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Origin and history

The bas-relief mithriaque de Bourg-Saint-Andéol is a unique vestige in France, carved directly in a rock near the fountains of Tourne, in Ardèche. It is believed to have been from the third century AD to represent a tauroctonia (a bull's sacrifice by Mithra), a central symbol of the Mithraic cult. Measuring 1.30 m long by 1.15 m high, it was the back of a mitreum, temple dedicated to this syncretic divinity of Persian origin. Two grooves above the relief suggest a recessed roof, while two fountains feeding basins are at its foot.

The carved scene shows Mithra, dressed in a coat and a Phrygian cap, sacrificing a bull in a cave. Around him, symbolic animals: a dog and a snake near the wound, a scorpion near the testicles, and a raven perched on the rock. The divinities Sol (sun) and Luna (moon) appear in the upper corners, crowned with rays and crescent. An inscription, partially visible in a frame at the bottom left, remains uncrypted. No other archaeological discovery was made at this site.

Ranked a historical monument by decree of February 3, 1927, this bas-relief is the only in situ Mithraic representation carved in the rock in France. Owned by the commune of Bourg-Saint-Andéol (département de l'Ardèche, région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), it bears witness to the spread of Mithraicism in the Roman Empire, especially among soldiers and merchants. Its state of conservation and geological isolation are a major subject of study to understand local religious practices during late antiquity.

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