Justārī dar bārah-yi āyīn-i Mītrā

Mithra numbers among the oldest and most widely revered deities of the Indo-Iranian world, worshipped by ancient Iranians and Indians alike before the rise of Zoroaster's teaching. This essay traces the cult of Mithra from its Aryan origins through its transformation into the Roman mystery religion of Mithraism, examining the scarcity of written Mithraic scripture and the secrecy of its initiates. Drawing on sources from the Rigveda and Avesta to the Boghazköy tablets and Pahlavi texts, the author follows Mithra's persistence under Christian persecution, the destruction of mithraea across the Roman world, and the brief revival of the cult under Julian the Apostate before its eclipse. The study considers parallels between Mithraic ritual and early Christian practice, including the coincidence of Mithra's winter festival with Christmas, and situates the cult within the history of Iranian mysticism and Sufism, where its symbolism outlasted the fall of the Sasanian Empire.