Archaeologists have deciphered a 1,700-year-old Aramaic inscription found at an underground Mithras temple in Turkey, offering rare written evidence of Christianity's rise over a Roman mystery religion. The inscription, discovered in 2017 at Zerzevan Castle near the Syrian border, is the first known Aramaic text documenting the closure of a Mithras temple.
Mithraism, a deity worshiped by followers of a “mystery cult” associated with light and cosmic order, was widespread throughout the Roman Empire during the second and third centuries A.D. The Zerzevan underground sanctuary is considered one of its best-preserved temples.
Mardin Artuklu University professor Mehmet Sait Toprak analyzed the inscription’s language and letter forms, concluding it dates to the third or fourth century A.D. He determined that the engraving, located at the temple entrance alongside a depiction of a cross, mentions both Mithras and Jesus Christ, symbolizing the shift from one faith to another. The inscription also references the Holy Cross.
Excavation director Aytaç Coşkun told the Turkish state news outlet Anadolu Agency (AA) that earlier coin discoveries suggested the temple was abandoned in the third or fourth century. However, the newly deciphered inscription provides direct evidence that it was closed and symbolically sealed by Christians. Following the embrace of Christianity by fourth-century Roman emperors, Mithraism was viewed as a rival religion.
This discovery is among several early Christian finds emerging from Asia Minor. Last year, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a fifth-century Christian church in the ancient city of Olympus with an inscription hidden for over a millennium. In the same year, the remains of a Roman hospital later converted into a Christian sanctuary were found at Kaunos.