Mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian:*mitrás) is the name of anIndo-Iranian divinity that came out of theRigvedicMitrá andAvestanMithra.
The names, and some characteristics, of these established deities subsequently influenced other figures:
BothVedic Mitra and Avestan Mithra derive from an Indo-Iranian common noun*mitra-, generally reconstructed to have meant "covenant,treaty, agreement,promise." This meaning is preserved in Avestanmiθra "covenant". InSanskrit and modernIndo-Aryan languages,mitra means "friend", one of the aspects ofbonding and alliance.
The Indo-Iranian reconstruction is attributed[2] to Christian Bartholomae,[3] and was subsequently refined by A. Meillet (1907), who suggested derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root*mey- "to exchange".
A suggested alternative derivation was*meh "to measure" (Gray 1929). Pokorny (IEW 1959) refined Meillet's*mei as "to bind". Combining the root*mei with the "tool suffix"-tra- "that which [causes] ..." (also found inman-tra-, "that which causes to think"), then literally means "that which binds", and thus "covenant, treaty, agreement, promise, oath" etc. Pokorny's interpretation also supports "to fasten, strengthen", which may be found in Latinmoenia "city wall, fortification", and in an antonymic form, Old English(ge)maere "border, boundary-post".
Meillet and Pokorny's "contract" did however have its detractors. Lentz (1964, 1970) refused to accept abstract "contract" for so exalted a divinity and preferred the more religious "piety". Because present-day Sanskritmitra means "friend", and New Persianmihr means "love" or "friendship", Gonda (1972, 1973) insisted on a Vedic meaning of "friend, friendship", not "contract".
Meillet's analysis also "rectified earlier interpretations"[2] that suggested that the Indo-Iranian common noun*mitra- had anything to do with the light or the sun. When H. Lommel suggested[4] that such an association was implied in the Younger Avesta (since the 6th century BCE), that too was conclusively dismissed.[5] Today, it is certain that "(al)though Miθra is closely associated with the sun in theAvesta, he is not the sun" and "Vedic Mitra is not either."[2]
Old PersianMiθra orMiθra – both only attested in a handful of 4th-century BCE inscriptions ofArtaxerxes II andIII – "is generally admitted [to be] a borrowing from the Avesta,"[6] the genuine Old Persian form being reconstructed as*Miça. (Kent initially suggestedSanskrit[7] but later[6] changed his mind).Middle Iranianmyhr (Parthian, also in living Armenian usage) andmihr (Middle Persian), derive from AvestanMithra.
Greek/Latin "Mithras," the focal deity of theGreco-Roman cult ofMithraism is the nominative form of vocative Mithra. In contrast to the original Avestan meaning of "contract" or "covenant" (and still evident in post-Sassanid Middle Persian texts), the Greco-Roman Mithraists probably thought the name meant "mediator". In Plutarch's 1st-century discussion of dualistic theologies,Isis and Osiris (46.7) the Greek historiographer provides the following explanation of the name in his summary of the Zoroastrian religion: Mithra is ameson ("in the middle") between "the goodHoromazdes and the evilAremanius [...] and this is why thePérsai call the Mediator Mithra". Zaehner[8] attributes this false etymology to a role that Mithra (and the sun) played in the now extinct branch of Zoroastrianism known asZurvanism.
Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of theRigveda distinguished by a relationship toVaruna, the protector ofrta as described in hymn 2, Mandala 1 of Rigveda. Together with Varuna, he counted among theAdityas, a group ofsolar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.
The first extant record of Indo-Aryan[9] Mitra, in the formmi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC betweenHittites and theHurrian kingdom of theMitanni in the area southeast ofLake Van inAsia Minor. Mitra appears there together with four other Indic divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.
InZoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity ofahuras, protectors ofasha/arta, "truth" or "[that which is] right". Mithra's standard appellation is "of wide pastures" suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is "truth-speaking, ... with a thousand ears, ... with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake." (Yasht 10.7). As preserver ofcovenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.
Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted toparadise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun butoriginally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminineyazataAredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.
There is a deity Mithra mentioned on monuments inCommagene. According to the archaeologist Maarten Vermaseren, 1st century BC evidence from Commagene demonstrates the "reverence paid to Mithras" but does not refer to "the mysteries".[b][10]
In the colossal statuary erected by KingAntiochus I (69–34 BC) atMount Nemrut, Mithras is shown beardless, wearing aPhrygian cap,[11][12]and was originally seated on a throne alongside other deities and the king himself.[13]On the back of the thrones there is an inscription in Greek, which includes the name Apollo-Mithras-Helios in the genitive case (Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου).[14]
Vermaseren also reports about a Mithras cult inFayum in the 3rd century BC.[c][15]R.D. Barnett has argued that the royal seal of King Saussatar of Mitanni fromc. 1450 BC depicts a tauroctonous Mithras.[d][16]
Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne, and venerated both inMahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancientIraniandeityMithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to Tiele (1917) "No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of theSaoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya."[17]
Paul Williams claims that someZoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya , such as expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation.[citation needed] Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya .
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The name Mithra was adopted by the Greeks and Romans asMithras, chief figure in themystery religion ofMithraism. At first identified with the Sun-godHelios by the Greeks, thesyncretic Mithra-Helios was transformed into the figure Mithras during the 2nd century BC, probably atPergamon. This new cult was taken to Rome around the 1st century BC and was dispersed throughout theRoman Empire. Popular among the Roman military, Mithraism was spread as far north asHadrian's Wall and theGermanic Limes.
Head of a beardless Mithras in Phrygian cap, point of which is missing.
The gods are represented in a sitting position on a throne and are: Apollo-Mithras (see below); Tyche-Commagene; Zeus-Ahura-Mazda; Antiochus himself and finally Ares-Artagnes.
The dictionary definition ofReconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mitra at Wiktionary
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