Mosaic: Mors Voluntaria,

early 3rd century CE

This floor mosaic was excavated in 1930 at the site of the ancient city of Antioch, in what is today southern Turkey. At some point a pipeline was cut across the mosaic, damaging the image. Because the structure in which it was discovered contained other mosaics with apparent cultic themes, scholars named it the "House of the Mysteries of Isis." Traditionally interpreted as a representation of the induction rituals of the cult of Isis, the mosaic offers rare insight into the secret rites of one of the so-called mystery religions that proliferated in the later Roman Empire. A young man stands between the god Hermes on the right and a female figure on the left. He appears to be moving toward the doorway on the far right, but has paused and glances back at the female, who seems to urge him onward. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, is identified by his winged sandals and the snake-headed wand, or caduceus, held in his missing left hand. The youth is most likely the mystes, or new initiate, in the ritual taking place, as indicated by his bare feet and the cloth draped over his left shoulder, which are attested for initiates into some mystery cults. His headdress, which consists of a large jewel affixing a twisted cloth with cascading ribbons, is similar to those in images of the initiates of the cult of Dionysos. The identity of the female figure is uncertain. Her white robe and dark mantle are generally consistent with depictions of both goddesses and priestesses, as the latter frequently took on the persona of their cult deity during rituals. If she is Isis, then the scene may illustrate the mors voluntaria, or voluntary death, in which the mystes ritualistically travels through Hades (represented by the half-open door) to be reborn through the grace of the goddess. The woman’s identification as Isis is uncertain, however, and it has been suggested, instead, that she is Demeter, who also was associated with rituals of death and rebirth.