Archaeologists have deciphered a 1,700-year-old inscription at an ancient Roman temple in Turkey that offers rare written evidence of the shift from Mithraism to Christianity during the Roman period.The inscription was found at an underground Temple of Mithras inside Zerzevan Castle, a Roman fortification about 40 miles from the Syrian border. It was written in Aramaic, the language widely spoken across the ancient Near East, including by Jesus Christ.The engraving had been discovered in 2017, but researchers were only recently able to understand its meaning. According to the team, it is the first known Aramaic inscription documenting the closure of a Mithras temple.

Inscription at temple entrance

The inscription is carved at the entrance of the temple alongside a depiction of a cross. The temple was dedicated to Mithras, a deity worshipped by followers of Mithraism, a mystery religion associated with light and cosmic order.Mithraism was widely practised across the Roman Empire during the second and third centuries AD. The underground sanctuary at Zerzevan Castle is considered one of the best-preserved Mithras temples from that period.Professor Mehmet Sait Toprak of Mardin Artuklu University analysed the inscription by comparing its language and letter forms with Old Syriac and Aramaic inscriptions from the second and third centuries AD.Based on this analysis, he concluded that the inscription dates to the third or fourth century AD.

Mention of Mithras and Jesus Christ

According to Toprak, the inscription refers to both Mithras and Jesus Christ, reflecting the transition from one religion to the other. He also said it contains references to the Holy Cross.Earlier discoveries of coins had suggested that the temple was abandoned during the third or fourth century AD. However, the newly deciphered inscription provides direct evidence that the temple was closed and symbolically sealed by Christians.Researches say that after Roman emperors accepted Christianity in the fourth century, Mithraism came to be viewed as a rival religion.

An early Christian discovery

The latest discovery adds to a growing number of early Christian archaeological finds in present-day Turkey.Last year, archaeologists working at the ancient city of Olympus uncovered the remains of a fifth-century Christian church with an inscription that had remained hidden for more than 1,000 years.During the same year, excavations at Kaunos revealed the remains of a Roman hospital that was later converted into a Christian sanctuary.