ID: 901000679 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901000679	Record Type: Character/Person

	Mithras (Indo-Iranian deity)

Note: In ancient Indo-Iranian mythology, the god of light, whose cult spread from India in the east to as far west as Spain, Great Britain, and Germany. The first written mention of the Vedic Mitra dates to 1400 BCE. His worship spread to Persia and, after the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great, throughout the Hellenic world. In the 3rd and 4th centuries ad, the cult of Mithra, carried and supported by the soldiers of the Roman Empire, was the chief rival to the newly developing religion of Christianity.

Display Date: dates to 1400 BCE

Names:

	Mithras (Indo-Iranian deity) (preferred,English-P,D,N)
	Mithra (Indo-Iranian deity) (English,U,N)
	Mitra (Indo-Iranian deity) (Sanskrit (transliterated),U,N)

Hierarchical Position:

		Legend, Religion, Mythology (P)
		....<Persian iconography> (P)
		........<Persian characters> (P)
		............Mithras (Indo-Iranian deity) (I)

Related Iconography:

	associated with .... Mitra
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Hindu iconography, Hindu characters, Mitra (Hindu deity)) [901002118]

	counterpart is .... Mitra
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Hindu iconography, Hindu characters, Dvādaśādityas (Hindu deities), Mitra (Vedic deity)) [901002482]

Other Relationships:

	role/characteristic is .... deity
	.....(people in religion, people in religion and related occupations, people in the humanities, people by occupation, people (agents), People (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	culture/religion is .... Persian (culture)
	.....(Near Eastern (Early Western World), Early Western World, styles, periods, and cultures by region, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	affiliated/associated with .... Mithraism
	.....(religions (belief systems, cultures), religions and religious concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

Sources:

	Mithras (Indo-Iranian deity)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-) sh 97004133
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	Mithra (Indo-Iranian deity)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	................Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-) in 96A343 (story of) Mithra(s)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-)
	Mitra (Indo-Iranian deity)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-) "Mithra," accessed 4 July 2017
	................ Catholic Encyclopedia [online], republished from 1913 edition (2003-)