The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World

The teachings of the ancient Roman 'mystery religion' of Mithraism--one of the most important competitors of early Christianity--were guarded with the utmost secrecy, reveled only to select initiates. While the Mithraists never wrote down their secret doctrines, they did leave a key to them in the arcane iconography which filled the walls of their underground temples. Until now, all attempts to decipher this iconography have proven fruitless. Most experts have been content with a vague hypothesis that these images somehow derived from ancient Iranian religion.