# @gettymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxSz55Pm-E
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34228079-gettymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9226c92732.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-08-02T20:17:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty (@gettymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/gettymuseum

## Caption

This post is for all the @assassinscreed_US fans!

If you’ve played “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” you’ll know that the main character Eivor, a fierce Viking warrior, goes inside a temple and sees a relief of a god slaying a bull.

The god is Mithras, a Roman deity derived from the Iranian god Mithra. Ancient Iran’s Parthian Empire (ca. 247 BC–AD 224), and the Roman Empire in the west, were two great superpowers at the time. They were often at war with one another, but Parthia and Rome also exchanged art and ideas.

New religious cults developed in the Roman Empire and one popular religion—often followed by Roman soldiers—centered on the worship of Mithras. The Romans understood little of the authentic Iranian tradition and instead created their own complex mythology.

This mythology is mostly lost but can be seen in the sculptures and paintings that decorated the many Mithraeums (temples to Mithras) that existed all over the Roman empire, from Britain to Syria. In these scenes, Mithras is typically depicted in Persian dress, heroically sacrificing a heavenly bull.

Enjoy some real examples of art from Mithraeums in Getty Villa Museum’s exhibition, “Persia Ancient and the Classical World” through this Sunday, August 8.

Images:

1. Mithras Sacrificing a Bull, 2nd century AD, Roman. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities

2. Screengrab of Mithras sacrificing a bull as seen in @Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)

3. Screengrab of Mithra’s temple outdoor view as seen in @Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)

🏷️: #AssassinsCreed #ACValhalla #AC15 #VideoGames #GettyVillaMuseum #GettyPersia #AncientArt #PersianEmpire #AncientIran #Iran #WorldHistory #AncientWorld #Antiquities

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## Tags

gettyvillamuseum, ac15, persianempire, ancientworld, ancientart, acvalhalla, gettypersia, videogames, antiquities, assassinscreed, iran, ancientiran, worldhistory

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