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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 9487859, member: 2844&quot;]I know of no evidence of the existence of Mithraic swords.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is a post on pinterest suggesting that a presumed gold sword from Hindu Kush could possibly be Mithraic. The poster based this on his assumption that the hilt is a bull&#039;s head with a snake, but that is pure speculation. I don&#039;t see a bull&#039;s head in his photo, and snake imagery on swords and daggers is common. The poster sounds very excited but not very knowledgeable.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are many Mithraic images of Gods killing bulls with daggers or swords. However, there is no evidence of mortals copying their Gods in ritual. Ritual acts in general didn&#039;t play a great part in Mithraism.</p><p>The Roman Mithras cult was largely a soldier&#039;s cult. As [USER=8267]@2manybooks[/USER] said, Roman swords are different.</p><p><br /></p><p>To me this sword looks like a replica, or inspired by ancient swords much older than Roman times.</p><p>It doesn&#039;t look Roman, and it doesn&#039;t look like an archaeological bronze to me. The photo 2many posted is of an archaeological bronze, I hope you can see the difference.</p><p><br /></p><p>People in the Middle East have to make a living. They have known for a long time that Westerners love the thrill of owning ancient art, and there is money to be made, especially if there is a good story as well. Many ancient sites were looted, especially in Luristan, Iran. But there are also many replicas that are sold as upmarket souvenirs. Some people sell these replicas as the real deal, and there is of course a fakes &#039;industry&#039;.</p><p><br /></p><p>The good thing is, and I hope that can bring you some relief, it wasn&#039;t looted from an ancient site or from a museum that was ransacked by so-called IS.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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