This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience.
Find out more on how we use cookies in our privacy policy.

 
Monumentum

Mercury of Stockstadt

The Stockstadt Mercury carries a purse and a small child around which a snake is coiled.
  • Mercury of Stockstadt

    Mercury of Stockstadt
    Jona Lendering 

  • Mercury of Stockstadt (detail)

    Mercury of Stockstadt (detail)
    Jona Lendering 

 
The New Mithraeum
21 Jan 2022
Updated on Sep 2023

The full article is reserved for our members.

Log in or create a free account to access the entire site.

The wings on his head as well as the purse in his right hand identify the god as Mercury. He wears wings in his role as messenger of the gods and carries the purse as god of trade. With his left hand, he hold a small boy, around whom coils a snake. Perhaps this is Bacchus, the god of wine, who Mercury brought to the Nymphs to raise. A ram stands at the feet of the god.

Many votive inscriptions and statues of Mercury are found in Mithras temples. This is especially common in the Germanic-Gallic regions. One inscription even mentions a 'Deus Invictus Mithras Mercurius' (Invincible God

Both…