Mystery of 1,700-Year-Old Mithras Temple in Diyarbakır Revealed

Archaeological excavations at Zerzevan Castle, a 3,000-year-old Roman military settlement in Turkey's Diyarbakır province, have revealed that a subterranean temple dedicated to the Roman mystery cult of Mithras was sealed off 1,700 years ago. The discovery sheds new light on the region's rich history.

The temple, located near the village of Demirölçek in the Çınar district, is considered the last discovered Mithras temple globally. Ongoing excavations, supported by various governmental and institutional bodies since 2014, have unearthed numerous artifacts, including defensive walls, watchtowers, a church, administrative buildings, storage facilities, rock tombs, water channels, and cisterns. The site, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2020, also features a 400-person underground shelter and secret passages.

Crucially, inscriptions found at the entrance of the Mithras temple, uncovered in 2017, have been deciphered by Professor Mehmet Sait Toprak of Mardin Artuklu University. Through epigraphic and philological analysis of ancient Aramaic texts, dating the inscriptions to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, it was determined that the temple was sealed by Christians during the late Roman Empire period, coinciding with the rise of Christianity.

Professor Aytaç Coşkun, head of the excavation team, stated that Zerzevan Castle served as a significant border garrison for the Roman Empire. The discovery of the Mithras temple and its subsequent sealing provides evidence of the religious shifts occurring during that era. The presence of coins found during the sealing period further supports the timeline of the temple's closure.