text in question contains an official liturgy of the Mithras cult, a Mithraic
ritual for the ascent and immortalization of the soul. Although the Mithras
Liturgy had
been later adopted and somewhat adapted by Egyptian magicians, Dieterich concluded,
the text still preserves the highest sacrament in which the blithraic initiate
could participate. However, since the publication of Dieterich's
book, F. Cumont, R. Reitzenstein, and others have expressed skepticism concerning
the Mithraic origin of the Liturgy. Thus, such scholars have suggested that
more significant parallels to the Liturgy can be found in the hermetic writings,
or in individualistic and private mysteries, or in Graeco-Egyptian syncretism,
magic, and solar piety. Yet the evidence amassed by Dieterich cannot be
easily dismissed, for he highlights important echoes of Mithraism in the Mithras
Liturgy: particularly striking are the mention of "the great god Helios Mithras"
(line
482), the invocation of the elements (lines 487-537), the description of the
fire-breathing god Aion (lines 587- 616), and the portraits of Helios (lines
635-637) and the highest God (lines 693-704). Furthermore, the accounts of Celsus
(in Origen, Contra Celsum, 6. 21-22) and Porphyry (De antro nympharum, 5-6 etc.)
on Mithraism verify the fact that such a liturgy for the soul's ascent as the
Mithras Liturgy could be quite compatible with at least some expressions of
Mithraism.
Consequently, it is advisable to conclude that the Mithras Liturgy may indeed
represent some variety of Mithraism--though not, to be sure, Mithraism as it
is
usually presented. If there is Mithraism in this papyrus, it is a Mithraism
on the fringe, a Mithraism preoccupied with individualism, syncretism, and magic.
The Mithras Liturgy may thus illustrate a direction taken by those carrying
on the Mithras tradition in Egypt.
The text of the Mithras Liturgy is composed of two
main parts: a liturgical mystery of ascent (lines 475-750),