__NOTOC__ Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3 January 1868 in

Aalst, Belgium Aalst (; , ; Brabantian dialect, Brabantian: ''Oilsjt'') is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located on the Dender River, about no ...

– 20 August 1947 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and student of

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, notably

Mithraism Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mit ...

Biography

Cumont was a graduate of the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

(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 religion Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries (), were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characteristic of these religious schools was th ...

s, particularly

, on the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. Cumont's international credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard Descamps, the Catholic Minister of Sciences and Arts at the

, 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. 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 Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian Empire, Parthian, and Ancient Rome, Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Al-Salihiyah, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, S ...

; he published his research there in 1926. He was a member of most of the European academies. In 1936 Franz Cumont was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences. He was elected an international member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1940. In 1947, Franz Cumont donated his library and papers to the Academia Belgica in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where they are accessible to researchers. His works include *'' Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum'' (1898–1953) *''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 Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, 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'', published in 1912 (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. In 1997 the Royal Library, Brussels, observed the fiftieth anniversary of Cumont's death appropriately, with a colloquium on

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

in the Mediterranean world of Antiquity. In 2010 the Belgian publisher

Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

started an edition of Cumont's collected works. The volumes are published in two series as 'major' and 'minor' writings identified by the acronyms BICUMA and BICUMI.Bibliotheca Cumontiana
Scripta Maiora et Scripta Minora, ed. by various, Brepols, 2010 -

References

Bibliotheca Cumontiana

*2010 ''Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain'', BICUMA 1 *2010 ''Lux perpetua'', BICUMA 2 *2013 ''Les mystères de Mithra'', BICUMA 3 *2015 ''Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des Romains'', BICUMA 4 *2017 ''Comment la Belgique fut romanisée'', BICUMA 5 *2015 ''Astrologie'', BICUMI 4 *2017 ''Manichéisme'', BICUMI 6 *2020 ''Doura-Europos'', BICUMI 7 * F. Cumont, ''Lux perpetua'', B. Rochette, A. Motte (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols Publishers, 2010, * F. Cumont, ''Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain'', C. Bonnet, F. Van Haeperen (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols Publishers, 2010,

Works by Cumont online

* *

by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com

by Franz Cumont (English translation) at sacred-texts.com

by Franz Cumont at sacred-texts.com

Critiques

David Ulansey's

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

al interpretation of Mithraism *

External links

Academia Belgica:
Franz Cumont

Franz Cumont {{DEFAULTSORT:Cumont, Franz 1868 births 1947 deaths Academic staff of Ghent University Belgian classical scholars Belgian archaeologists 20th-century Belgian historians Ghent University alumni People from Aalst, Belgium Corresponding fellows of the British Academy 19th-century Belgian historians International members of the American Philosophical Society