密特拉教的历史与发展

水印

Mithraism In Persia (Iran)
密特拉教在波斯（伊朗）

Mithraism is generally considered to be of Persian origins, specifically an outgrowth of Zoroastrian culture, though not of Zoroaster's teachings. For Zoroaster was a monotheist, for whom Ahuramazda was the One god. Darius the Great was equally stringent in the official monotheism of his reign: no god but Ahuramazda is ever mentioned in any of the numerous inscriptions that survive of his reign (521?85 BC).
密特拉教一般被认为是源自波斯，明确来说是琐罗亚斯德文化的副产品，尽管并不是琐罗亚斯德的教导。因为琐罗亚斯德是一神论者，阿胡玛兹达是唯一的神。大流士大帝同样地实行了他严厉的一神教统治：没有神，只有阿胡玛兹达曾经在众多手稿中提过，这样挽救了他的统治。（521?85 BC）。
However, the official cult is rarely the sole religion in an area. The following inscription from Susa of Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404?58 BC) demonstrates that not all the Achaemenid kings were as purely Zoroastrian as Darius the Great.
然而，在该地区上，正式的祭仪很少是独一的宗教信仰。以下是从苏萨（伊朗西部古代遗址，古代埃兰王国的首都）的碑铭中指出，不是所有的阿切尼国王都像大流士大帝一样，是纯粹的琐罗亚斯德教徒。
It is tempting to identify the Roman Mithras with the Persian Mithra, except that there is no known Persian legend or text about Mithra killing a bull or being associated with other animals. On the other hand, there is a story of Ahriman, the evil god in popular developments of Zoroastrianism, killing a bull. It is also hard to explain how the Sun-god Mithra would come to be worshipped in the windowless, cave-like mithraeum.
把罗马密特拉教和波斯密特拉教看成是一样，是很诱惑人的，只可惜是没有人知道波斯传统或者文献提到过密特拉神杀害了一只公牛或者与其他动物联结在一起。在另一方面，有一个关于恶神的故事，邪恶的神通常是琐罗亚斯德教发展起来，杀了一只公牛。这也很难解释太阳神密特拉如何在无窗，洞穴似的太阳式洞举行崇拜。
A possible link between Persia and Rome, which could be the stage for these changes, may be the kingdoms of Parthia and Pontus in Asia Minor. Several of their kings were called Mithradates, meaning "given by Mithra", starting with Mithradates I of Parthia (died 138 BC). It would seem that, in those kingdoms, Mithra was a god whose power lent luster even to a king. And it was at Pergamum, in the 2nd century BC, that Greek sculptors started to produce bas-relief imagery of Mithra Taurocthonos, "Mithra the bull-slayer." Although the cult of Mithras never caught on in the Greek homeland, those sculptures may indicate the route between Persian Mithra and Roman Mithras.
波斯和罗马之间很可能有一个链接，会是这些变化的台阶，可能是小亚细亚的帕提亚和本都。它们的几个国王就称为密特兰达特斯，意思是“由密特拉神所给”，从帕提亚的密特拉达特斯一世开始（死于公元前138年）。看上去，在那些王国上，密特拉是一个神，甚至把光彩借给国王。在帕加马（古希腊城市，现为土耳其伊兹密尔省贝尔加马镇），在公元前二世纪，希腊雕刻家开始制造密特拉神的浅浮雕，“密特拉，公牛的杀手”。尽管密特拉的祭礼没有在希腊本国流行，那些雕刻品可以指出波斯密特拉与罗马密特拉之间的路线。
Around the first century AD, the Greek historian Plutarch wrote about pirates of Cilicia who practiced the Mithraic "secret rites" around 67 BC. Since Cilicia was the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, the Mithras mentioned by Plutarch may have been worship of the Persian god Mithra; or may have been associated with Ahriman, the Persian god who killed a bull.
大约在头一个世纪，希腊历史学家帕拉塔斯写了关于西里西亚的海盗，大约在公元前六十七年熟练密特拉的“秘密祭礼”。由于西里西亚是安纳托利亚东南部海岸的一个省，帕拉塔斯提到的密特拉会是波斯神密特拉的祭礼，或者是与恶神阿里曼联结，这个波斯神杀了一只公牛。
In Persia Mithra was the protector God of the tribal society until the Zoroaster's reformation of Persian polytheism (628-55BC). Mithra like the rest of the gods and goddess of the Iranian Pantheon was stripped of his sovereignty, and all his powers and attributes were bestowed upon Zarathustra.
在波斯，密特拉是部落社群的守护神，直到琐罗亚斯德对波斯多神教进行了改革。密特拉就像伊朗万神殿的其余神和女神一橛，被剥夺了他的王权，所有他的力量和属性都把安放在琐罗亚斯德上。
Mithraism began in Persia where originally a multitude of gods were worshipped. Amongst them were Ahura-Mazda, god of the skies, and Ahriman, god of darkness. In the sixth and seventh century B.C., a vast reformation of the Persian pantheon was undertaken by Zarathustra (known in Greek as Zoroaster), a prophet from the kingdom of Bactria. The stature of Ahura-Mazda was elevated to that of supreme god of goodness, whereas the god Ahriman became the ultimate embodiment of evil.
波斯的密特拉开始时候是源于多神崇拜的祭礼。他们当中有阿胡玛兹达，天空之神，还有阿里曼，黑暗之神。在公元前六世纪和七世纪，琐罗亚斯德，一位来自大厦（巴克特里亚王国）的先知，对波斯万神殿进行了巨大的改革（在希腊是查拉斯图特拉）。阿胡玛兹达波提高到善良的至高神，阿里曼就成为了邪恶的最终化身。
In the same way that Ahkenaton, Abraham, Heliogabalus, and Mohammed later initiated henotheistic cults from the worship of their respective deities, Zarathustra created a henotheistic dualism with the gods Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman. As a result of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews (597 B.C.) and their later emancipation by King Cyrus the Great of Persia (538 B.C.), Zoroastrian dualism was to influence the Jewish belief in the existence of HaShatan, the malicious Adversary of the god Yahweh, and later permit the evolution of the Christian Satan-Jehovah dichotomy. Persian religious dualism became the foundation of an ethical system that has lasted until this day.
同样地，埃克那顿，亚伯拉罕，黑利阿加巴卢斯和穆汗默德后来也从他们各自的神的崇拜中开始了有神论的祭礼，琐罗亚斯德用神阿胡—玛兹达和阿里曼创造了有神的二元论。犹太人（公元前597年），作为被巴比伦俘虏的结果，后来他们被波斯国王赛勒斯大帝释放，琐罗亚斯德的二元论影响了犹太人的信仰，相信克萨坦，神耶和华怀恶意的对手的存在，后来允许基督教撒旦—耶和华二分法的发展。波斯宗教的二元论成为一种伦理体系的基础，已经持续到今天。
The reformation of Zarathustra retained the hundreds of Persian deities, assembling them into a complex hierarchical system of 'Immortals' and 'Adored Ones' under the rule of either Ahura- Mazda or Ahriman. Within this vast pantheon, Mithras gained the title of 'Judger of Souls'. He became the divine representative of Ahura-Mazda on earth, and was directed to protect the righteous from the demonic forces of Ahriman. Mithras was called omniscient, undeceivable, infallible, eternally watchful, and never-resting.
琐罗亚斯德的改草保留了许多波斯的神，把它们吸入一个“不朽的一群”和“爱慕的一群”的庞大体系上，在阿胡—玛兹达或阿里曼的统治之下。在这个巨大的万神殿里面，密特拉神获得了“灵魂的审判者”的衔头。他变成了代表阿胡—玛兹达来到地上的神，也保护地球，防止阿里曼的邪恶力量。密特拉被称为无所不知，不可欺骗，没有错误，永恒的观察者和永不停息。
In the Avesta, the holy book of the religion of Zarathustra, Ahura-Mazda was said to have created Mithras in order to guarantee the authority of contracts and the keeping of promises.
在琐罗亚斯德宗教的圣书《阿维斯陀》，阿胡—玛兹达据说为了保持盟约的权威和保持承诺，创造了密特拉神。
The name Mithras was the Persian word for 'contract'.
密特拉神的名字波斯语叫做“盟约”。
The divine duty of Mithras was to ensure general prosperity through good contractual relations between men. It was believed that misfortune would befall the entire land if a contract was ever broken.
密特拉的神圣职责就是通过与人类之间的良好盟约关系而确保普遍的繁荣。据说如果盟约受到破坏，不幸就会降临到整块陆地。
Ahura-Mazda was said to have created Mithras to be as great and worthy as himself. He would fight the spirits of evil to protect the creations of Ahura-Mazda and cause even Ahriman to tremble. Mithras was seen as the protector of just souls from demons seeking to drag them down to Hell, and the guide of these souls to Paradise. As Lord of the Sky, he took the role of psychopomp, conducting the souls of the righteous dead to paradise.
阿胡—玛兹达据说创造了密特拉神，像他自己那样地伟大和杰出。他会与邪恶的灵魂斗争，保护阿胡—玛兹达的创造物，甚至引致阿里曼颤抖。密特拉神被看作正义的灵魂的保卫者，引领这些灵魂进入天堂，而魔鬼就把他们拖入地狱。因为天空之主，他担当了心理学的任务，引领正义的灵魂死后进入天堂。
According to Persian traditions, the god Mithras was actually incarnated into the human form of the Saviour expected by Zarathustra. Mithras was born of Anahita, an immaculate virgin mother once worshipped as a fertility goddess before the hierarchical reformation. Anahita was said to have conceived the Saviour from the seed of Zarathustra preserved in the waters of Lake Hamun in the Persian province of Sistan. Mithra's ascension to heaven was said to have occurred in 208 B.C., 64 years after his birth. Parthian coins and documents bear a double date with this 64 year interval.
依照波斯传统，密特拉神事实上是琐罗亚斯德所期待那样，作为一个人形救世主的化身而来。密特拉出生于安娜希塔，是一位完美的童贞女母亲，在圣统制改革之前是作为一位丰产女神来崇拜。安娜希塔据说是通过保存在波斯锡斯坦的哈曼湖的琐罗亚斯德的种子（精液）而受孕的，密特拉提升到天上据说是发生在公元前208年，他诞生之后64年。帕提亚的铜币和文献拥有一个六十四年间隔的男女图像。
Mithras was 'The Great King' highly revered by the nobility and monarchs, who looked upon him as their special protector. A great number of the nobility took theophorous (god-bearing) names compounded with Mithras. The title of the god Mithras was used in the dynasties of Pontus, Parthia, Cappadocia, Armenia and Commagene by emperors with the name Mithradates. Mithradates VI, king of Pontus (northern Turkey) in 120-63 B.C. became famous for being the first monarch to practice immunization by taking poisons in gradually increased doses. The terms mithridatism and mithridate (a pharmacological elixir) were named after him. The Parthian princes of Armenia were all priests of Mithras, and an entire district of this land was dedicated to the Virgin Mother Anahita. Many Mithraeums, or Mithraic temples, were built in Armenia, which remained one of the last strongholds of Mithraism.
密特拉神是伟大的国王，非常受到贵族和君主的尊敬，把他看作是他们的特别保护者。多数的贵族都把神的意义的名字与密特拉混淆在一起。密特拉神的头衔使用于本都，帕提亚，柯柏多西亚，亚美尼亚和克曼尼的王朝里，帝王的名字都与密特拉联结在一起，密特拉达特。密特拉达特四世，本都的国王（土耳其北部），在公元前120—63年之间，因为第一位国王因为逐渐增强服用毒药剂量而获得免疫力而闻名。术语抗毒性（通过毒药服用剂量渐增而产生）和（古代的）万应解毒剂（药理的炼金术）是以他来命名。亚美尼亚的帕提亚王子全是密特拉的祭司，这块土地的整个地区都献身于童贞母亲安娜希塔。很多太阳式洞穴，或者密特拉庙宇，都建立在亚美尼亚，是残留的其中一个密特拉教的最后要塞。
The largest near-eastern Mithtraeum was built in western Persia at Kangavar, dedicated to 'Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras'. Other Mithraic temples were built in Khuzestan and in Central Iran near present-day Mahallat, where at the temple of Khorheh a few tall columns still stand. Excavations in Nisa, later renamed Mithradatkirt, have uncovered Mithraic mausoleums and shrines. Mithraic sanctuaries and mausoleums were built in the city of Hatra in upper Mesopotamia. West of Hatra at Dura Europos, Mithraeums were found with figures of Mithras on horseback.
最大的近东太阳式洞穴是建立在西部波斯的康加瓦，献身于“安娜希塔，主密特拉的完美童贞母亲”。其他的密特拉庙宇，是建立在库兹斯坦和伊朗中部，在今天的摩诃莱特附近，在科拉赫的庙宇里，一些高柱仍然站立着。出土于尼撒，后来命名为密特拉达克特，打开了密特拉陵墓和神殿。密特拉的避难所和陵墓建立在美索不达米亚上部的赫拉城里。赫拉西部，发现的密特拉庙宇拥有密特拉在马背上的图像。
Persian Mithraism was more a collection of traditions and rites than a body of doctrines. However, once the Babylonians took the Mithraic rituals and mythology from the Persians, they thoroughly refined its theology. The Babylonian clergy assimilated Ahura-Mazda to the god Baal, Anahita to the goddess Ishtar, and Mithras to Shamash, their god of justice, victory and protection (and the sun god from whom King Hammurabi received his code of laws in the 18th century B.C.) As a result of the solar and astronomical associations of the Babylonians, Mithras later was referred to by Roman worshippers as 'Sol invictus', or the invincible sun.
波斯密特拉教更在乎收集传统和祭礼，更胜于教义。然而，一旦巴比伦人从波斯那里获得密特拉祭礼和神话，他们彻底地制定了它的神学。巴比伦的祭司把阿胡—玛兹达与神巴力作比较，安娜希塔是女神伊师塔，密特拉是他们的正义之神（太阳神，汉谟拉比国王于公元前十八世纪把他编入法典）沙马什。作为太阳和与巴比伦占星术联结的结果，密特拉后来被罗马崇拜者提及到，是“索尔”，或者不能征服的太阳。
The sun itself was considered to be "the eye of Mithras". The Persian crown, from which all present day crowns are derived, was designed to represent the golden sun-disc sacred to Mithras.
太阳本身被认为是“密特拉的眼睛”，波斯人的冠冕，所有现世的冠冕都源于此，设计来描绘神圣的密特拉的金黄色太阳状圆盘。
As a deity connected with the sun and its life-giving powers, Mithras was known as 'The Lord of the Wide Pastures' who was believed to cause the plants to spring forth from the ground. In the time of Cyrus and Darius the Great, the rulers of Persia received the first fruits of the fall harvest at the festival of Mehragan. At this time they wore their most brilliant clothing and drank wine. In the Persian calendar, the seventh month and the sixteenth day of each month were also dedicated to Mithras.
一种神性与太阳和它给予生命的力量联结，密特拉被认为是“贤明的草原之主”，被认为是植物从大地生长的原因。在赛勒斯和大流士国王时期，波斯的统治者被认为是美赫拉格节日上秋收的第一个果实。当时，他们穿上最华丽的衣服和喝啤酒。在波斯历法上，第七个月和每个月的第十六天都用来献身于密特拉神。
According to Persian mythology, Mithras was born of a virgin given the title 'Mother of God'. The God remained celibate throughout his life, and valued self-control, renunciation and resistance to sensuality among his worshippers. Mithras represented a system of ethics in which brotherhood was encouraged in order to unify against the forces of evil.
依照波斯神话，密特拉是由一位头衍为“神的母亲”的童贞女所生。这位神一生中仍然保持独身。价值于自我控制，弃绝和抵制他的崇拜者的引诱。密特拉被描绘成一种道德规范的体系，兄弟关系是被鼓励的，联成一体去对抗魔鬼的力量。
The Persians called Mithras 'The Mediator' since he was believed to stand between the light of Ahura-Mazda and the darkness of Ahriman. He was said to have 1000 eyes, expressing the conviction that no man could conceal his wrongdoing from the god. Mithras was known as the God of Truth, and Lord of Heavenly Light, and said to have stated "I am a star which goes with thee and shines out of the depths".
波斯人称密特拉为“仲载者，中保”，因为他被认为是站立在光明之神阿胡—玛兹达和黑暗之神阿里曼之间。据说他拥有一千双眼睛，表明了没有人可能在神面前隐瞒他做的坏事。密特拉被认为是真理之神，天上的光之主，据说声称“我是与你同在的一颗星，从深处射出来。”
Mithras was worshipped as guardian of arms, and patron of soldiers and armies. The handshake was developed by those who worshipped him as a token of friendship and as a gesture to show that you were unarmed. When Mithras later became the Roman god of contracts, the handshake gesture was imported throughout the Mediterranean and Europe by Roman soldiers.
密特拉作为士兵的武器而被崇拜，士兵和军队的资助者。握手是从他的崇拜者的联谊活动发展出来，作为一种姿态去表明你是非武装的。密特拉后来成为了罗马的盟约之神，握手姿态的意义通过罗马士兵而传播整个地中海和欧洲。
In Armenian tradition, Mithras was believed to shut himself up in a cave from which he emerged once a year, born anew. The Persians introduced initiates to the mysteries in natural caves, according to Porphyry, the third century neoplatonic philosopher. These cave temples were created in the image of the World Cave that Mithras had created, according to the Persian creation myth.
在亚美尼亚的传统，密特拉被认为是把自己关在洞穴，每年浮现一次，重新诞生。依照帕菲里，第三世纪的新柏拉图主义哲学家所说，波斯人开始把神秘的事物引进自然洞穴。依照波斯人的传统神话，这些洞穴庙宇是以密特拉创造的世界洞穴肖像而创造的。
As 'God of Truth and Integrity', Mithras was invoked in solemn oaths to pledge the fulfillment of contracts and punish liars. He was believed to maintain peace, wisdom, honour, prosperity, and cause harmony to reign among all his worshippers. According to the Avesta, Mithras could decide when different periods of world history were completed. He would judge mortal souls at death and brandish his mace over hell three times each day so that demons would not inflict greater punishment on sinners than they deserved.
作为“真理和完全的神”，密特拉调用了庄严的誓言去保证盟约的履行，惩罚说谎者。他被认为是和平，智慧，荣耀和繁荣的维系者，动机是和谐地统治所有他的崇拜者。依照《阿维斯陀》，密特拉能够决定何时结束不同时期的世界历史。他可以在人死后审判人的灵魂，每天在地狱挥舞权杖三次，因此魔鬼不会对罪人造成比他们应得的更大的惩罚。

水印

Mithraism In Eary Rome
密特拉教在早期罗马

Mithraism arrived fully mature at Rome with the return of the legions from the east in the first century BC. As an action god of armies and the champion of heroes, he appealed to the professional Roman soldiers, who carried his cult to Iberia, Britain, the German frontiers and Dacia.
密特拉教通过罗马军团在公元前一世纪从东部回归，在罗马充分地成熟。作为古代的军中之神和英雄的冠军，他出现在罗马职业军人里面，带着他的祭礼到伊比利亚，英国，德国边境和达卡。
The cult of Mithras began to attract attention at Rome about the end of the first century AD, perhaps in connection with the conquest of then-Zoroastrian Armenia. The earliest material evidence for the Roman worship of Mithras dates from that period, in a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the Roman province of Upper Pannonia (near the Danube River in modern Austria, near the Hungarian border). These soldiers fought against the Parthians and were involved in the suppression of the revolts in Jerusalem from 60 A.D. to about 70 A.D. When they returned home, they made Mithraic dedications, probably in the year 71 or 72.
密特拉教的祭礼在头一个世纪末开始引起罗马的注意，可能与征服当时亚美尼亚索罗亚斯德教徒有关。更早的原始证据表明罗马的密特拉神祭礼是源自这一时期，在一块罗马士兵用作记录的摊石标记上，来自潘坦内亚上游的一个罗马省份的一个军事要塞上（在今天奥地利的多瑙河附近，接近匈牙利边境）。这些士兵与帕提亚人作斗争，涉及镇压公元60年到公元70年的耶路撒冷起义。当他们回归，他们奉献于密特拉神，很可能是在公元71或72年。
Statius mentions the typical Mithraic relief in his Thebaid (Book i. 719,720), around A. D. 80; Plutarch's Life of Pompey also makes it clear that the worship of Mithras was well known at that time.
斯达纽斯在他的书典型地提到密特拉浮雕，大约是在公元八十年左右。希腊历史学家帕拉塔斯在普皮的生活也清晰地提到过密特拉崇拜在当时是十分流行。
By A. D. 200, Mithraism had spread widely through the army, and also among traders and slaves. The German frontiers have yielded most of the archaeological evidence of its prosperity: small cult objects connected with Mithra turn up in archaeological digs from Romania to Hadrian's Wall.
公元二百年，密特拉教通过军队而广泛地扩展，在商人和奴隶中也有。德国边境大多数的考古证据也表明它的繁荣：从罗马到哈里安城墙都可以找到细小的祭礼对象，与密特拉神相关联。

Mithraism in the Roman Empire
密特拉教在罗马帝国

At Rome, the third century emperors encouraged Mithraism, because of the support which it afforded to the divine nature of monarchs. Mithras thus became the giver of authority and victory to the Imperial House. From the time of Commodus, who participated in its mysteries, its supporters were to be found in all classes.
在罗马，第三世纪的君主鼓励密特拉教，因为给予了君主们神的本性。密特拉神因此而成为了皇帝房间的权威和胜利的给予者。克蒙突斯时期开始，分享了它的神秘，它的支持者在所有阶级都可以找到。
Concentrations of Mithraic temples are found on the outskirts of the Roman empire: along Hadrian's wall in northern England three mithraea have been identified, at Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Rudchester. The discoveries are in the University of Newcastle's Museum of Antiquities, where a mithraeum has been recreated. Recent excavations in London have uncovered the remains of a Mithraic temple near to the center of the once walled Roman settlement, on the bank of the Walbrook stream. Mithraea have also been found along the Danube and Rhine river frontier, in the province of Dacia (where in 2003 a temple was found in Alba-Iulia) and as far afield as Numidia in North Africa.
密特拉庙宇的中心可以在罗马帝国的边界找到：沿着英格兰北部的艾德里安，被确认了三位密特拉神，分别在Housesteads, Carrawburgh和Rudchester。发现物被陈列在纽卡斯尔大学的古代遗迹博物馆里面，一个太阳式的洞得到保养。近期在伦敦的沃布溪岸边，一个曾经是罗马殖民地城墙中心发现并且揭示了密特拉教庙宇的遗迹。密特拉教也发现在多瑙河和莱恩河的边境上，在达卡的一个省份内（2003年，在Alba-Iulia发现了一座庙宇），远至北非努米底亚的区域。
As would be expected, Mithraic ruins are also found in the port city of Ostia, and in Rome the capital, where as many as seven hundred mithraea may have existed (a dozen have been identified). Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains: more than 75 pieces of sculpture, 100 Mithraic inscriptions, and ruins of temples and shrines in all parts of the city and its suburbs. A well-preserved late 2nd century mithraeum, with its altar and built-in stone benches, originally built beneath a Roman house (as was a common practice), survives in the crypt over which has been built the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome.
正如所期待，密特拉教的废墟也在奥西塔城的港内和罗马首都内找到，有七百多密特拉神的遗迹存在（一打已经被鉴别）。它在罗马的重要性可以从丰富的纪念碑遗迹中判断：超过75块的雕刻，100个密特拉教碑铭，庙宇和神祠的遗迹在城市和市郊的每一个部分。一个保存良好的二世纪后期的太阳式洞穴，连同着祭坛和固定的石造长椅子，最初是建造在一座罗马房子底下（这是普遍的惯例），幸存地在罗马圣克莱门长方形会堂的地下室内。

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密特拉教在其他国家

India--Hindu
印度
Mithra is an Indo-Iranian sun god. In Hinduism he is praised as the binomial Mitra-Varuna. A hymn is also dedicated to him alone in Rig Veda. He is the Lord of Heavenly light, protector of truth, and is invoked when a contract or oath is taken.
密特拉是一个印度—伊朗语系的太阳神。在印度教，他被认为是二分性的密特拉—伐楼拿而赞扬。利俱吠陀也有一首独一无二献身于他的诗。他是神圣之光的主，当履行盟约和誓言的时候，是真理的保护者和调用者。

Babylonian
巴比伦
The Babylonians also incorporated their belief in destiny into the Mithraic worship of Zurvan, the Persian god of infinite time and father of the gods Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman. They superimposed astrology, the use of the zodiac, and the deification of the four seasons onto the Persian rites of Mithraism.
巴比伦人也把他们的命数与密特拉教的祖瓦——波斯无限时间之神和阿胡玛兹达以及阿里曼等众神之父的祭礼合成一体。他们有占星学阶层，利用十二宫图，把四季神格化成波斯人的密特拉教祭礼。

China
中国
Mithra is also seen in Chinese mythology, where he is known as The Friend. Mithra is represented as a Military General in Chinese statues, and is considered to be the friend of man in this life and his protector against evil in the next.
密特拉在中国也可以见得到，他被认为是朋友。密特拉在中国雕像是被描绘成一位军中将领，被认为是人这一生的朋友和来世防止邪灵的保护者。

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The Demise of Mithraism
密特拉教的衰落

Worship of the sun (Sol) did exist within the indigenous Roman pantheon, as a minor part, and always as a pairing with the moon. However, in the East, there were many solar deities, including the Greek Helios, who was largely displaced by Apollo. By the 3rd century, the popular cults of Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the syncretic cult known as Sol Invictus, and in 274 CE the emperor Aurelian (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of Sol Invictus official. Subsequently Aurelian built a splendid new temple in Rome, and created a new body of priests to support it (pontifex solis invicti), attributing his victories in the East to Sol Invictus. But none of this affected the existing cult of Mithras, which remained a non-official cult. Some senators held positions in both cults.
太阳神（索尔）崇拜存在于罗马本土的万神殿里面，作为一个较小的部分，经常与月亮成对。然而，在东方，有很多太阳神，包括希腊的太阳神，主要地是以阿波罗来命名。在第三世纪，阿波罗和密特拉的通俗祭礼开始融入于人所共知的索尔祭礼里面，在公元274年，乌里安皇帝（母亲已经是一位太阳神的女祭司），在官方正式地举行索尔的祭礼。后来，乌里安在罗马建立了一个辉煌的新宫殿，创造了一个祭司的新身体去支持它（古罗马的太阳神大祭司），把他对征服东方的胜利归结于索尔的崇拜。但这一切都没有影响到密特拉神的祭礼，仍然保留一个非官方的祭礼。一些古罗马元老在两种祭礼上都持有一夕之位。
However, this period was also the beginning of the decline of Mithraism, as Dacia was lost to the empire, and invasions of the northern peoples resulted in the destruction of temples along a great stretch of frontier, the main stronghold of the cult. The spread of Christianity through the Empire, boosted by Constantine's tolerance of it from around 310 CE, also took its toll - particularly as Christianity admitted women while Mithraism did not, which obviously limited its potential for rapid growth.
然而，这也是密特拉教没落的开始，当达卡亚失去了帝国，北方人的入侵导致大多数延伸到边境的神殿，祭礼的主要要塞，受到毁坏。基督教通过罗马而传播，公元310年左右起得到君士坦丁皇帝的容忍而得到推进，也受到了它的引诱——尤其是基督教接受女性，而密特拉教却不，这显然限制了它的高速增长。
The reign of Julian, who attempted to restore the faith, and suppress Christianity, and the usurpation of Eugenius renewed the hopes of its devotees, but the decree secured by Theodosius in 394, totally forbidding non-Christian worship, may be considered the end of Mithraism's formal public existence.Mithraism still survived in certain cantons of the Alps into the 5th century, and clung to life with more tenacity in its Eastern homelands. Its eventual successor, as the carrier of Persian religion to the West, was Manichaeism, which competed strenuously with Christianity for the status of world-religion.
朱利安的统治，尝试去恢复原有信仰，镇压基督教，伊格纽斯的篡夺更新了它的热爱家的希望，但法令却是394年由西奥多修斯通过，完全禁止非基督教的崇拜，被认为是结束了密特拉教的公众形式。密特拉教仍然存在于五世纪Alps的某些教条里，在东方本土有更强的生命力。作为一个把波斯宗教传送到西方的一个携带者，它的最后继承者是摩尼教，费力地与基督教竞争世界宗教的地位。