Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (Aalst, Belgium, January 3, 1868 - Brussels, August 25, 1947) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism. Cumont was a graduate of the University of Ghent (PhD, 1887). After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia (published in 1906) and in Syria, but he is best known for his studies on the impact of Eastern mystery religions, particularly Mithraism, on the Roman Empire. Cumont's international credenbtials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron E. Descamps, the Catholic Minister of Sciences and Arts at the University of Ghent, refused to approve the faculty's unanimous recommendation of Cumont for the chair in Roman History, Cumont having been a professor there since 1906. There was a vigorous press campaign and student agitation in Cumont's favor, because the refusal was seen as blatant religious interference in the University's life. When another candidate was named, in 1912, Cumont resigned his positions at the University and at the Royal Museum in Brussels, left Belgium and henceforth divided his time between Paris and Rome. Aalst is a municipality on the Dender River, 19 miles northwest from Brussels. ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... Epigraphy (Greek, επιγραφή - written upon) is the study of inscriptions engraved into stone or other permanent materials, or cast in metal, the science of classifying them as to cultural context and date, elucidating them and assessing what conclusions can be deduced from them. ... Mithraism (in Persian: مهرپرستی) was an ancient mystery religion prominent from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD. It was based on worship of the god Mithras and derives from the Persian and Indic god Mithra and other Zoroastrian deities. ... Ghent University (in Dutch, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated UGent) is one of the two large Flemish universities. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ... Mithraism (in Persian: مهرپرستی) was an ancient mystery religion prominent from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD. It was based on worship of the god Mithras and derives from the Persian and Indic god Mithra and other Zoroastrian deities. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine...

He contributed to many standard encyclopedias, published voluminously and in 1922, under stressful political conditions, conducted digs on the shore of the Euphrates at the previously unknown site of Dura-Europos; he published his research there in 1926. He was a member of most of the European academies. Dura-Europos (Fort Europos) was a Hellenistic and Roman walled city built on an escarpment 90 meters above the banks of the Euphrates river. ...

His works include

• Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra (1894-1900, with an English translation in 1903) is the study that made his international reputation, by its originality and massive documentation.
• Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain (1906, widely translated)
• After-Life in Roman Paganism, lectures delivered at Yale University, published in 1922, was cautiously expressed, but it corrected many false impressions of pagan rite that Christian apologists had made.
• Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans (available in a Dover reprint)

After his death, critics of his interpretation of Mithras as the descendant of the Iranian deity Mithra began to be heard, and surfaced at the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies in Manchester England, 1971. Modern interpretation of Mithras as the astronomical bull-slayer have continued to move away from Cumont's interpretations, though his documentation remains valuable. Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

In 1997 the Royal Library, Brussels, observed the fiftieth anniversary of Cumont's death appropriately, with a colloquium on syncretism in the Mediterranean world of Antiquity. Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ...

External links

• Academia Belgica: Franz Cumont (in Dutch)
• Academia Belgica: Franz Cumont (in French)

Works by Cumont online

• Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com
• The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com
• Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans, by Franz Cumont at sacred-texts.com

Critiques

• David Ulansey, "The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras" David Ulansey's zodiacal interpretation of Mithraism