation of the Mankind from the lies of the European Renaissance, the Western Humanities, the White Supremacism, the Western European colonialism and racism, as well as from the falsehood of numerous subsystems of the construct, such as Classicism, Hellenism, Orientalism, etc.
In our days, it is imperative for anti-colonial scholars to unveil the distortions applied to Ancient Greek and Latin texts by the medieval monks. Consequently, historians from all over the world have to work together in order to denounce and obliterate the Western fraud and the fake History of the Western Man, which consists in arbitrarily taking 14th c. CE manuscripts as authentic narratives of Ancient History.
I. A fictional concept: the origin of the fraud
Apparently, the present brief article cannot be an exhaustive presentation of the Western fraud, and of the historical forgery that the Western monks, manuscript copyists, collectors, academics and propagandists attempted to impose worldwide through colonial conquests, massacres and tyrannies. However, I can still enumerate the major founding myths of the Western World.
Two thematic circles of historical distortions and fraudulent claims made by the Western academia revolve around the following two entirely fabricated entities, which have conventionally but erroneously been called
a) "the Greco-Roman world" and
b) "Biblical Israel" and "Judeo-Christian civilization".
These ahistorical entities never existed. The original concept of those notions is purely fictional, and it therefore remains always unquestioned in the fraudulent Western universities. In this regard, the sources that the Western academics evoke to support their claims are posterior, untrustworthy, forged and therefore worthless.
At times, some of those texts represent merely ancient authors' misperceptions of earlier texts and authors; however, more often, the ancient texts have been tampered with. On other occasions, ancient texts that refute the lies of other historical sources are hidden from the general public and conventionally discussed among the Western academic accomplices.
II. A construct based on posterior textual sources
The entire construct hinges on the deceitful presentation of several types of material forged, collected, concealed, interpreted, contextualized, narrated, repeatedly but intentionally discussed, supposedly questioned, and selectively popularized; this was due to the fact that the said material was incessantly utilized for the colonial needs and targets of the Western European powers (England, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and more recently the US). In fact, the Western World's fake History was created as the ultimate support of all colonial claims.
This process happened within a system in which posterior textual sources (preserved in medieval manuscripts) have occupied the central position, whereas the ancient epigraphic material, which was contemporaneous to the historical events under study, has been deliberately disregarded.
All later discovered data and pieces of information were either adjusted to the construct or methodically hidden; this is how the original concept, pathetically believed almost as a religious dogma, remained totally unchallenged down to our days.
III. The deceitful presentation
The quintessence of the deceitful presentation involves a vicious trick; people (pupils and students, but also scholars and intellectuals, as well as the general public) are taught and made accustomed to care mainly about the absolutely insignificant dates of birth and death of historical persons (authors, rulers, etc.), and not about the dates of the manuscripts in which these individuals are mentioned as supposed authors; this situation turns readers, students and scholars into pathetic idiots.
Subsequently, we cannot seriously afford to describe Herodotus as a 5th c. BCE writer, because there is no manuscript with texts attributed to him, dating before the 10th c. CE. In addition, if we take into account the enormous number of other ancient authors decrying, denigrating and rejecting Herodotus' absurdities and malignancy, we have to permanently and irrevocably obliterate Herodotus from the History of Mankind and consider his false, paranoid and racist texts as a double Crime against the Mankind:
first, with respect to the original narrative (to which we don't have access as it was distorted by medieval monastical scribes and copyists) because the author attempted to disparage the superior Iranian civilization and the majestic Achaemenid universalist empire, while undeservedly praising the South Balkan barbarians, and
second, as regards the currently available text, which was forged as per the discriminatory intentions of the monks who altered and distorted it in their effort to fabricate the fake, modern divide (or dichotomy) East-West, and to offer a shred of historicity to it.
IV. 5th century BCE texts found in 15th c. CE manuscripts do not make 'History'.
People get therefore addicted to considering as a true and original 'work' (of an ancient author) the manuscript (or manuscripts) in which the specific treatise, essay or book was copied perhaps 10 or 15 centuries after the author composed it. Due to a long chain of intermediaries (namely library copyists, librarians, scholars, monks, collectors, purchasers and/or statesmen), the transmitted text may have been partly or totally changed.
There is absolutely no guarantee as regards the honesty, the good intentions, the unbiased attitude, and the benevolent character of the perhaps 5, 10, 20 or 50 persons who -living in different eras and without knowing one another- may have constituted the chain of (unknown to us) intermediaries between the hand of the author and that of the last copyist whose manuscript was preserved down to our times.
Example: very little matters today whether the ancient author Diodorus Siculus or Siceliotes (西西里的狄奧多羅斯) actually lived in the 1st c. BCE or in the 3rd c. CE; quite contrarily, what is important for history-writing is the fact that the earliest known manuscript of his famous 'Bibliotheca Historica' (世界史) dates back to the 10th c. CE.
Consequently, the first piece of information that should be stated after the name of any 'ancient' Anatolian, Macedonian, Thracian, Greek, Roman and other author is the date of the earliest extant manuscript of his works.
V. Abundant evidence of lies and deliberate distortions attested in the manuscript transmission
An extraordinarily high number of original sources excavated in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, Canaan, Iran and elsewhere, and subsequently deciphered, can be dated with accuracy; example: the Annals of great Assyrian emperor Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BCE) were written during his reign. They are contemporaneous and therefore original.
However, in striking contrast to them, almost all the manuscripts with the works of ancient Greek and Roman authors whose texts have formed the backbone of the fraudulent historical dogma of the Western academia are not contemporaneous but posterior by, at times, 1500 or 2000 years.
Even worse, numerous ancient Greek authors' texts were not preserved through a manuscript tradition at all; they were saved as references in posterior authors' works. This concerns, for instance, Ctesias (克特西亞斯), an Ancient Carian (Anatolian) physician and erudite scholar, who lived and worked in the court of the Achaemenid Iranian emperor Artaxerxes II in the 5th c. BCE.
Later, willing to offer potential guidebooks to Iran and India for the use of various peripheral peoples and tribes of the Balkan region, Ctesias elaborated in Ancient Ionian (愛奧尼亞希臘語) two treatises to describe the state of things in Iran and in India. To the Western academic bibliography, his works are known (in Latin) as 'Persica' and 'Indica'.
These texts were not saved integrally in manuscripts copied for the purpose of preserving Ctesias' works, but they were preserved in Diodorus Siculus' 'Bibliotheca Historica'. Although he is not known through authentic and contemporaneous Iranian sources, we can deduce that Ctesias certainly spoke fluently the official language of the Empire and read Old Achaemenid cuneiform. Eventually, he may have also studied and learned Babylonian and Elamite cuneiform, namely two ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform languages and writings the use of which was maintained by Iranian scribes.
Apparently, Ctesias had a firsthand insight, as he lived for many years in Parsa (Persepolis), the capital of the Achaemenid Empire and he also traveled extensively along with the Iranian emperor. But, unfortunately, the following ordeal was produced.
VI. Darius I the Great, the Behistun inscription, and Ctesias
One century before Ctesias served Artaxerxes II, the empire of Iran was saved by Darius I the Great (大流士一世; reign: 522-486), who overthrew a usurper, namely the Mithraic (密特拉教祭司) magus Gaumata (高墨达), and by so doing, preserved on the throne a dynasty of faithful Zoroastrian (瑣羅亞斯德教徒) monarchs.
To commemorate his great victory and the consolidation of the his dynasty, Darius I the Great had an enormous rock relief and a monumental inscription (貝希斯敦銘文) engraved on the rocks of Mount Behistun (貝希斯頓山), at a distance of 150 km west of Hamadan (哈马丹; Ekbatana/埃克巴坦那) in Western Iran (15 m high by 25 m wide and 100 m up the cliff). As it can be easily understood, these events occurred after the assassination of Cambyses, at the very beginning of Darius I the Great's reign.
It goes without saying that the successors of Darius I the Great and the imperial Iranian administration knew perfectly well the historical details and were fully aware of the imperial inscription that immortalized the event, which had obviously become the cornerstone of the imperial education.
VII. The historical Assyrian Queen Shammuramat and the fictional Queen Semiramis of the 'Ancient Greek sources'
However, one century later, when Ctesias lived in Iran, served the Iranian Emperor, and spoke Old Achaemenid Iranian (and if not, he was surrounded by the Empire's top interpreters and advisers), something disastrously odd 'happened'.
According to Diodorus Siculus, who explicitly stated that he extensively quoted from Ctesias' text (Bibliotheca Historica, II 13), the imperial Carian physician and author appears to have attributed the Behistun inscription and the rock reliefs to none else than the Assyrian Queen Shammuramat (薩穆-拉瑪特), who was the queen consort of the Assyrian Emperor Shamshi Adad V (沙姆什·阿達德五世; reign: 824-811) and co-regent (811-805) during the first years of reign of her son Adad Nirari III (阿达德尼拉里三世; reign: 811-783)!
Furthermore, in the 'Ancient Greek' text of Diodorus Siculus, the monumental inscription was said to be written in Assyrian cuneiform (Συρίοις γράμμασιν)! Even worse, in the same text (as preserved today), it was also stated that, in the rock relief, there was also a representation of the Assyrian queen!
Ctesias' text, as preserved by Diodorus Siculus, is truly abundant in information, but it is historically impossible and therefore entirely forged. Due to this and many other texts, an enormous chasm was unnecessarily formed between
a) the historical queen Shammuramat of Assyria, whose historicity is firmly undeniable, due to the existence of several contemporaneous cuneiform sources excavated in Assyria, and subsequently deciphered and published,
and
b) the purely fictional Assyrian queen Semiramis (沙米拉姆) of the posterior Ancient Greek textual sources that were supposedly 'preserved' (but in reality deliberately distorted and forged) in the Benedictine manuscripts of Western Europe's monasteries.
However, if we examine closely the facts, we will surely understand what truly occurred in this case; then, we will be able to fathom how the fake History of the Western world was fabricated.
The Behistun inscription is trilingual, as it was written in Old Achaemenid Iranian (the earliest form of written Iranian languages), Babylonian, and Elamite; this was a very common practice during the Achaemenid times (550-330 BCE). The main figure of the associated rock relief is Darius I the Great, evidently the representation of a male royal.
One way or another, with respect to the Behistun inscription and rock relief, Ctesias certainly knew everything that we know today after the successive decipherments of the Old Achaemenid, Babylonian and Elamite cuneiform writings, or perhaps even more, due to the then extant oral tradition.
VIII. The malignant intentions of the Benedictine liars: from the historical Darius I the Great to the fictional Semiramis
The Behistun inscription is not Assyrian; the representation is not that of female royal; and the monument is totally unrelated to Shammuramat, who had lived 300 years before Darius I the Great and 400 years before Artaxerxes II's physician Ctesias. More importantly, by that time, the Assyrian Empire did not occupy the lands surrounding Behistun. Accompanied by Iranian imperial officers and his associates, Ctesias certainly learned all the details of the monumental inscription that we can now read in articles, courses, lectures, books and encyclopedias.
The narrative was a triumph for Darius I the Great and a spectacular rebuttal of the vicious Mithraic Magi who had supported the defeated evil sorcerer and villain Gaumata. Apparently, writing a guidebook for Iran to help marginal people of the Empire's Balkan periphery, Ctesias did not have any reason to say lies. Moreover, we don't have any reason to believe that Diodorus Siculus needed to distort the truth to that extent, when copying and thus preserving Ctesias' masterpiece for the posterity.
However, the transmission of the details about the Behistun inscription embarrassed the Benedictine copyists who wanted to denigrate Darius I the Great and to portray his great empire in a most derogatory manner. They had already proceeded in this manner, distorting other manuscripts, forging texts, and fabricating their pseudo-historical narratives at will.
That is why Ctesias' pertinent text, which had certainly been preserved in its original form within Diodorus Siculus' Bibliotheca Historica, was intentionally distorted by the Benedictine 'Holy Inquisition of Libraries', which fabricated the myths of today's Western world some time after the middle of the 8th c. CE. To be accurate, Ctesias' historical description was entirely replaced by a fictional and historically nonsensical account.
The unbelievable lies -invented and included in Diodorus Siculus' quotations from Ctesias- risked making of the fictional queen Semiramis a world ruler! Whereas the Assyrian Empire at the end of the 9th c. BCE did not control even the western half of today's Iranian territory, the unequivocally mythicized Semiramis had supposedly sent her armies up to India where those fictitious Assyrian soldiers were trampled by the elephants. This worthless narrative that replaced Ctesias' original text may very well have been invented as a 'historical' excuse for Alexander the Great's failure to advance deep inside India.
IX. The vicious distortions of the Benedictine liars: from Ctesias to Herodotus
But if the fictional Semiramis' Indian campaign is entirely false, so are then the preposterous narratives of Herodotus about Darius I the Great's and Xerxes I the Great's campaigns in the insignificant and barbarian circumference of South Balkans. These texts involved evil purposes, heinous anti-Iranian biases, fictional battles, racist discourses, vicious lies, incredibly large number of the Iranian armies, and absurdly high number of Iranian casualties.
The mendacious but idiotic Benedictine monks, who wrote those slander tales did not apparently expect that, sometime in the future, excavations would bring to light splendid Iranian antiquities, original cuneiform documentation, and trustworthy contemporaneous historical sources, whereas a systematic effort of decipherment would offer to people all over the world direct access to historical texts written in dead languages, thus irrevocably canceling Herodotus' nonsensical report and, even more importantly, the later distortions that the Benedictine monks made on their worthless manuscripts.
In any case, had those fictional campaigns against 'Greece' had a shred of truth to them, they would have certainly been documented one way or another in various Old Achaemenid, Babylonian, Elamite, Imperial Aramaic, Egyptian hieroglyphic or other sources; but they were not.
Even worse, the meaningless and ludicrous battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and their likes would have been commemorated by the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and the Attalids all the way down to the Romans and the Eastern Romans. But we know quite well that the nonexistent, fictional past of the so-called Ancient Greek world was absolutely irrelevant to them: precisely because it had not yet been fabricated.
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Aristotle as Historical Forgery, the Western World’s Fake History & Rotten Foundations, and Prof. Jin Canrong’s Astute Comments
Contents
I. Aristotle: a Major Founding Myth of the Western World
II. When, where and by whom was the Myth of Aristotle fabricated?
III. The Myth of Aristotle and its first Byproducts: Scholasticism, East-West Schism, the Crusades & the Sack of Constantinople (1204)
IV. Aristotelization: First Stage of the Westernization and the Colonization of the World
V. Aristotelization as Foundation of all the Western Forgeries: the so-called Judeo-Christian Heritage and the Fraud of Greco-Roman Civilization
VI. The Modern Western World as Disruption of History
VII. The Myth of Aristotle and the Monstrosity of Western Colonialism
======================
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Stalin in Ottoman Anatolia: his Spiritual, Religious and Historical Quests
The Mithraic Trajectory of an Unknown Transcendentalist
Сталин в Османской Анатолии: его духовные, религиозные и исторические искания
Митраистская траектория неизвестного трансценденталиста
Table of Contents
I. The erroneous perception of Stalin among most people today
II. The erroneous perception of WW II by average people today
III. The true Yalta Conference
IV. The Big Game never ended
V. Good intentions and evil purposes
VI. Roosevelt & Stalin: like Abraham Lincoln & Alexander II
VII. The real, hidden Stalin: an experienced mystic
VIII. A Turkish ambassador speaks about Stalin living in Artvin and Istanbul
IX. Stalin in Ottoman Anatolia: 1911-1912
X. Turkish statesman Rıza Nur noted that Stalin understood Turkish
XI. Stalin's cultural background: distorted & unknown to most
XII. The Mithraic Iranian cultural heritage of Georgia & Stalin
XIII. The long, heavy shadow of the Sassanids
XIV. An indelible stamp on Islam: the Iranian Intermezzo
XV. The intertwined Islamic & Christian cultural heritage of Georgia, and Shota Rustaveli
XVI. Rustaveli's Russian translations and Stalin's pseudonyms
XVII. Archaeological excavations and Orientalist discoveries prior to Stalin's sojourn in Anatolia
XVIII. Stalin's textual sources of information about Mithra and the Mithraic mysteries
XIX. Spirituality, Religion, Eschatology, Soteriology, the Extinction of the Mankind, and Stalin
XX. Major themes of Stalin's spiritual quest in Anatolia – 1. Tauroctony and Crucifixion
XXI. Major themes of Stalin's spiritual quest in Anatolia – 2. Mithraic Trinity, Christian Trinity, Spirituality and Stalin
XXII. Major themes of Stalin's spiritual quest in Anatolia – 3. Solar nature of Mithraism / Immaculate birth from the rock
XXIII. How Stalin's Mithraic meditations in Anatolia formed his decision-making
1. Pontus' King Mithridates VI's wars with Rome
2. Cilicia's Mithraic Pirates in fight with Rome, the desecration of Greece, and Stalin
3. Did Stalin travel to visit the world's greatest Mithraic monument at Nemrut Dagh?
4. Stalin's Mithraic meditations and anti-sacerdotal stance
5. The Mithraic version of the Assyrian-Babylonian Gilgamesh: Verethragna, and his association with Heracles in Nemrut Dagh
6. Mithraic Anatolian Imperial Spirituality vs. Nordic Mythology: Stalin vs. Hitler
XXIV. Rome, New Rome, the Third Rome, and Stalin
XXV. Mithraism, Christianity, Stalin and the Antichrist
The idea that most of the people around the world have about Stalin is entirely false. This is due to the fact that atheists, materialists, Marxists-Leninists, liberal socialists, socialist-democrats, evolutionists and all the trash of Anglo-Saxon and Ashkenazi Khazarian pseudo-intellectuals and bogus-academics have first perceived, then interpreted, and last analyzed/presented Stalin and his historical role through the most erroneous, Trotskyist misunderstanding/distortion of the Georgian-origin Soviet statesman. But Stalin was an unconditional transcendentalist and a remarkable mystic.
Mithraic Tauroctony from a Mithraeum in Syria (currently in the Israel museum in Jerusalem): a mythical-religious topic early conceived by evil forces as purely eschatological symbolism
Human sacrifice: dead bodies wait for cremation in Dresden after the bombardment of the 'Allied' forces.
I. The erroneous perception of Stalin among most people today
According to this irrelevant story, Stalin (1878-1953) was a resolute materialist, a convinced Darwinist, a devoted Marxist-Leninist, and a heartless dictator who decimated entire nations, before purging the old guard of Communist-Bolshevik partisans, relocating populations, and sending millions to jail. There is only little truth in all this. In fact, Stalin was as realist as Kemal Ataturk; he therefore had to appear to others in the way he did in order to succeed Lenin and eliminate Trotsky. Many may agree with the last sentence, stating that this is part of the well-known History.
But there is also the 'Other History'; the one that is unknown, because it did not happen. This is, in other words, the negative reflection of the reality. All the same, because this 'other' or 'unknown' History did not happen, this does not mean that it was not attempted. And indeed many secret and known organizations and 'societies' tried to prepare several developments which finally did not occur. It is essential for a true Historian to know well these failed attempts; in fact, he only then understands History as the Absolute Sphere that contains the outcome of all the desires, feelings, thoughts and attempts of the humans.
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Το Μιθραίο της Δούρας Ευρωπού: όπου Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες και Ρωμαίοι αποδέχθηκαν Μια Ιρανική Θρησκεία
The Mithraeum of Dura Europos: where Aramaeans, Greeks and Romans accepted an Iranian Religion
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 26η Νοεμβρίου 2019. Αποτελεί συνέχεια των προηγουμένων κειμένων του τα οποία έχουν ήδη αναδημοσιευθεί εδώ:
"Δούρα Ευρωπός, το Τέλειο Πρότυπο Πολυπολιτισμικότητας: Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Πάρθες, Ρωμαίοι και Πέρσες σε Μοναδικό Θρησκευτικό Συγκρητισμό δίπλα στον Ευφράτη" https://www.academia.edu/66009699/Έλληνες_Πάρθες_Ρωμαίοι_και_Πέρσες_σε_Μοναδικό_Θρησκευτικό_Συγκρητισμό_δίπλα_στον_Ευφράτη
και
"Δούρα Ευρωπός, οι Ιουδαίοι Αραμαίοι, η Συναγωγή και η Νεώτερη Ψευτοϊστορία των Σιωνιστών"
https://www.academia.edu/66138539/Δούρα_Ευρωπός_οι_Ιουδαίοι_Αραμαίοι_η_Συναγωγή_και_η_Νεώτερη_Ψευτοϊστορία_των_Σιωνιστών
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https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/το-μιθραίο-της-δούρας-ευρωπού-όπου-αρα/ ==================
Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient
Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία
Παιδιά ενός κατώτερου θεού και πολιτισμικά ασυγκρίτως κατώτεροι, οι απόγονοι των Ελλήνων και των Μακεδόνων των σελευκιδικών χρόνων, μαζί με τους ντόπιους Αραμαίους της Κεντρικής Μεσοποταμίας, και τους Ρωμαίους των αυτοκρατορικών χρόνων παράτησαν τους θεούς τους και λάτρευσαν τον Μίθρα, αφού ο μιθραϊσμός είχε ήδη κατακλύσει την Συρο-Παλαιστίνη, την Αρμενία, την Κομμαγηνή, τον Πόντο, την Καππαδοκία, την Μικρά Ασία, την Ελλάδα, την Ρώμη και όλη την Ευρώπη. Μαζί τους συλλειτουργούσαν Πάρθες και άλλοι Ιρανοί.
Μιθραϊστές ιερείς (: Μάγοι) ιερουργούν στον Ναό του Μπάαλ της Δούρας Ευρωπού όπως επήλθε αρχικά η ταύτιση του αραμαϊκού Μπάαλ με τον ιρανικό Μίθρα
Πολύ πριν αναγραφούν οι πρώτες από τις σωζόμενες επιγραφές και πολύ πριν φιλοτεχνηθούν τα πρώτα από τα σωζόμενα ανάγλυφα, αγάλματα και τοιχογραφίες του Μιθραίου της Δούρας Ευρωπού, Έλληνες μιθραϊστές πειρατές του 1ου προχριστιανικού αιώνα είχαν επιβάλλει τα Μυστήρια του Τριπλάσιου (: Τριαδικού) Μίθρα σε όλη την Ελλάδα, βεβηλώνοντας κι ακυρώνοντας την ιερότητα όλων των σημαντικών αρχαίων ελληνικών ιερών.
Ελληνικής καταγωγής βασιλείς του Πόντου και της Κομμαφηνής στον άνω ρου του Ευφράτη είχαν ήδη εδώ και αιώνες στεφθεί ως Ασιάτες πιστοί εν Μίθρα (: Μιθριδάτης) ηγεμόνες. Έτσι, κι οι Έλληνες της Συρίας, όπως λεγόταν παλιότερα η απέραντη σελευκιδική αυτοκρατορία που το δυτικό τμήμα της προσαρτήθηκε στην Ρώμη και το ανατολικό ενσωματώθηκε στο αρσακιδικό Ιράν, παράτησαν τον Δία και τον Απόλλωνα και γονάτισαν προ του Υπέρτατου Μίθρα.
Δεν το έκαναν τυχαία: είχαν δει την συντριπτική υπεροχή των Μάγων του Μίθρα οι οποίοι ως απόλυτοι πανεπιστήμονες εκείνων των χρόνων, τέτοιοι που δεν υπήρξαν ποτέ στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα, θεουργούσαν αποδεικνύοντας όλες τις δυνατότητες συνέργειας ψυχής και σώματος και στα τρία επίπεδα της ψυχικής ύπαρξης. Τέτοια ‘θαύματα’ μόνον Ιρανοί έκαναν στα χρόνια της Ύστερης Αρχαιότητας.
Σχετικά:
Ταυροθυσίες και Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια στην Κορυφή του Ολύμπου – Η Απόλυτη Επιβολή του Περσικού Πνεύματος ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες & το Τέλος της Αρχαίας Ελλάδας
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/ταυροθυσίες-και-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρια-στ/
(αναδημοσιευμένο εδώ: https://www.academia.edu/62212919/Ταυροθυσίες_και_Μιθραϊκά_Μυστήρια_στην_Κορυφή_του_Ολύμπου_Η_Απόλυτη_Επιβολή_του_Περσικού_Πνεύματος_ανάμεσα_στους_Έλληνες_and_το_Τέλος_της_Αρχαίας_Ελλάδας)
Μίθρας, Μιθραϊσμός & Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια: Όλα τα Αρχαία Ελληνικά και Λατινικά Κείμενα που αναφέρονται στον Μίθρα και τους Μιθραϊστές
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/μίθρας-μιθραϊσμός-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρι/
(αναδημοσιευμένο εδώ: https://www.academia.edu/62259348/Μίθρας_Μιθραϊσμός_and_Μιθραϊκά_Μυστήρια_Όλα_τα_Αρχαία_Ελληνικά_και_Λατινικά_Κείμενα_που_αναφέρονται_στον_Μίθρα_και_τους_Μιθραϊστές)
Η Απόλυτη Κυριαρχία των Μιθραϊστών Πειρατών στο Αιγαίο, την Ελλάδα και τον Θεσσαλικό Όλυμπο στον 1ο Αιώνα π.Χ. – Τι λέει ο Πλούταρχος
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/η-απόλυτη-κυριαρχία-των-μιθραϊστών-πε/
(αναδημοσιευμένο εδώ: https://www.academia.edu/62228155/Η_Απόλυτη_Κυριαρχία_των_Μιθραϊστών_Πειρατών_στο_Αιγαίο_την_Ελλάδα_και_τον_Θεσσαλικό_Όλυμπο_στον_1ο_Αιώνα_π_Χ_Τι_λέει_ο_Πλούταρχος)
Ο Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ ανήγειρε την Δούρα Ευρωπό ως μεγάλη στρατιωτική βάση και εμπορείο – καραβανούπολη πάνω στον δρόμο που οδηγούσε από την Αντιόχεια προς την Σελεύκεια. Όμως τελικά τα θρησκευτικά μνημεία που σώθηκαν στην τεράστια πολιτεία πάνω στον μέσο ρου του Ευφράτη, στα ανατολικά άκρα της σημερινής Συρίας, επεσκίασαν και την εμπορική – οικονομική σημασία της και την στρατιωτική χρησιμότητά της.
Ο Μιθραϊσμός ήταν η επίσημη θρησκεία (ως Sol Invictus) της Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας πριν την άνοδο της Χριστιανωσύνης. Οι ομοιότητες ανάμεσα στην Επίσημη Χριστιανωσύνη και τον Μιθραϊσμό είναι πολλές και δεν είναι συμπτωματικές. Όμως αυτό δεν αποτελεί τίποτα το περίεργο. Πατέρες της Χριστιανικής Εκκλησίας έχουν αναφερθεί στο θέμα ήδη πριν από 1600=1700 χρόνια!
Αλλά η λειτουργικότητα ενός δογματικού στοιχείου κρίνεται από την ηθική των πιστών. Μπορεί και ο Μίθρας και ο Ιησούς να γεννιούνται κατά την επίσημη εκδοχή των δύο δογμάτων στις 25 Δεκεμβρίου, μπορεί αμφότεροι να θυσιάζονται, μπορεί αμφότεροι να αναλαμβάνονται, μπορεί να έχουν αμφότεροι ένα Μυστικό Δείπνο, μπορεί και οι δύο να προέρχονται από Άμωμη Σύλληψη, μπορεί και οι δύο να κάνουν θαύματα, μπορεί και οι δύο να είναι μέλη ενός Τριπλάσιου ή Τριαδικού Θεού, αλλά η αληθινή διάσταση μιας θρησκείας είναι πολύ πίσω, πολύ πέρα, και πολύ πάνω από αυτές τις ομοιότητες. Η στροφή των πιστών προς την Ηθική ή την Ανηθικότητα κρίνει τον ρόλο μιας θρησκείας.
Δεν υπάρχουν οι άνθρωποι για το Δόγμα αλλά το δόγμα για τους Ανθρώπους.
Και αν ακόμη πιστεύοντας δυο πανομοιότυπες θρησκείες οι μεν στρέφονται προς το Φως της Ηθικής και οι δε οδηγούνται στο Σκότος της Ανηθικότητας, οι ομοιότητες αποδεικνύονται επιφανειακές. Στο θέμα του Μιθραϊσμού, του δόγματός του, των μυστηρίων του, και της καταλυτικής παρουσίας του στην Ευρώπη θα επανέλθω. Στην συνέχεια αναδημοσιεύω άρθρα σχετικά με το Μιθραίο της Δούρας Ευρωπού το οποίο δεν είναι μόνον ένα κορυφαίο μνημείο της παγκόσμιας πολιτισμικής κληρονομιάς. Είναι επίσης η αφετηρία μιας νέας ερμηνευτικής προσέγγισης εντός του Ορεινταλισμού και της Ιστορίας των Θρησκειών. Άλλωστε, οι δυο πρώτοι ανασκαφείς ήταν κορυφαία πρόσωπα της επιστήμης του 20ου αιώνα: Franz Cumont και Michael I. Rostovtzeff.
Franz Cumont (αριστερά) και Michael I. Rostovtzeff (δεξιά) στην ανασκαφή του Μιθραίου της Δούρας Ευρωπού
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Διαβάστε:
Dura Europos
In February 1934 a Mithraeum was discovered on the N.W. side inside the rampart of Dura-Europos (Es-Sâlihiyeh) between gate 24 and 23. After the excavations it was transported to New Haven, Gallery of Fine Arts of Yale University.
Rostovtzeff in RM 49,1934, 180ff; cf. BCR 1934 (Not.) 121f; AJA XXXIX 1935, 4f; 147; 259f and 293ff; Mouterde in MUSJ XIX, 1935, 123f; Dussaud in Syria XVI, 1935, 313ff; Cumont in CRAI 1934, 90ff; Hopkins in ILN 8 Dec. 1934, 963ff; du Mesnil du Buisson in GBA 1935, 1ff; CRAI 1935, 275ff; Watzinger in die Welt als Geschichte II, 1936, 397ff; Rostovtzeff e.o. Report, 62ff; cf. P. Koschaker in OLZ 1941, 271ff; Merlin in JS 1940, 36ff. Professor C. B. Welles informs me of the fact, that a final report is in preparation. We have drawn our description from the preliminary report. See fig. 7.
We are highly indebted to Prof. C. B. Welles and Miss Ann Perkins for sending us photographs of the finds.
General plan and history of the Mithraeum.
Rostovtzeff in RM 1934, 180ff and fig. 1; D-E, Pl. II and fig. 6; CRAI 1934, 91ff; GBA 1935, 6ff and fig. 2; Report, 62ff and figs. 29-35, Pls. I and III, 1, from which our, figs. 8-9.
“When the Mithraeum was founded in about 168 A.D. (see inscr. No. 39) it consisted of three apartments (see plans 8, 9). Room A (L. 4.65 Br. 5.80), the Mithras shrine, was entered by an axial door through a partition separating it from a central chamberB (L. 5.75 Br. 3.50), originally a house diwan, that opened into a courtyard D to the south, and a small chamber C. (L. 3.50 Br. 3.50) to the east”.
A was divided into three parts: a paved passage with on either side the benches band c (H. 0.72 Br. 1.70), in which the columns 1 and 2 had been built to support the ceiling, which was approximately 1.65 high over their benches, but about 1.60 higher over the central aisle.
Via the stairs d a rectangular, raised platform a (H. 0.88), in which a round well 9 (diam. 0;32). In front of a stood the main altar with two smaller side-altars, whereas against the backwall two reliefs had been fixed (see infra).
About 210 A.D. (see inscr. No. 53) a first rebuilding took place, because in the general destruction of the quarter the early Mithraeum was also destroyed (see fig. 10). The entire sanctuary was enlarged considerably. “The new alterations consisted of adding an antechamber B to the Mithras shrine by taking out the dividing partition and adding two more columns 3 and 4 on the foundations ofthat wall (L. 10.90); of building a small room E (L. 5.60 Br. 1.65) on the south and a low bench on the north of this new addition (H. 0.40 Br. 1.70); of turning the east chamber C into a vestibule and porch; of constructing an arched niche back of the altar; and of redecorating the entire chamber”.
Opposite a rectangular recess (L. 1.25 Br. 0.75) in the new podium, there was a basin 10 in the middle of the paved floor (Diam. 0.32). another basin 11 was situated in the former room C. Underneath the columns 3 and 4 two altars e and t were placed.
Finally in ca. 240 A.D. a second reconstruction took place, which resulted in the definitive shape of the sanctuary (see fig. 11).
“It is probable that the roof was removed and altered for the construction of the new vaulted spelaeum and the additional columns (5, 6, 7, 8).
In the Late Mithraeum, the chamber of the south E was entirely removed and in its place was built a bench, probably low; the low bench on the north side was heightened to the level of the upper benches; two more columns were added to either side, making the chamber more symmetrical; two chambers F (L. 3.25 Br. 6.00) and G (L. 2.50 Br. 6.00) to the north of the building, the earlier history of which is obscure, were joined to the Mithraeum, a narrow passageway being cut through the benches leading to a newly pierced doorway.
For the new altar-table the aisle between the benches was filled up to the bench level as far as the first pair (I, 2) of columns and a stair of seven steps was built against the face of this platform. Between the first pair of columns and the wall were built partitions that supported a vault covering the new raised platform”.
When the walls behind the Mithraeum had to be strengthened against the impendency of the Persians under Sapor, the sanctuary got buried under the sand at the capture of the fortification in 256 A.D.
We now proceed to a detailed description of the most important part of the sanctuary; the elevated altar niche (see figs. 12 and 13).
Rostovtzeff in RM 1934, 184ff and Pl. 11; ILN 1934,963; AJA 1935, Pl. IV; GBA 1935, fig. 5; Report, 79 and Pl. II and fig. 36.
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm34
Mithraeum at Dura-Europos
Originally an Iranian god, Mithras became especially popular in the Roman period among soldiers and the merchant class. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that he had a special status in the military garrison at Dura-Europos.
In 1933–34, during the seventh season of the excavations at Dura-Europos by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, a small shrine to Mithras was discovered along the western fortification wall in the northern part of the city. A dedicatory inscription found there, dated about A.D. 168–69, shows that the shrine was sponsored by Palmyrene archers who served in the Roman army.
There is no evidence of any earlier Mithraeum; it seems safe to assume that the god Mithras was not worshipped in Parthian Dura-Europos but came to the city with the Romans. The Mithraeum was rebuilt and augmented after the enlargement of the garrison in A.D. 209–11. An inscription from this phase shows that the dedicant of the renovation was a centurion named Antonius Valentius.
The building underwent yet another reconstruction and enlargement around A.D. 240. The decorations from this final phase were preserved by a defensive dirt embankment when the city was conquered by the Sassanians around A.D. 256 and are now part of the Yale University Art Gallery’s Dura-Europos Collection.
The cult of Mithras was a mystery religion that featured initiation, banquets, and the promise of salvation after death. Only men were allowed to join. Due to the exclusive nature of the cult, little is known about its rituals. There were seven levels, or grades, of initiation; graffiti at Dura-Europos listed names of initiates, given along with their Mithraic grade. Shrines dedicated to Mithras were generally located underground, commemorating the god’s birth in a cave; the Dura-Europos Mithraeum was unusual in that it was totally above ground.
The devotional focus of a Mithraic shrine was typically a cult relief showing Mithras slaying the Cosmic Bull (in a depiction known as the tauroctony), which symbolized the victory of light over primeval darkness.
While iconographic schemes varied among Mithraic shrines in different locations, this image was a constant. The Dura-Europos Mithraeum contained two such reliefs (at right). Their inscriptions show that they date from the earliest phase of the shrine. The only surviving elements of that phase, the reliefs were reused as cult images in each subsequent renovation. Both show Mithras and the Bull in characteristic fashion: Mithras, dressed in Persian costume, sits on the back of the Bull and pulls his head back with one hand while he stabs the animal in the neck with the other. A small dog drinks blood from the wound. In the larger of the two reliefs, the donors or dedicants of the relief are shown observing the scene. Mithraic iconography from this period generally omits donor images, so their presence here is another deviation for which the Dura-Europos shrine is notable.
A series of paintings are showing scenes from the life of Mithras (including the slaying of the Bull, this time in a landscape with trees and altars), as well as representations of the signs of the zodiac, surrounded the reliefs.
The reliefs were flanked on both left and right by single seated figures who, like Mithras, wear Eastern dress. Russian scholar and Yale professor in the 1920s Michael I. Rostovtzeff proposed that the two were members of the shrine’s Palmyrene congregation, although others have suggested that they are prophets or magi.
On the side walls of the niche were two virtually identical scenes of Mithras as a mounted archer hunting wild animals in a wood. These hunting scenes are particularly Iranian in character and display an Eastern sensibility unlike other depictions of Mithras in the western Roman Empire. They emphasize the god’s role as divine archer, one that would have carried special meaning for the Palmyrene archers who worshipped him at Dura-Europos.
https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/dura-mithraeum
Δούρα Ευρωπός, το Τέλειο Πρότυπο Πολυπολιτισμικότητας: Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Πάρθες, Ρωμαίοι και Πέρσες σε Μοναδικό Θρησκευτικό Συγκρητισμό δίπλα στον Ευφράτη
Dura Europos, the Perfect Model of Multiculturalism: Aramaeans, Greeks, Parthians, Romans and Persians in Unique Religious Syncretism by the Euphrates
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “Ρωμιοί και Ρωμανία στους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 25η Νοεμβρίου 2019
Στο κείμενό του αυτό, ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει τα βασικά σημεία μιας ομιλίας μου στο Πεκίνο τον Ιανουάριο του 2019 αναφορικά με τους Αραμαίους, κυριώτερο ιστορικό έθνος των Δρόμων του Μεταξιού, τα αραμαϊκά οικονομικά και πολιτισμικά κέντρα κατά μήκος των εμπορικών δρόμων μεταξύ της Ρ'ωμης και της Κίνας, και τον ρόλο τους στην διάδοση θρησκειών από την Ανατολή στην Δύση. Το κυρίως θέμα είναι εν προκειμένω η Δούρα Ευρωπός.
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https://silkroadorientalgreeks.wordpress.com/2019/11/25/δούρα-ευρωπός-το-τέλειο-πρότυπο-πολυπ/ ============================
Ρωμιοί και Ρωμανία στους Δρόμους του Μεταξιού
Πολιτισμικές Ανταλλαγές κι Αδελφωσύνη ανάμεσα σε Ρωμιούς, Πέρσες, Τούρκους, Μογγόλους, Ινδούς και Κινέζους
Η Δούρα Ευρωπός (Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός, Dura Europos, Дура Эвропос) είναι ένας από τους σημαντικώτερους αρχαιολογικούς χώρους όλου του κόσμου. Βρίσκεται στα ανατολικά άκρα της Συρίας, ακριβώς πάνω στην αριστερή (δυτική) όχθη του Ευφράτη, λίγο πριν ο ποταμός μπει στο Ιράκ – κάτι που σημαίνει ότι κάνουμε λόγο για τον μέσο ρου του Ευφράτη. Ο αρχαιολογικός χώρος βρίσκεται κοντά στο χωριό Σαλχίγιε, όχι μακριά από την τελευταία μεγάλη πόλη της Ανατολικής Συρίας Αμπού Κεμάλ.
Όπως το όνομά της δηλώνει, η πόλη ήταν αρχικά ένα ασσυροβαβυλωνιακό κάστρο (Ντουρ) στα δυτικά άκρα της Κεντρικής Μεσοποταμίας. Δούρα είναι η εξελληνισμένη μορφή του Ντουρ. Η επιπρόσθετη ελληνική λέξη προσδιορίζει το τεράστιο οπτικό πεδίο που προσφέρει ο παρά τον Ευφράτη λόφος πάνω στον οποίο αρχικά οι Ασσυροβαβυλώνιοι είχαν ανεγείρει ένα φρούριο. Ο χώρος προσφέρει ευρύτατη δυναυτότητα εποπτείας, συνεπώς προσφερόταν για μια σημαντική οχυρωματική θέση.
Στην μακραίωνη ιστορία της η Δούρα Ευρωπός ήταν η πόλη όλων των ορίων: αρχικά ανάμεσα στους Ασσύριους και τους Βαβυλώνιους. Η πόλη είναι το νοτιοδυτικό άκρο της Ασσυρίας και το βορειοδυτικό άκρο της Βαβυλώνας κατά την 2η προχριστιανική χιλιετία. Στα τέλη αυτής της χιλιετίας και στις αρχές της επόμενης, η Ντουρ και ο τριγύρω χώρος κατακλύσθηκαν από τους Αραμαίους που διασπάρθηκαν από τα νότια άκρα της Βαβυλώνας και τις ακτές του Περσικού Κόλπου μέχρι την Δαμασκό, την Κιλικία ή ακόμη την Λυδία όπως τεκμηριώνουν δίγλωσσες λυδικές – αραμαϊκές επιγραφές που έχουν σωθεί.
Ωστόσο, σήμερα, η Δούρα Ευρωπός δεν είναι αντικείμενο έρευνας των Ασσυριολόγων. Ο χώρος, του οποίου η ακμή ανάγεται στα σελευκιδικά, αρσακιδικά, και ρωμαϊκά χρόνια, είναι αντικείμενο έρευνας πολλών και διαφορετικών επιστημόνων. Η ανεύρεση αραμαϊκών, ελληνικών, λατινικών, παρθικών και περσικών επιγραφών ελκύει το ενδιαφέρον σημιτολόγων, ελληνιστών, λατινιστών και ιρανολόγων. Η τεράστια σημασία της καραβανούπολης ως κομβικού σημείου στους Ιστορικούς Δρόμους του Μεταξιού, των Μπαχαρικών και των Λιβανωτών την καθιστά αντικείμενο έρευνας όλων των ειδικών του Ρωμαϊκού Εμπορίου με την Κίνα.
Όμως περισσότερο από τα προαναφερμένα, η ιστορική σημασία της Δούρας Ευρωπού είναι ένα κάλεσμα για τους ιστορικούς θρησκειών, τους θρησκειολόγους που ειδικεύονται
1- στον Μιθραϊσμό και ιδιαίτερα στην αποδοχή του ανάμεσα στους Αραμαίους,
2- στην διάδοση ανατολικών θρησκειών, λατρειών, μυθολογιών, θεουργιών, μυστικισμών και επιστημών στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και την Μεσόγειο,
3- στον Ιουδαϊσμό και την διάδοση της αρχαίας ιουδαϊκής θρησκείας ανάμεσα στους Αραμαίους (που χαρακτηριστικά εκπροσωπεί η γνωστή Σαμαρείτιδα των ευαγγελικών περικοπών),
4- στην διατήρηση αρχαιοελληνικών και ρωμαϊκών θρησκειών και λατρειών ανάμεσα στις ελληνικές και ρωμαϊκές κοινότητες του σελευκιδικού και ρωμαϊκού κόσμου, και
5- στην διαμόφωση συγκρητικών μορφών θρησκειών με την ανάμειξη στοιχείων πολλών, διαφορετικής προέλευσης, δογμάτων.
Οι χρόνοι της ακμής της Δούρας Ευρωπού τοποθετούνται στην περίοδο από το 303 π.Χ., όταν ο Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ ανήγειρε εκνέου την πόλη ως κεντρικό σημείο στον δρόμο που συνέδεε την Αντιόχεια με την Σελεύκεια επί του Τίγρη (νότια της σημερινής Βαγδάτης), μέχρι την ιρανική σασανιδική επίθεση και καταστροφή της πόλης το 256 μ.Χ., όταν ο Σαπούρ Α’ μετώκισε το σύνολο του πληθυσμού στα ανατολικά κι άφησε την πόλη ως ερείπια να χαθεί κάτω από την άμμο της ερήμου για σχεδόν 1700 χρόνια.
Τα πολλά ευρήματα, τα τείχη, οι πύργοι, τα τεράστια κτήρια, οι πολλοί ναοί, το Μιθραίο, η Εκκλησία, η Συναγωγή, εντυπωσιακές τοιχογραφίες, οι πολλές επιγραφές και τα λοιπά κειμενικά τεκμήρια (περγαμηνές) που ανασκάφηκαν, ανασκάπτονται και θα ανασκαφούν στην Δούρα Ευρωπό κάνουν τον τόπο αυτό ένα από τα μοναδικά στην Παγκόσμια Ιστορία δείγματα αυθεντικής πολυπολιτισμικής κοινωνίας, η οποία αναπτύχθηκε από την εθελούσια συνεργασία και συμβίωση πολλών διαφορετικών εθνών, κι όχι από τυχον παράξενη υποκίνηση, τεχνητή υποδαύλιση, και υστερόβουλη επέμβαση. Ήταν μια φυσιολογική συνέπεια των γενικωτέρων εξελίξεων στον ευρύτερο χώρο κι όχι ένα προγραμματισμένο και προσχεδιασμένο τερατούργημα.
Στην Δούρα Ευρωπό ομιλήθηκαν διάφορες αραμαϊκές γλώσσες και διάλεκτοι, καθώς υπήρχαν ντόπιοι Αραμαίοι αλλά και Παλμυρηνοί και Χατραίοι (: από την Χάτρα, άλλη αραμαϊκή καραβανούπολη – κέντρο εμπορίου Δύσης – Ανατολής, στο σημερινό βορειοδυτικό Ιράκ). Επίσης ομιλήθηκαν αρχαία ελληνικά, λατινικά, παρθικά, ιουδαϊκά, μέσα περσικά, αρχαία υεμενικά, και αραβικά, καθώς από κει περνούσε το εμπόριο από την Μεσόγειο προς το Ιράν, την Ινδία και την Κεντρική Ασία, όπως επίσης και το εμπόριο από την Υεμένη και το Κέρας της Αφρικής προς τον Καύκασο και περιοχές της Κεντρικής Ασίας.
Η Ιστορία της Δούρας Ευρωπού τεκμηριώνει κάτι το πολύ σημαντικό: δεν χρειάζεται μια πόλη για να μείνει ως εξαιρετικά σημαντική στην Ιστορία να είναι πρωτεύουσα ενός ισχυρού κράτους. Κι έτσι ήταν η ιστορία αυτού του μοναδικού τύπου που λειτούργησε σαν χωνευτήρι πίστεων, παραδόσεων, δοξασιών και μυστικισμών σε βαθμό που την αποκάλεσαν Πομπηία της Ερήμου.
Η Δούρα Ευρωπός παρέμεινε σελευκιδική από το 303 π.Χ. μέχρι το 113 π.Χ. όταν την κατέκτησαν οι Πάρθοι, οι οποίοι την εκράτησαν μέχρι το 114 μ.Χ., όταν επελαύνοντας προς τα ανατολικά την κατέλαβε ο Τραϊανός, ο μόνος Ρωμαίος αυτοκράτορας που έφθασε στον μυχό του Περσικού Κόλπου και στα δυτικά παράλια της Κασπίας. Οι Πάρθοι ανακατέλαβαν την πόλη το 117 μ.Χ. και την διατήρησαν μέχρι το 165 μ.Χ. Τότε οι Ρωμαίοι την ανέκτησαν και την διατήρησαν, ως ‘Αποικία’ (Colonia) από το 211 μ.Χ., μέχρι την σασανιδική ιρανική κατάληψη του 256 μ.Χ. και καταστροφή της πόλης.
Έτσι, η Δούρα Ευρωπός υπήρχε πάντοτε μια πόλη ανάμεσα σε δυο κόσμους: του Σελευκίδες της Συρίας και τους Αρσακίδες του Ιράν πρώτα, και τους Ρωμαίους και τους Σασανίδες του Ιράν έπειτα. Με τους Ρωμαίους και Μακεδόνες κατοίκους της, η Δούρα Ευρωπός παρέμεινε το ανατολικώτερο σημείο όπου αρχαία ελληνικά και λατινικά ομιλούντο τον 3ο αιώνα στην Συρο-Μεσοποταμία.
Για την Δούρα Ευρωπό μπορούν να γραφούν εγκυκλοπαίδειες. Είναι ο χώρος όπου σώζονται η αρχαιότερη εκκλησία, η αρχαιότερη συναγωγή και το αρχαιότερο Μιθραίο δυτικά του Ιράν.
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Дура Эвропос: Многокультурный караванный город на берегу Евфрата: арамейцы, греки, римляне и иранцы
https://ok.ru/video/1581278431853
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Первоначально на месте Д.-Е. располагалась древнеассир. крепость. В 300-280 гг. до Р. Х. Селевк I Никатор основал там колонию македон. воинов, охранявших переправы через Евфрат на пути из 2 столиц гос-ва Селевкидов – Антиохии-на-Оронте и Селевкии-на-Тигре. Приблизительно после 113 г. до Р. Х. в составе Месопотамии Д.-Е. перешел под власть Парфии, став важным форпостом в Сирии. Население города к Iв. до Р. Х. было по преимуществу арамейским. В 116 г. Д.-Е. был оккупирован войсками рим. имп. Траяна, позже возвращен имп. Адрианом парфянам, в 165 г., во время парфянского похода имп. Луция Вера, завоеван римлянами и включен в состав рим. пров. Сирия, в 211 г. получил статус колонии. С рим. завоеванием Д.-Е. стал одним из форпостов в войнах с Парфией, его гарнизон был увеличен за счет войск, базировавшихся в Сев. Европе, было начато строительство оборонительных сооружений. С падением Парфии и усилением гос-ва Сасанидов город неоднократно переходил из рук в руки. В 256 или 257 г. крепость была разрушена войсками сасанидского царя Шапура I (сохр. следы разрушений, останки воинов, погибших в подстенных подкопах). В 260-273 гг. Д.-Е. входил в состав гос-ва Пальмира, позже стал местом поселений христ. отшельников, постепенно был поглощен пустыней.
В эпоху правления Селевкидов (возможно, раньше) город был окружен зубчатой стеной со сторожевыми башнями (сохр. остатки 26), разделен улицами на квадраты по античной Гипподамовой системе (судя по следам неоконченных строительных работ, первоначальный план не был осуществлен; основной план сохр. структуру эллинистического города). От главных Пальмирских ворот (17-16 гг. до Р. Х.) начиналась широкая улица, на к-рой находилась агора; по оси этой улицы в юго-вост. части города располагалась старая цитадель, основанная греками как стратегион (резиденция стратега), на северо-востоке – новая цитадель (времени Селевкидов, IIв. до Р. Х.; перестроена и достроена в парфянский период), у сев. оконечности города, у приречной стены,- резиденция начальника рим. гарнизона (после 227).
От парфянского времени в Д.-Е. сохранились руины цитадели и дворца, остатки жилых домов, руины храмов греч., местных вост. и синкретических греко-сир. и греко-иран. божеств: Баала-Бела, Артемиды, культ к-рой слился с культом иран. Нанайи (40-33 гг. до Р. Х., перестроен при парфянах из греч. храма, служил центром офиц. культа Д.-Е. в греч., парфянский и рим. периоды), сир. богини Атаргатис (31-2 гг. до Р. Х., к востоку от храма Артемиды-Нанайи, построен по сходному плану), Зевса Кириоса (Господа), Зевса Теоса (Бога) (114 г., к северу от кардо), Зевса Мегиста (Величайшего) (169 г., на месте древнего храма 95-70 гг. до Р. Х., имеет смешанные греко-парфянские черты), т. н. храма Пальмирских богов, или храма Гадде, посвященного 2 пальмирским божествам – Баалам (до 159, между храмом Атаргатис и агорой Д.-Е.), Адониса и др. Нек-рые из храмов были расписаны, в руинах обнаружены рельефы и статуи. К рим. времени относятся укрепления в военном квартале и возведенные на месте жилого квартала парфянского времени строения, предназначенные для гарнизона, занявшие 1/4 территории города, где располагались термы и храмы. В храмах Д.-Е. обнаружено множество вотивных рельефов, стилистически близких к пальмирским, при полном их отсутствии в погребальных комплексах.
Открытые в Д.-Е. жилые дома (по типу и архитектурному декору греч. или эллинизированные, рим. или отмеченные рим. влиянием – «дворец Лисия» с портиком на стороне террасы, обращенной к Евфрату; «дворец начальника пограничной стражи» в военном квартале) и многочисленные святилища имеют месопотамский облик – комплекс помещений вокруг главного двора, окруженного стеной. За стенами Д.-Е. расположены некрополи, представляющие собой подземные захоронения с неск. погребальными башнями.
В 256 г., видимо незадолго до осады армией Сасанидов, застроенный квартал шириной ок. 12-15 м, прилежащий к стене, высота к-рой составляла 10 м, был засыпан рим. солдатами битым кирпичом, благодаря чему до наст. времени сохранились храм Пальмирских богов, митреум (храм Митры), дом рим. типа с «домовой церковью», синагога (с 245).
Остатки крепости Д.-Е. были обнаружены 30 марта 1920 г., когда при рытье траншей брит. солдаты увидели росписи храма Пальмирских богов с изображением жрецов и римского легионера, приносящих жертвы богам. Эксперт археолог Дж. Г. Брестед, 1-м ознакомившийся с городищем, предположил, что оно известно по лит. источникам как Д.-Е. В 1922-1923 гг. раскопки Д.-Е. вела франц. экспедиция под рук. Ф. Кюмона (в публикации 1926 г. он подтвердил, что обнаруженный город является Д.-Е.), в 1928-1937 гг.- франко-амер. экспедиция под рук. М. И. Ростовцева из Йельского ун-та; раскопки были остановлены в связи с началом второй мировой войны. В сер. 80-х гг. раскопки возобновлены франко-сирийской экспедицией под рук. П. Лериша.
http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html
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Дура Эвропос: Самый захватывающий мультикультурный караванный город в мире: арамейцы, греки, римляне и иранцы
https://vk.com/video434648441_456240370
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Ду́ра-Е́вропос [греч. Ϫοῦρα Εὔρωπος], древний город на берегу р. Евфрат, у одной из главных дорог, связывавших Дамаск с Месопотамией; в наст. время – городище близ дер. Эс-Салихия (Вост. Сирия); музей под открытым небом. Совр. название условно и образовано из слияния арам. duru – стена, крепость (название бытовало среди местного населения) и македон. топонима Europos(офиц. название в греко-рим. документах).
Памятники материальной культуры и эпиграфики, сохранившиеся в Д.-Е., доказывают, что в парфянский период его население было сирийским, арабским и иранским. Этническая картина усложнилась при Селевкидах с поселением греков и македонян, затем – с рим. завоеванием. Различные религии были принесены в Д.-Е. греками, рим. воинами (в основном германцами из Сев. Европы), арабами из Пальмирского оазиса, степными кочевниками, парфянами; население разделялось по вероисповеданию, о чем свидетельствуют надписи: в синагоге они выполнены на арам. языке, в «церкви» – на греческом.
http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html
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Dura Europos: The World’s most Fascinating Multicultural Caravan City: Aramaeans, Greeks, Romans & Iranians
https://orientalgreeks.livejournal.com/1918.html
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Dura Europos (“Fort Europos”) is a ruined Hellenistic-Roman walled city built on cliff 90 meters above the banks of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today’s Syria. Destroyed by war and abandoned in the 3rd century AD, it lie hidden until its rediscovery in 1920. Excavations have revealed, among other important ruins, the oldest synaogogue and oldest church ever found. Due to its remarkable preservation and has sometimes been dubbed the “Pompeii of the Syrian Desert.”
Dura Europos was founded in 303 BC by the Seleucids (Alexander the Great’s successors) on the intersection of an east-west trade route and a north-south trade route along the Euphrates. The new city, named for the birthplace of Seleucus I Nicator, controlled the river crossing on the route between Antioch on the Orontes and Seleucia on the Tigris. Dura Europos was part of a network of military colonies intended to secure Seleucid control of the Middle Euphrates.
Dura was rebuilt as a great Hellenistic city in the 2nd century BC, with a rectangular grid of streets arranged around a large central agora, was formally laid out. Its location on a major crossroads made it a very cosmopolitan city: inscriptions in many languages have been found here and the religious buildings of pagans, Jews and Christians stand side by side.
Dura Europos later became a frontier fortress of the Parthian Empire and it was captured by the Romans in 165 AD. In the early 200s AD, the famed house-church and synagogue were built at Dura Europos. There was also a Mithraeum, a Temple of Bel and a Temple of Adonis in the multi-cultural city.
Dura Europos was abandoned after a Sassanian siege in 256-257. In a last-ditch attempt to save the city, the synagogue was filled in to make a fortress, thereby ensuring its preservation. The city eventually became covered in shifting sands and disappeared from sight.
Although the existence of Dura-Europos was long known through literary sources, it was not rediscovered until British troops under Captain Murphy made the first discovery during the Arab rebellion in the aftermath of World War I. On March 30, 1920, a soldier digging a trench uncovered beautifully preserved frescoes. The American archeologist James Henry Breasted, then at Baghdad, was alerted. Major excavations were carried out in the 1920s and 1930s by French and American teams.
The first excavations of the site, undertaken by Franz Cumont and published in 1922-23, identified the site as Dura-Europos and uncovered a temple before renewed hostilities in the area closed it to archaeology. Later, renewed campaigns directed by Michael Rostovtzeff funded by Yale University continued until 1937, when funds ran out with only part of the excavations published. World War II then interfered.
Since 1986 excavations have resumed. Not the least of the finds were astonishingly well-preserved arms and armour belonging to the Roman garrison at the time of the final Sassanian siege of 256. Finds included painted wooden shields and complete horse armours, preserved by the very finality of the destruction of the city that journalists have called “the Pompeii of the desert”.
The largely mud-brick architecture of Dura Europos does not compare to Palmyra visually, but the dramatic remains of the walls and siegeworks combined with precipitous views over the green valley of the Euphrates makes for a striking sight. And arguably, Dura surpasses Palmyra in historical and religious importance.
Dura-Europos was a cosmopolitan society: over a hundred parchment and papyrus fragments and many inscriptions have been discovered at the site, which include Greek, Latin, Palmyrenean, Hebrew, Hatrian, Safaitic, and Pahlavi.
Three of the covered homes in Dura Europos had been converted for use as religious buildings. One had become a Mithraeum, dedicated to the worship of the god Mithras, who was popular with Roman soldiers. Another had undergone structural modifications to become a Jewish synagogue. The third home had been converted to a Christian church. The synagogue and church are the oldest that have been found anywhere, and are also remarkable in that they were built very close to each other at virtually the same time.
The world’s oldest preserved Jewish synagogue in Dura-Europos has been dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244. It was preserved when it was filled with earth to strengthen the city’s fortifications against a Sassanian assault in 256. It was uncovered in 1935 by Clark Hopkins, who found that it contains a forecourt and house of assembly with frescoed walls depicting people and animals, and a Torah shrine in the western wall facing Jerusalem.
The synagogue’s painted walls and roof of baked-brick tiles were transported across the desert 300 miles away to Damascus, where it became the centrepiece of the National Museum built in 1934. Yale had to settle for a copy.
Dura-Europos also boasts the oldest known Christian church. It was dismantled and re-constructed at Yale University in the early 1930s, so there isn’t much to see at Dura-Europos but basic foundations.
The church occupied a typical Roman upper-class house centered around a columned courtyard with an open room (atrium). In the center of the courtyard was a pool (impluvium). At the opposite end from the entrance was a raised area (tablinum) containing a table and used by the family as a reception area and for ceremonial functions.
Scholars speculate that the congregation gathered around the pool, which was used for baptism. In the tablinum sat the bishop, who celebrated the Eucharist (communion) at the table. This arrangement provides a basis for the liturgical arrangement of later basilica churches.
The murals of the Dura Europos chuch were painted between 232 and 256 AD and are among the earliest examples of Christian art that survives today. The mural of the Healing of the Paralytic contains the earliest image of Jesus found anywhere.
In 1933, an important fragmentary text was unearthed at Dura Europos that contained a previously unknown Greek harmony of the gospels, dated to the late 2nd century. This has been important for early Christian studies, particular those of Tatian’s Diatessaron, a more well-known gospel harmony.
Excavations have also revealed the ruins of pagan temples dedicated to Greek, Roman and Palmyrene gods, including a Temple of Bel (a Semitic god) and a Temple of Adonis (a Greek god).
Preserved in the Temple of Adonis was a 2nd-century dedicatory inscription, which is now in the Louvre Museum. Other finds from Dura can be seen at the National Museum in Damascus and elsewhere.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/syria/dura-europos
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Δούρα Ευρωπός: Το Μέγιστο Πολυπολιτισμικό Κέντρο της Ιστορίας – Αραμαίοι, Έλληνες, Ρωμαίοι, Ιρανοί
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0CYNFhXdYE
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Η Δούρα Ευρωπός είναι αρχαία πόλη, στις όχθες του ποταμού Ευφράτη, στα σύνορα μεταξύ Μεσοποταμίας και Συρίας. Ιδρύθηκε, ως στρατιωτική αποικία, μετά το πέρας του Βαβυλωνιακού πολέμου (311-309 π.Χ.) από τον στρατηγό Νικάνορα (λογικά είναι το ίδιο πρόσωπο που ίδρυσε την Έδεσσα και την Αντιόχεια Μυγδονική) για λογαριασμό του κυρίου του Σελεύκου Α΄ Νικάτορος (358-281 π.Χ.), ενός εκ των βασιλικών φίλων του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου. Η ονομασία Ευρωπός προέρχεται από την ομώνυμη πατρίδα του Σελεύκου στην Μακεδονία.
Το 253 ή 256 μ.Χ. καταστράφηκε από τους Πέρσες και σκεπάστηκε από την άμμο. Όταν, στις δεκαετίες 1920 – 1930, η αρχαιολογική σκαπάνη την επανέφερε στο φως ο Mikhail Rostovtzeff την είχε αποκαλέσει «Πομπηία της ερήμου». Η ανακάλυψή της έγινε τυχαία από το βρετανικά στρατεύματα το 1920.
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Δούρα_Ευρωπός
Dura-Europos (Greek: Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός), also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 metres (300 feet) above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today’s Syria. In 113 BC, Parthians conquered the city, and held it, with one brief Roman intermission (114 AD), until 165 AD. Under Parthian rule, it became an important provincial administrative center. The Romans decisively captured Dura-Europos in 165 AD and greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia, until it was captured by the Sasanian Empire after a siege in 256–57 AD. Its population was deported, and after it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.
Dura-Europos is extremely important for archaeological reasons. As it was abandoned after its conquest in 256–57 AD, nothing was built over it and no later building programs obscured the architectonic features of the ancient city. Its location on the edge of empires made for a co-mingling of cultural traditions, much of which was preserved under the city’s ruins. Some remarkable finds have been brought to light, including numerous temples, wall decorations, inscriptions, military equipment, tombs, and even dramatic evidence of the Sassanian siege.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos
Ду́ра-Эвропо́с (греч. Δοῦρα Εὐρωπός) — античный город на Евфрате (вблизи современного города Сальхиях в Сирии), существовавший примерно с 300 года до н. э. до 256 года. Получил известность в связи с археологическими находками и хорошо сохранившимися древними фресками. Дура на арамейском означает «крепость».
Город был основан царём Селевком IНикатором около 300 года до н. э. среди многих других и просуществовал более 550 лет. Примерно в 100 году до н. э. перешёл под власть Парфянского царства, а с 165 года — Римской империи. В римское время Дура-Европос был крупным торговым центром, и большинство археологических находок относятся к этому периоду времени. В 256 году захвачен войсками Сасанидов и заброшен.
Селевк, диадох Александра Македонского, выбрал для поселения своих солдат заброшенную ассирийскую крепость на дороге из Дамаска в Междуречье и дал ей имя «Дура». Римляне назвали город «Дура-Европос», потому что местная аристократия состояла из потомков македонцев, то есть они подчеркнули что город управляется «европейцами» из Македонии. Крепость стояла на высоком берегу среднего Евфрата, защищённая с трёх сторон крутыми обрывами, а четвёртая сторона, противоположная от реки и примыкающая к пустыне, была обнесена длинной прямой стеной с башнями. Размеры города составляют примерно 700 на 1000 м.
Город регулярно спланирован (прямо пересекающиеся улицы) в селевкидское время, к которому относятся агора, остатки храмов, цитадель. Со временем гражданское население стало превалировать, и крепость превратилась в захолустный городок, выросший вокруг рыночной площади. Однако население можно назвать гражданским лишь условно. В военное время земледельцы вставали в строй, образуя сословие так называемых клерухов. В социальном отношении жители делились по родам, как и в Македонии. Земля клерухам давалась в пожизненную аренду за их службу или службу их детей, оставаясь царской собственностью.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дура-Эвропос
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Περισσότερα:
Dura Europos, ruined city on the right bank of the Euphrates between Antioch and Seleucia on the Tigris, founded in 303 B.C.E. by Nicanor, a general of Seleucus I. It flourished under Parthian rule. The site is in modern Syria, on a plateau protected on the east by a citadel built on bluffs overlooking the river, on the north and south by wadis, and on the west by a strong rampart with powerful defensive towers. Its military function of the Greek period was abandoned under the Parthians, but at that time it was the administrative and economic center of the plain extending 100 km between the confluence of the Ḵābūr and Euphrates rivers and the Abū Kamāl gorge to the south.
I. Archaeology and History
Initial archeological exploration of the city took place in 1920-22, under the direction of Franz Cumont and the sponsorship of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris. From 1929 to 1937 Yale University and the Académie sponsored excavations under the initiative of M. I. Rostovtzeff, who published Dura-Europos and Its Art, a synthesis of the history of the town and of its civilization, formed from Greek, Semitic, and Iranian components. This work has served as the basis for all subsequent studies of the site. In fact, however, understanding of Dura Europos depended mainly on written materials (parchments, papyri, inscriptions, and grafitti; see ii, below), paintings, tombs, and portable objects (e.g., coins, bronzes, and lamps) from the excavations, and very little attention has been paid to the architectural remains. Although nearly a third of the town has been excavated, a large number of buildings have been published only summarily or not at all. It therefore became necessary to resume the work of publication, and for this reason the Mission Franco-Syrienne de Doura-Europos was formed in 1986 under the joint direction of the author and Assad Al-Mahmoud; the major objectives are to reexamine the archeological data, to make available the entire mass of documentation from previous excavations, as well as to save the monuments from destruction.
Dura Europos was brought into the Iranian cultural sphere after the Parthian conquest in about 113 B.C.E. (Bellinger; Welles). This domination lasted three centuries, interrupted by a Roman occupation in 115-17 C.E., during Trajan’s expedition to Ctesiphon. In 165 Dura was conquered by Avidius Cassius and became a stronghold in the Roman defensive system along the eastern frontier of the empire. Nevertheless, despite an impressive effort to reinforce its defenses, the town was unable to withstand the great offensive launched by the Sasanian Šāpūr I (240-70) in 256; it was taken after a bitter siege, and the population was deported, thus putting an end to the town’s existence.
The Parthian period
According to recent discoveries, Dura Europos, originally a fortress, was constituted as a city only in the late Hellenistic period and had been only sparsely populated throughout the Greek period. It was under the Parthians, however, that the city assumed its essential aspect, as revealed by the excavations, a configuration only partly modified by the Roman occupation, except for transformation of the northern sector into a Roman camp. Recent work by the Mission Franco-Syrienne has permitted some refinement of this picture; certain buildings that had formerly been attributed to the Parthians can now be dated to the Hellenistic period. For example, according to Armin von Gerkan, the cut-stone fortifications of Dura Europos had been built by the Parthians, fearful that the Greek wall of unbaked bricks would be insufficient against a Roman attack. Only the northern section of the original western wall survived, which he took as proof that the project had been rendered unnecessary by the peace concluded between the Parthians and Augustus in 20 B.C.E. (pp. 4-51). This conclusion was based more on probabilities extrapolated from the reports of ancient historians than on archeological discoveries and has been contradicted by the results of recent soundings and clearing of earlier trenches. It is now clear that it was the Greeks themselves who built the stone fortifications, in the second half of the 2nd century B.C.E., and that the use of mud bricks resulted from the imminent threat from the Parthians, which forced the builders to finish the wall with more easily obtained material (Leriche and Mahmoud, l990). Similarly, the reconstruction of the palace of the strategus and its extension to the north, as well as construction of the second palace in the citadel, which shows a number of similarities, had been attributed to the Parthian period, but recent excavations in the interior and at the base of the facade of the former building have revealed that it belongs to the 2nd century B.C.E., that is, the Greek period. In a recent study Susan Downey (1988) has also called into question the restoration of one palace with an ayvān, which was suggested in the Yale publications and would imply a Parthian construction.
The Parthian period thus appears to have been primarily a phase of expansion at Dura Europos, an expansion favored by abandonment of the town’s military function. All the space enclosed by the walls gradually became occupied, and the installation of new inhabitants with Semitic and Iranian names alongside descendants of the original Macedonian colonists contributed to an increase in the population (Welles et al.). In his celebrated Caravan Cities Rostovtzeff had argued that this prosperity could have resulted from the town’s position as a trading center and caravan halt, but this hypothesis has been abandoned, for nothing uncovered by the excavations has confirmed it. Instead, Dura Europos owed its development to its role as a regional capital, amply illustrated by the contents of inscriptions, parchments, and papyri.
In the Parthian period Greek institutions remained in place (Arnaud), and the property-zoning scheme established in the Hellenistic period was respected in new construction; that is, buildings were kept within the limits of pre-existing blocks 35 x 70 m laid out uniformly over the entire surface of the plateau, even to a large extent in the interior wadis. The only exceptions were the quarter of the town southeast of the citadel, which had apparently already been occupied before the division into lots, and a sector of the agora that had been invaded by domestic buildings. The ramparts were neglected: Domestic trash accumulated along the periphery, finally forming a mass so thick that it prevented access to certain towers on the western wall.
The architecture of the Parthian period was characterized by a progressive evolution of Greek concepts toward new formulas in which regional traditions, particularly those derived from Babylonia, played an increasing role. These innovations affected both religious and domestic buildings. No secular public building is known to have been built during the Parthian period, with the possible exception of a bath constructed of cut stone in the northeast sector of the town. The evolved Parthian forms generally persisted into the Roman period, except for buildings in the Roman camp in the northern third of the town, for example, the palace of the Dux Ripae and the praetorium.
The architecture of private dwellings varied in detail according to the wealth of the owner. The systematic layout of the Greek city, in which each house was supposed to cover one-eighth of a block (ca. 300 m2), was abandoned or modified through subdivision and consolidation resulting from sales or inheritance (Saliou). The smallest houses covered one quarter or even less of a Greek lot whereas other more luxurious examples covered up to half a block. But the organizing principle of the house remained fundamentally the same: The street door, often situated at a corner of the house, opened onto a corridor leading into a central courtyard, which provided access and light to the various rooms of the house. The principal room, the andrón, was usually situated on the south side, opening to the north, and was surrounded on all four walls by a masonry bench; it served as a reception room (Allara). Some houses incorporated columns, but gabled roofs disappeared in favor of terraces, rooms became irregular in shape, and several houses had second stories.
Religious architecture underwent a comparable evolution, traceable through numerous excavated buildings: the temples of Artemis Nanaïa II and Zeus Megistos II, the necropolis temple, and the temples of Artemis Azzanathkona, Zeus Kyrios, Atargatis, Bel, Aphlad, Zeus Theos, Gad, and Adonis. This architecture diverged more and more from the hypothetical Greek model, if in fact such a model had ever been introduced at Dura Europos (Downey, 1988, p. 176). All the temples of the Parthian period have the same basic plan, with variations in detail. A generally square temenos is enclosed by a blank wall; the naos stands at the back of the interior courtyard facing the entrance. Against the interior face of the enclosure wall are a series of rooms for service or secondary cults, usually built by donors. When the naos is set against the back wall of the temenos, a narrow space is left between them to provide a separation of the cella from the exterior world. The building is small, usually square in plan, and raised on a podium of two or three steps, with one or more altars in front. The interior is divided in two: the pronaos, which occupies the full width of the building and is sometimes furnished with tiers of benches on either side of the entrance, and the cella, usually flanked by two chapels or lateral sacristies. The cult image on the wall opposite the entrance, either mounted on a pedestal or painted directly on the surface. All that remains from the Greek tradition is the occasional presence of a columned facade in front of the temple or porticoes along the sides of the courtyard, as at the temple of Bel.
It is thus clear that at Dura Europos entirely original architectural formulas were perfected during the Parthian period, in both religious and domestic constructions; the Babylonian element predominated, though with a certain Greek dressing, but no unequivocal Iranian influence appears. The formula for religious buildings was followed in all temples, whatever the form of worship to which they were consecrated, Greek or Semitic.
The only Iranian cult known at Dura Europos was that of Mithra, which paradoxically had been introduced into the city by Roman troops in 168. The mithraeum, located near the western wall in the Roman camp, belongs to the type dedicated to the cult throughout the Roman world and has no features in common with the other religious buildings at Dura Europos, except that it stands on a podium. It appears to have been a single room of modest dimensions with a bench on each of the longer sides; above the central aisle there was a raised ceiling with a clerestory. At the end of the room was a niche containing two cultic bas-reliefs with an altar before them. The entire surface of the room was covered with painted decoration: scenes from the life of Mithra, representations of magi and the zodiac around the bas-reliefs in the niche, and mounted hunting scenes on the side walls.
Although Iranian influence is difficult to find in the architecture of Dura Europos, in figurative art it is much more pronounced. In fact, owing to landfill that preserved religious buildings along the western wall (see below), Dura has provided the main evidence of a decorative art that seems to have developed in Parthian domains, reflecting a synthesis of the traditions of the ancient Near East (linear drawing, two-dimensional forms, stiff poses) and the Hellenic world (the use of architectural decoration and friezes, types of dress). Furthermore, in religious settings, those most fully represented, the principle of “Parthian frontality” prevailed. This convention, according to which all figures, human or divine, face directly forward, with eyes fixed on the spectator, made its appearance at Dura very early, in the oldest painting, of the sacrifice of Conon, in the temple of Bel (probably 1st century C.E.). It persisted until the destruction of the city, as attested in the frescoes of the synagogue, dating from 245. It was equally apparent in sculpture and terra-cottas (except for a statue of Artemis with the tortoise, which comes from a Hellenistic center) and, for example, in two reliefs of the Gads of Dura and Palmyra. On the other hand, in frequent narrative scenes of combat and hunting on horseback, like those in the mithraeum, the horses and wild beasts are portrayed in a flying gallop, a characteristic that was to be developed in Sasanian art.
The siege of Dura Europos
The Sasanian siege of Dura Europos in 256 brought an end to the town’s existence and immobilized Šāpūr’s army for several months. The determined resistance put up by the inhabitants forced the assailants to adopt various siege tactics, which eventually resulted in conquest of the city; the defensive system, the mines, and the assault ramp were left in place after the deportation of the population, which permits modern investigators to gain an exact idea of the military techniques of the Sasanians and the Romans in the mid-3rd century.
It is not known where the Sasanians located their camp, but traces of their operations against the city wall still survive (du Mesnil du Buisson). To guard against the attack, which was clearly expected from the time that the Sasanian empire was established, the Romans had heightened and reinforced the external faces of the western and northern ramparts by masking them with thick layers of fill covered by a mud-brick glacis and thus burying the buildings along the inside of the wall. The Persians undermined towers 19 and 14 on the western wall in order to bring them down, but, owing to the filling and the glacis, the towers were not really destroyed. At the southeast corner of the town they built an assault ramp 40 m long and 10 m high against the wall to permit troops to enter; it consisted of a mass of fill packed between two walls of brick and paved with baked bricks, which made it possible to move a siege machine close to the wall. Two tunnels, each wide enough to permit several men to advance abreast, were dug near the body of the ramp. There is no surviving textual description of the siege of Dura Europos, but Ammianus Marcellinus’ account of the siege of Amida a century later, in which the same techniques were used, permits reconstruction of the operations at Dura; the main siege weapons were catapults, movable towers, and even elephants. Clearly the Sasanian armies had a sophisticated knowledge of siege techniques.
The discovery of the body of a Sasanian soldier in one of the trenches has also yielded precious information. He was equipped with a coat of mail, a sword ornamented with a jade disk of Central Asian type, and an iron helmet made in two halves with an iron crest running vertically down the center of the front, of clearly Mesopotamian and Iranian origin. This type of helmet served as a model for those adopted in the Roman empire in the 3rd century (James).
The chronology of the siege operations has given rise to a debate that is still far from having been resolved. The discovery of Pahlavi inscriptions on the frescoes of the synagogue does not prove that the town had first been occupied by the Sasanians during a campaign in 253, three years before the final siege. It is also improbable that a house near the triumphal arch on the main street, in which there was a fresco of Sasanian type showing a fight between cavalrymen, belongs to this putative first occupation. It seems now that this fresco, several ostraca in Pahlavi found in the palace of the Dux Ripae (Figure 30/13), and the tombs discovered in the town and along the river resulted from temporary installation of a small Persian detachment in the town after the victory of 256 (MacDonald; Leriche and Al Mahmoud, 1994).
Τις βιβλιογραφικές παραπομπές μπορείτε να βρείτε εδώ:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dura-europos
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Γενικά:
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm34
https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/dura-mithraeum
https://sergeyurich.livejournal.com/809515.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos_synagogue
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дура-Эвропос
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Синагога_Дура-Европос
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Δούρα_Ευρωπός
https://artgallery.yale.edu/online-feature/dura-europos-excavating-antiquity
http://media.artgallery.yale.edu/duraeuropos/dura.html
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/syria/dura-europos
http://www.pravenc.ru/text/180593.html
https://www.livius.org/articles/place/dura-europos/
https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/6746
http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/DuraMithras.html
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/religion-society-and-culture-at-duraeuropos/mithraeum-of-duraeuropos/EC5B512F8931E969F185C033CB758FA2
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Αρχική ανάρτηση του βίντεο:
Dura Europos – The Life, Death and Resurrection of an ancient city – Syria
I traveled to Dura Europos just before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and were one of the last to see this magnificent site before it was destroyed.
Dura Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the Euphrates river in eastern Syria.
It was conquered in 114 AD and finally captured in 165 AD by the Romans (who greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia) and destroyed after a Sassanian siege in 257 AD. After it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.
Abandoned after its conquest in 256–7 AD, nothing was built over it and no later building programs obscured the architectonic features of the ancient city. Its location on the edge of empires made for a co-mingling of cultural traditions, much of which was preserved under the city’s ruins.
Some remarkable finds have been brought to light, including numerous temples, wall decorations, inscriptions, military equipment, tombs, and even dramatic evidence of the Sassanian siege during the Imperial Roman period which led to the site’s abandonment.
After it has been severely looted by the Islamic State in the ongoing Syrian Civil War, it was demolished by ISIS.
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Κατεβάστε το κείμενο σε Word doc.:
https://vk.com/doc429864789_625211299
https://www.docdroid.net/kyb9h2o/doura-efropos-to-teleio-protipo-polipolitismikotitas-docx
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/muhammad-shamsaddin-megalommatis-677982143_δούρα-ευρωπός-το-τέλειο-πρότυπο-πολυπολιτισμικότητας-activity-6880844641445400576-yo16/
Ταυροθυσίες και Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια στην Κορυφή του Ολύμπου – Η Απόλυτη Επιβολή του Περσικού Πνεύματος ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες & το Τέλος της Αρχαίας Ελλάδας
Taurobolia and Mithraic Mysteries atop Mount Olympus - The Absolute Imposition of the Iranian Genius among the Greeks & the End of Ancient Greece
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 6η Μαΐου 2019. Ο κ. Μπαϋρακτάρης παρουσιάζει στοιχεία από μία ενότητα σεμιναρίου, το οποίο οργάνωσα τον Δεκέμβριο του 2018 στην Μόσχα με θέμα την επερχόμενη παγκόσμια επιβολή της Κίνας ως δυνατή μόνον αν η Κίνα και η σημερινή πολιτισμική ακτινοβολία της βασισθούν στην (αποσιωπημένη στην Δύση) ιστορική συνέχεια της διάδοσης αρχαίων ανατολικών πολιτισμών και επιβολής του αρχαίου ανατολικού αυτοκρατορικού πνεύματος στην Ελλάδα, την Ρώμη και την Δυτική Ευρώπη κατά την Ύστερη Αρχαιότητα, και αν το Πεκίνο δεόντως, συστηματικώς και ποικιλοτρόπως προπαγανδίσει διάπλατα την αποκρυμμένη ιστορική αυτή διαδικασία, σε συνέργεια με το αναζωπυρωμένο κίνημα του Αφροκεντρισμού και με στόχο την ολοσχερή εξαφάνιση του αισχρού και ρατσιστικού αφηγήματος του δήθεν 'κλασικού ελληνορωμαϊκού πολιτισμού'.
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http://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/ταυροθυσίες-και-μιθραϊκά-μυστήρια-στ/ ===================
Οι Ρωμιοί της Ανατολής – Greeks of the Orient
Ρωμιοσύνη, Ρωμανία, Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία
Ένας καλός φίλος από την Κοζάνη πρόσεξε πρόσφατο κείμενό μου σχετικά με την κατακλυσμική διάδοση του Μιθραϊσμού, του Ισιδισμού και πολλών άλλων ανατολικών, αραμαϊκών, καππαδοκικών, φοινικικών, αιγυπτιακών και περσικών θρησκειών, κοσμογονιών, μυστικισμών, λατρειών, κοσμολογιών και θεουργιών στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και γενικώτερα σε όλη την Ευρώπη και με ρώτησε σχετικά με την διάδοση κι επιβολή του Μιθραϊσμού στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα.
Αυτό είναι ένα απαγορευμένο θέμα που το ρατσιστικό, φασιστικό, σιωνιστικό και ψευτο-μασωνικό καθεστώς Αθηνών έχει επιμελώς εξοβελίσει από τα πανεπιστήμια, τα σχολεία, τους ανερμάτιστους και ψευδοπροπαγανδιστικούς εκδοτικούς οίκους, τα κατευθυνόμενα ΜΜΕ της τύφλωσης και της παραπληροφόρησης και γενικώτερα ολόκληρη την θεόστραβη και συρόμενη προς όλεθρο ελληνική κοινωνία.
Όμως υπάρχουν άπειρες μαρτυρίες σχετικά σε αρχαία ελληνικά και λατινικά κείμενα – αναφορικά με την επιβολή του Περσικού Πνεύματος στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα. Μάλιστα επειδή οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες ήταν γεωγραφικά εγγύτερα στην Ανατολή, την Συρο-Παλαιστίνη, την Φοινίκη, την Μεσοποταμία, την Αίγυπτο και το Ιράν, επηρεάσθηκαν πρώτοι κι επηρεάσθηκαν περισσότερο.
Το περιστατικό που θα παρουσιάσω εδώ είναι ένα ανάμεσα σε πάρα πολλά. Και υπάρχουν και ακόμη περισσότερα που αποδεικνύουν την επιβολή του Αιγυπτιακού Πνεύματος στην Ελλάδα. Αλλά σε αυτά θα αναφερθώ σε προσεχή κείμενά μου. Το αφετηριακό κείμενο είναι αυτό:
Οι Ατελείωτες Επελάσεις του Μίθρα προς την Δύση κι ο Πολιτισμικός Εξιρανισμός Ελλήνων, Ρωμαίων κι Ευρωπαίων
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2019/04/29/οι-ατελείωτες-επελάσεις-του-μίθρα-προ/
(πλέον: https://www.academia.edu/58627059/Οι_Ατελείωτες_Επελάσεις_του_Μίθρα_προς_την_Δύση_κι_ο_Πολιτισμικός_Εξιρανισμός_Ελλήνων_Ρωμαίων_κι_Ευρωπαίων)
Ο ίδιος ο Πλούταρχος, ιερέας του Μαντείου των Δελφών, αναφέρει το περιστατικό – κι αυτό συμβαίνει επειδή οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες – που είναι φυλετικά και πολιτισμικά άσχετοι από το ψευτο-μασωνικό παρασκεύασμα των Νεοελλήνων – δεν ήταν ούτε ρατσιστές, ούτε φασίστες, ούτε κομμουνιστές, ούτε εθνικομπολσεβίκοι.
Αντίθετα, και μάλιστα ιδιαίτερα, ο Πλούταρχος είχε ηθική υπόσταση και θεωρούσε αρετή το να ομολογεί την αλήθεια – χωρίς την παραμικρή συμφεροντολογία. Τα σατανικά ψέμματα των σημερινών αμόρφωτων ψευτο-καθηγητών και λοιπών προπαγανδιστών, σαν τους Ρένο Αποστολίδη, Πλεύρη, Κιτσίκη και Μπεξή, μόνον σκοτάδι και θάνατο φέρνουν.
Στον Βίο του Πομπήιου (106-48 π.Χ.), ο Πλούταρχος αναφέρεται σε πολλά γεγονότα της ζωής του Ρωμαίου στρατιωτικού και πολιτικού ηγέτη που βρήκε άδοξο θάνατο στην Αίγυπτο. Ένα από αυτά τα γεγονότα ήταν η καταστολή της πειρατείας στην Μεσόγειο. Οι πειρατές ήταν Έλληνες, Ρωμαίοι κι άλλοι λεγεωνάριοι που είχαν εγκαταλείψει τις τάξεις του ρωμαϊκού στρατού και στόλου και είχαν συμπήξει συμμαχία με το ελληνικώτατο Βασίλειο του Πόντου με το οποίο η Ρώμη (ακόμη Δημοκρατία κι όχι Αυτοκρατορία) είχε συνάψει πολλούς πολέμους.
Οι πειρατές είχαν ενισχυθεί από τον πιστό στον Μίθρα (κι όχι στον Δία) βασιλιά του Πόντου Μιθριδάτη ΣΤ’ διότι του χρησίμευαν για να προξενήσουν στους Ρωμαίους ένα πόλεμο φθοράς. Το πόσο σημαντικό γεγονός ήταν ο πόλεμος κατά των πειρατών στην περίοδο στην περίοδο 78-63 π.Χ. και γενικώτερα στην διάρκεια των μιθριδατικών πολέμων μπορείτε εύκολα να αντιληφθείτε αν προσέξετε πόση έκταση δίνει το λήμμα της αγγλικής Wikipedia σχετικά με τον Πομπήιο στο θέμα του πολέμου κατά της πειρατείας (ο σύνδεσμος στο τέλος).
Τι λέει λοιπόν ο Πλούταρχος ότι έκαναν αυτοί οι Έλληνες, Ρωμαίοι και Μικρασιάτες πειρατές;
Σημειώνει ότι ανάμεσα σε πολλά άλλα που έκαναν σαν καταστροφές ή σαν εκφράσεις περίεργης συμπεριφοράς, οι πειρατές έκαναν θυσίες κι επιτελούσαν μιθραϊκά μυστήρια στην κορυφή του Ολύμπου.
Φυσικά, ο Πλούταρχος ως Ρωμαίος αξιωματούχος δεν θα μπορούσε παρά να δει αρνητικά το φαινόμενο της πειρατείας και της συμμαχίας των πειρατών με τους εχθρούς της Ρώμης Πόντιους Έλληνες του Μιθριδάτη ΣΤ’. Αλλά η περιγραφή είναι συναρπαστική:
ξένας δὲ θυσίας ἔθυον αὐτοὶ τὰς ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ, καὶ τελετάς τινας ἀπορρήτους ἐτέλουν, ὧν ἡτοῦ Μίθρου καὶ μέχρι δεῦρο διασώζεται καταδειχθεῖσα πρῶτον ὑπ’ ἐκείνων.
Σε αγγλική μετάφραση για όσους έχουν δυσκολία με τα αρχαία ελληνικά:
They themselves offered strange sacrifices upon Mount Olympus, and performed certain secret rites or religious mysteries, among which those of Mithras have been preserved to our own time having received their previous institution from them.
Προσέξτε πόσες πληροφορίες παρέχονται σε ένα τόσο σύντομο κείμενο:
Α) Οι θυσίες ήταν παράξενες κι αλλότριες επειδή τα μιθραϊκά μυστήρια δεν είχαν ακόμη κατακλύσει την Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία κι όλη την Ευρώπη στο πρώτο μισό του πρώτου προχριστιανικού αιώνα στο οποίο ο Πλούταρχος (45-120), γράφοντας 150 χρόνια αργότερα, αναφέρεται.
Β) Εννοείται ότι οι θυσίες μιθραϊστών στον Όλυμπο ήταν ταυροθυσίες, επειδή αυτό ήταν βασικό στοιχείο του Μιθραϊσμού, της Μιθραϊκής Κοσμογονίας και των Μιθραϊκών Μυστηρίων.
Γ) Αυτές οι ταυροθυσίες και οι μυστικές τελετουργίες που οι πειρατές επιτελούσαν στην κορυφή του Ολύμπου σημαίνει ότι ο τόπος ήταν για τους πειρατές αυτούς ιερός και αυτοί έδιναν απολύτως μιθραϊκή περσική κι όχι πλέον αρχαία ελληνική δωδεκαθεϊστική διάσταση στην ιερότητα του τόπου. Με άλλα λόγια, η αρχαία ελληνική θρησκεία είχε εκμηδενιστεί ανάμεσα στους ίδιους τους αρχαίους Έλληνες που είχαν προσηλυτιστεί στον Μιθραϊσμό 60-70 χρόνια μετά την ρωμαϊκή κατάληψη της Κορίνθου.
Δ) Οι μιθραϊκές θυσίες, λατρείες και μυστικές τελετουργίες, τονίζει ο Πλούταρχος, διασώζονταν μέχρι τις μέρες του, 150 χρόνια μετά την πρώτη λατρεία Ελλήνων Μιθραϊστών στον Όλυμπο, και είχαν διαδοθεί. Δηλαδή κανένα δεν είχαν ενοχλήσει ο πολιτισμικός εκπερσισμός των Ελλήνων και τα Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια που οι πειρατές είχαν εισαγάγει στον Όλυμπο, τον ιερώτερο χώρο της Αρχαίας Ελλάδας, έτσι σβύννοντας μια για πάντα την παραδοσιακή αρχαιοελληνική θρησκεία.
Στην συνέχεια, θα βρείτε ένα μεγαλύτερο απόσπασμα από το ίδιο κείμενο, για να δείτε το όλο πλαίσιο μέσα στο οποίο αναφέρεται το συγκεκριμένο επεισόδιο (σε αρχαία ελληνικά και αγγλικά) και πολλούς συνδέσμους αναφορικά με τον Πλούταρχο, τον Βίο του Πομπήιου, τον Πομπήιο, και φυσικά τον Μίθρα, τον Μιθραϊσμό και την κατακλυσμική πολιτισμική επιβολή του Περσικού Πνεύματος πάνω σε Έλληνες, Ρωμαίους και λοιπούς Ευρωπαίους.
Αρχαία Ελλάδα δεν υπήρχε πολύ πριν επιβληθεί η Χριστιανωσύνη στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία.
Στο θέμα του πολιτισμικού εκπερσισμού των Αρχαίων Ελλήνων και της διάδοσης του Μιθραϊσμού στην Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία και την Ευρώπη γενικώτερα θα επανέλθω.
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Λούκιος Μέστριος Πλούταρχος (Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus)
Βίοι Παράλληλοι/Πομπήιος
Αρχαίο Ελληνικό Κείμενο
[24] Ἡ γὰρ πειρατικὴ δύναμις ὡρμήθη μὲν ἐκ Κιλικίας τὸ πρῶτον, ἀρχὴν παράβολον λαβοῦσα καὶ λανθάνουσαν, φρόνημα δὲ καὶ τόλμαν ἔσχεν ἐν τῷ Μιθριδατικῷ πολέμῳ, χρήσασα ταῖς βασιλικαῖς ὑπηρεσίαις ἑαυτήν. εἶτα Ῥωμαίων ἐν τοῖς ἐμφυλίοις πολέμοις περὶ θύρας τῆς Ῥώμης συμπεσόντων, ἔρημος οὖσα φρουρᾶς ἡ θάλασσα κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐφείλκετο καὶ προῆγεν, οὐκέτι τοῖς πλέουσι μόνον ἐπιτιθεμένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ νήσους καὶ πόλεις παραλίους ἐκκόπτοντας. ἤδη δὲ καὶ χρήμασι δυνατοὶ καὶ γένεσι λαμπροὶ καὶ τὸ φρονεῖν ἀξιούμενοι διαφέρειν ἄνδρες ἐνέβαινον εἰς τὰ λῃστρικὰ καὶ μετεῖχον, ὡς καὶ δόξαν τινὰ καὶ φιλοτιμίαν τοῦ ἔργου φέροντος.
ἦν δὲ καὶ ναύσταθμα πολλαχόθι πειρατικὰ καὶ φρυκτώρια τετειχισμένα, καὶ στόλοι προσέπιπτον οὐ πληρωμάτων μόνον εὐανδρίαις οὐδὲ τέχναις κυβερνητῶν οὐδὲ τάχεσι νεῶν καὶ κουφότησιν ἐξησκημένοι πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἔργον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ φοβεροῦ μᾶλλον αὐτῶν τὸ ἐπίφθονον ἐλύπει καὶ ὑπερήφανον, στυλίσι χρυσαῖς καὶ παραπετάσμασιν ἁλουργοῖς καὶ πλάταις ἐπαργύροις, ὥσπερ ἐντρυφώντων τῷ κακουργεῖν καὶ καλλωπιζομένων. αὐλοὶ δὲ καὶ ψαλμοὶ καὶ μέθαι παρὰ πᾶσαν ἀκτὴν καὶ σωμάτων ἡγεμονικῶν ἁρπαγαὶ καὶ πόλεων αἰχμαλώτων ἀπολυτρώσεις ὄνειδος ἦσαν τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας.
ἐγένοντο δ’ οὖν αἱ μὲν λῃστρίδες νῆες ὑπὲρ χιλίας, αἱ δὲ ἁλοῦσαι πόλεις ὑπ’ αὐτῶν τετρακόσιαι. τῶν δὲ ἀσύλων καὶ ἀβάτων πρότερον ἱερῶν ἐξέκοψαν ἐπιόντες τὸ Κλάριον, τὸ Διδυμαῖον, τὸ Σαμοθρᾴκιον, τὸν ἐν Ἑρμιόνῃ τῆς Χθονίας νεὼν καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἐπιδαύρῳ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ τὸν Ἰσθμοῖ καὶ Ταινάρῳ καὶ Καλαυρίᾳ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος, τοῦ δὲ Ἀπόλλωνος τὸν ἐν Ἀκτίῳ καὶ Λευκάδι, τῆς δὲ Ἥρας τὸν ἐν Σάμῳ, τὸν ἐν Ἄργει, τὸν ἐπὶ Λακινίῳ. ξένας δὲ θυσίας ἔθυον αὐτοὶ τὰς ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ, καὶ τελετάς τινας ἀπορρήτους ἐτέλουν, ὧν ἡ τοῦ Μίθρου καὶ μέχρι δεῦρο διασώζεται καταδειχθεῖσα πρῶτον ὑπ’ ἐκείνων.
Πλεῖστα δὲ Ῥωμαίοις ἐνυβρίσαντες, ἔτι καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν ἀναβαίνοντες ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐληΐζοντο καὶ τὰς ἐγγὺς ἐπαύλεις ἐξέκοπτον. ἥρπασαν δέ ποτε καὶ στρατηγοὺς δύο Σεξτίλιον καὶ Βελλῖνον ἐν ταῖς περιπορφύροις, καὶ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας ἅμα καὶ ῥαβδοφόρους ᾤχοντο σὺν αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις ἔχοντες. ἥλω δὲ καὶ θυγάτηρ Ἀντωνίου, θριαμβικοῦ ἀνδρός, εἰς ἀγρὸν βαδίζουσα, καὶ πολλῶν χρημάτων ἀπελυτρώθη. ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἦν ὑβριστικώτατον. ὁπότε γάρ τις ἑαλωκὼς ἀναβοήσειε Ῥωμαῖος εἶναι καὶ τοὔνομα φράσειεν, ἐκπεπλῆχθαι προσποιούμενοι καὶ δεδιέναι τούς τε μηροὺς ἐπαίοντο καὶ προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ, συγγνώμην ἔχειν ἀντιβολοῦντες·
https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/Βίοι_Παράλληλοι/Πομπήιος
Αγγλική Μετάφραση
The power of the pirates first commenced in Cilicia, having in truth but a precarious and obscure beginning, but gained life and boldness afterwards in the wars of Mithridates, where they hired themselves out and took employment in the king’s service. Afterwards, whilst the Romans were embroiled in their civil wars, being engaged against one another even before the very gates of Rome, the seas lay waste and unguarded, and by degrees enticed and drew them on not only to seize upon and spoil the merchants and ships upon the seas, but also to lay waste the islands and seaport towns. So that now there embarked with these pirates men of wealth and noble birth and superior abilities, as if it had been a natural occupation to gain distinction in.
They had divers arsenals, or piratic harbours, as likewise watch-towers and beacons, all along the sea-coast; and fleets were here received that were well manned with the finest mariners, and well served with the expertest pilots, and composed of swift-sailing and light-built vessels adapted for their special purpose. Nor was it merely their being thus formidable that excited indignation; they were even more odious for their ostentation than they were feared for their force. Their ships had gilded masts at their stems; the sails woven of purple, and the oars plated with silver, as if their delight were to glory in their iniquity. There was nothing but music and dancing, banqueting and revels, all along the shore. Officers in command were taken prisoners, and cities put under contribution, to the reproach and dishonour of the Roman supremacy.
There were of these corsairs above one thousand sail, and they had taken no less than four hundred cities, committing sacrilege upon the temples of the gods, and enriching themselves with the spoils of many never violated before, such as were those of Claros, Didyma, and Samothrace; and the temple of the Earth in Hermione, and that of Aesculapius in Epidaurus, those of Neptune at the Isthmus, at Taenarus, and at Calauria; those of Apollo at Actium and Leucas, and those of Juno in Samos, at Argos, and at Lacinium. They themselves offered strange sacrifices upon Mount Olympus, and performed certain secret rites or religious mysteries, among which those of Mithras have been preserved to our own time having received their previous institution from them.
But besides these insolencies by sea, they were also injurious to the Romans by land; for they would often go inland up the roads, plundering and destroying their villages and country-houses. Once they seized upon two Roman praetors, Sextilius and Bellinus, in their purple-edged robes, and carried them off together with their officers and lictors. The daughter also of Antonius. a man that had had the honour of a triumph, taking a journey into the country, was seized, and redeemed upon payment of a large ransom. But it was most abusive of all that, when any of the captives declared himself to be a Roman, and told his name, they affected to be surprised, and feigning fear, smote their thighs and fell down at his feet humbly beseeching him to be gracious and forgive them.
Vita Pompei (Life of Pompey) c.24, 5, 632CD.
Plutarch’s Lives (1683) “by several hands”, edited by John Dryden
http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pompey.html
Περισσότερα για τον Πλούταρχο, τους Βίους Παράλληλους, και τον Πομπήιο:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey#Campaign_against_the_pirates
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Πομπήιος
https:// https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_Lives
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Βίοι_Παράλληλοι
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Πλούταρχος
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Περισσότερα για τον Μίθρα, τον Μιθραϊσμό, την διάδοση του Μιθραϊσμού στην Ευρώπη και σε όλη την Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία, τα Μιθραϊκά Μυστήρια, τις σχέσεις και την ομοιότητα Μιθραϊσμού και Χριστιανωσύνης, και τα Μιθραία και γενικώτερα τα Μιθραϊκά Μνημεία σε όλο τον κόσμο:
http://www.mithraeum.eu/
http://www.mithraeum.eu/link.php
http://www.mithraeum.eu/monumentae.php?tid=1 (πολλές σελίδες)
http://www.mithraeum.eu/monumentae.php (πολλές σελίδες)
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=Mithras_and_Jesus
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=main
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mithraism
Mithras in India and Iran
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt1.htm
The arrival of Mithras in Europe
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt2.htm
The Followers of Mithras
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt3.htm
The Figures round the Bull-Slayer
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt4.htm
The Legend of Mithras
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt5.htm
The God of Infinite Time
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt6.htm
Initiation into the Mysteries
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt7.htm
The Seven Grades of Initiation
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt8.htm
Women and the Mithraic Cult
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt9.htm
Offerings and Artists: Mithras in Art
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt10.htm
The Fall of Mithras
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Mithraism/m_m/pt11.htm
Γενικά:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Μίθρας
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Μιθραϊσμός