Typology and evolution process of Tauroctony in the western Mithraism

Religion of Mehr or Mithraism is one of the ancient and well-known religions of the ancient East. According to religious sources and archaeological evidence, this ritual was entered to the Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau by Indo-European peoples in the second millennium BC. After a while with the passing of time, it went to the west in the form of a religious bricolage and covered a wide range from east to west and continued to exist in the west until the 4th century AD under the name of Mithraism. Mithraeums are one of the centers or religious symbols of Mithraism. Mithra worshipers gathered in these places to perform their religious obligations. Mithraeums have outstanding artistic and architectural features. One of the main artistic features of the Mithraeums is the religious display of the Tauroctony scene at the focal point of the altar. The artistic-religious proscenium of Tauroctony has always been obtained in the form of reliefs, statues or plaques and paintings from temples and places related to Mithraism. This scene shows Mithra sacrificing a bull in the presence of his companions. This scene is considered an essential and inseparable part of cult centers and a classic symbol of the Mysteries of Mithras. In addition to this, Tauroctony with different forms drawn in the geographical area of Mithraism, expresses a general and same concept of the sect's philosophy and beliefs. The word of Tauroctony or Bull- slaying was written for the first time in the first century AD by the Roman poet Statius in the book of Thebais. Then a German researcher named Stark started to point out and interpret this word. He linked the motifs of Tauroctony to the stars and constellations and introduced a counterpart in the Zodiac region for each of them. A little later cumont rejected his hypothesis and added that this word goes back to the ceremony of sacrificing a bull and bathing with the blood of the animal for the "Great Mother" goddess in Phrygia (Asia Minor). At this point of time, the interpretations of Taurctonic etymology were divided into the branches of eastern- Avestan and western-astronomical sources. Many researchers have theorized to explain this scene, but despite all the differences, they all believe that the teleology of this ritual is dependent on the structure of Tauroctony. Due to the lack of original literary sources, this visual representation can be considered as a suitable basis for studying and better understanding the religion of Mithras. Because they are proof of the religious affiliation between the Mithra worshipers and the god Mithras, as well as the recognition of ritual moments in the context of Mithraism. Therefore, considering the importance of this religious motif for its typology and evolution in the context of Mithra worship, this research first deals with the etymology and description of the Tauroctony scene; then, it tried to review and collect findings from different geographical areas to determine the time and place of the oldest existing example of this visual representation. It has also tried to draw the geographical framework and the form of expansion of this Mithraic symbol. After that, classify and typology and analyze the samples; To have a clear understanding of the geography of Mithraism and the belief that led artists to create these works. And in the end, reach a final summary about the changes and transformations and deficiencies that occurred during the consecutive centuries from the beginning to the decline of the Tauroctony scenes and answer the following three questions: 1) How was the typology and evolution process of Tauroctony in the western Mithraism? 2) Based on the changes and developments that have occurred, can a special art group or school be considered for creating scenes? 3) The first pattern is related to which geographical environment and derived from which culture and school? The current research has studied and analyzed 61 Taurctonic scenes from 19 countries of the world from a formalist perspective and based on the descriptive-analytical-statistical-comparative method. The mentioned examples are from the countries that have a small and an innumerable number of Tauroctony scenes; Books, researchers' articles and catalogs have been selected and reviewed. According to the purpose of the research in the recognition of Tauroctony species and their evolution, the research uses a comparative approach. Assuming the origin of the Mehr ritual from the east and based on the geographical location, the countries containing these religious works of art are numbered from east to west. The 61 selected examples show the spread and geographical extent of this religious scene in the period of about 9 centuries. Classification and typology act as an indicator of artistic continuity and change and indicate the history of artistic training of the early Mithraic artists and tell of different artistic schools in this field. According to the elements in the mentioned 61 samples, the scene of Tauroctony can be classified into three parts: 1) The technical features of the Tauroctony scene: type of object, gender, inscription, dimensions, number of depicted characters, date, symmetry and golden section. 2) The main characters of the Tauroctony scene: Mithra and the Bull, the snake, the dog and the scorpion. 3) The secondary characters of the Tauroctony scene: the raven, companions of Mithra, Sol and Luna, as well as the addition of things like lions, stars, zodiac signs and aquatics. After classifying the mentioned artistic scenes, we can deal with their typology. In such a way that each of these scenes in the three named classifying are depicted in several types or styles; In other words, they have multiple species or subspecies. After the classification and typology of the elements, it is possible to analyze and examine the existing scenes. This action has been done to achieve the changes and transformations that occurred during the successive centuries from the creation to the decline of the scenes. Based on the classified and typified existing evidence, also by using the science of statistics and based on the history of the samples, it can be analyzed and concluded that in addition to being specific, Taurctonic patterns have different types. The variety of forms undoubtedly depends on the number of members of the cult community, their economic potential and their place of residence. Based on the analysis and examination of selected samples from all over the geography of Tauroctony, three different art schools related to the East, Center and West can be considered for the creation of scenes. In each of the schools, obvious changes have occurred based on the message or belief concept of the Mithra-worshipping artist and it has become a single structural form to convey a specific idea. Some features were created in one area and from there they were exported to other places or continued to exist only in the same place. Such images carry useful points of regional preferences, iconography origin and religious aspects in a selective or practical way. In terms of time, the oldest examples belong to the area of Egypt during the Achaemenid period. Therefore, the styles used in this area can be considered as the model of the first scenes. n general, the three mentioned styles reflect the specific beliefs in the sacrifice ritual of the entire region and can have a knot in the religious beliefs of each region which has undergone several changes by passing from one area to another and has continued to exist in a new form.