CIMRM 162 - Mithraeum (?) with inscription, bulls head, phallus. Tiddis, Algeria.

A cave at Tiddis in Algeria, with an inscription which may refer to Mithras, and two unusual pieces of iconography. According to C.M. Daniels, the site is "doubtfully Mithraic".¹

I(nvicto) M(ithrae) cultore/s de suo a s/olo // aedificarun[t]

To the unconquered Mithras, his devotees built this from their own funds.

ILAlg. 2, 3576. 2nd-3rd c. CE.

CIMRM entry

CASTELLUM TIDDITANUM 162. Inscription fixed into a wall beside a cave, hewn out in the rock. This cave lies about 40 meters South of the gate of Tiddis-Kheneg along the paved main-road. RA (S. 6) XX, 1942-43 (Rev. ép.). 175 No. 87; Carcopino in CRAI 1942, 309; Berthier in Rev. Const. LXV, 1942, 146; Rev. Afr. 1945, 16ff No. 3. L.H. 0.05-0.03. I(nvicto) M(ithrae) cultore/s de suo a s/olo / (a)edifi[c]arun(t). Berthier believes, that the Mithraeum has been in the cave. The vault is almost dome-shaped and in front of the cave there is room enough for a possible adjacent temple. Also a phallos was found here, represented on a piece of rock in the form of parallelepiped (H. 0.49). But this phallos has been represented in such way, that it bears a great resemblance to a cock: "il est en effet dressé sur pattes munies d'ergots". Besides, a bull's head has been found above which an infula, hewn out in stone (H. 0.77 Br. 0.51 D. 0.46). The hypothesis of Berthier's is not without foundation. Yet it is oour opinion, that from these two finds only it may not be concluded that the sanctuary was exactly on, this spot. Berthier, to whom we are very grateful for the information given, visited the excavations of Tiddis in 1945 and. got the impression, that another Mithraeum came to light (Rev. Afr. 1945, 20) : "En effet, d'une petite nef au milieu de laquelle se trouvaient quatre bases de colonnes, un escalier de sept marches conduit a une chambre rectangulaire surélevee et orientee au Nord. A quinze metres de ce monument s'ouvre une grotte retaillee ou l'on accède également par sept marches. Entre la grotte et la salle ou se trouve l'escalier on voit une citerne." I have not yet received any further details regarding this question.