'Internationally significant' Roman altar stones are unveiled

Two rare Roman altars discovered when a cricket pavilion was dug up have gone on display.

The “internationally significant” stones were found in Lewisvale Park, Musselburgh last March and have been lying face down in storage ever since.

It was not until this month that the stones were turned over and the engravings revealed. It is hoped that the pictures will help uncover more about the Roman occupation of Inveresk.

They are the furthest north that dedications to the Mithras religion have been found and the altars are unique in Scotland.

The first stone has side panels showing a lyre and a griffon as well as pictures of a jug and bowl. The front is inscribed with the altar to the god Mithras.

The second stone shows female heads wearing headdresses which represent the four seasons. In the centre is a carving of the face of a God with holes for the eyes, mouth and solar rays. The rear shaft is hollow and would have had a light in it which would shine through the holes.

John Gooder, operations director at AOC Archaeology Group, is the archaeologist who discovered the altar stones.

He said: “It was a fantastic moment when I first realised that the stones we were cleaning were in fact ornately sculptured Roman altars.

“Their survival is testament to the merits of our statutory protection system and the planning process, which will also ensure that they are appropriately analysed, conserved and curated and that information about them is available to everybody in due course.”

Although the discovery of the altar stones held up the construction of the cricket pavilion it is now finished and will be open for the new season.

East Lothian Council said it is excited about the discovery of the stones as they reveal more about Inveresk’s past.

Councillor Ruth Currie said: “This is enormously exciting and its significance could be huge. These beautiful artefacts could reveal a whole new strand of East Lothian’s history and possibly even shed light on the way the Romans lived on an international scale. ...

via 'Internationally significant' Roman altar stones are unveiled | Edinburgh and East | STV News.

Mithra was the Roman sun god.  Read about some debated similarities between Mithra and Jesus.  Did the Roman sun god morph into the son of god over time? Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." and is not the sun also the light of the world?

Origin of SUN-day

... Sun worship infects ancient Israel: In the ancient world, 'sun worship' was one of the most common forms of pagan idolatry. Immediately after Israel left Egypt, God warned His people against being "driven to worship the sun." Deuteronomy 4:19…..' And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.' ….. Yet Israel later yielded to temptation, compromised with the nations around them, and dedicated their "horses ... to the sun." 2 Kings 23:11. During a time of revival, King Josiah purged much of Israel and "burned the chariots of the sun with fire." 2 Kings 23:11. Before the Babylonian captivity, many Israelite leaders rejected their Creator, yielded again to idolatry, and "worshipped the sun toward the east." Ezekiel 8:16……' And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.' …… Sounds a lot like the 'sunrise service' many churches have at easter.

At the same time, God declared that they "hid their eyes from My Sabbaths." Ezekiel 22:26. Thus ancient Israel shifted from Sabbath keeping to sun worship.

Sun worship, the day of the sun, and Sunday: The Romans called the sun god Mithra and Apollo, and they especially worshiped the sun on "the first day of the week," also called "Dies Solis" (Latin), which means, day of the sun. The name Sunday was adopted because……'this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or to its worship. The first day of the week.' Webster's Dictionary; 1929 edition.

"The retention of the old pagan name of Dies Solis, for Sunday is, in a great measure, owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects - pagan and Christian alike - as the 'venerable' day of the sun." Arthur P. Stanley, History of the Eastern Church, p. 184 …… "On the venerable day of the Sun let the Magistrates and the people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." Edict of Constantine A.D. 321

The names of days in today's English come from ancient paganism, where they were originally associated with celestial objects and heathen gods.

dies solis...................Sun day .......................................................Sunday
dies Lunae................Moon day....................................................Monday
dies Martis...............Mars's day...................Tiw's day...............Tuesday
dies Mercurii ...........Mercury's day............Woden's day..........Wednesday
dies Jovis..................Jupiter's day.............. Thor's day.............Thursday
dies Veneris..............Venus's day................ Frigg's day.............Friday
dies Saturni..............Saturn's day

via Endrtimes