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 . After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia 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 credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard 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.

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  • 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 . After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia 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 credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard 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. 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. In 1936 Franz Cumont was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences. In 1947, Franz Cumont donated his library and papers to the Academia Belgica in Rome, where they are accessible to researchers. His works include Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra is the study that made his international reputation, by its originality and massive documentation. Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain 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. 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. (en)
  • Cumont fu professore a Gand, tra il 1899 e il 1910 e conservatore del Museo reale di Bruxelles. Diresse importanti scavi nell'Asia anteriore. Nel corso dei suoi studi, si dedicò soprattutto alle religioni nel mondo romano, ponendo all'attenzione le correlazioni tra il culto mitriaco mediterraneo e il mazdeismo orientale. Tra le sue pubblicazioni spiccano: Le religioni orientali nel paganesimo romano (1929) Testi e monumenti figurati relativi ai misteri di Mitra Astrologia e religione tra i Greci e i Romani L'al di là nel paganesimo romano Lux perpetua (it)
  • Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (* 3. Januar 1868 in Aalst, Belgien; † 25. August 1947 in Brüssel) war ein belgischer Klassischer Archäologe und Religionshistoriker, Philologe und Epigraphiker, der diese oft isolierten Spezialdisziplinen für die Erforschung der synkretistischen Mysterienreligionen der Spätantike, vor allem des Mithraskultes, vereinte. (de)
  • Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3. januar 1863 – 25. august 1947) var en belgisk arkeolog og historiker, filolog og student av epigrafi, og som førte disse ofte isolerte spesialstudiene sammen i studiet av synkretiske mysteriereligioner fra senantikken, spesielt den romerske Mithras-kulten. Cumont tok sin akademiske grad ved Universitet i Gent i Nederland med PhD i 1887. Etter å mottatt et kongelig reisestipend begynte han med arkeologi i Syria, Pontos og Armenia og publiserte sine resultater i 1906. Han er best kjent for sine studier om østlige mysteriereligioners påvirkning, spesielt Mithras-kulten, på Romerriket. Cumonts internasjonale akkreditiver var utmerkede, men hans offentlig forsiktige var ikke nok. I 1910 avviste baron Edouard Descamps, den katolske minister for vitenskap og kunst ved Universitet i Gent, å godkjenne fakultets enstemmige anbefaling av Cumont for verv i romersk historie selv om Cumont hadde vært professor der siden 1906. Det kom igang en omfattende press og agitasjon fra studentorganisasjonene til fordel for Cumont ettersom avslaget ble sett på som åpenbar religiøs innblanding i universitets styring. Da en annen kandidat ble navngitt i 1912 sa Cumont opp sine posisjoner ved universitet og ved Det kongelige museum i Brussel, forlot Belgia og delte deretter sin tid mellom Paris og Roma. Cumont bidro til flere standardleksikon, publiserte omfattende og i 1922, under de pressede politiske forholdene, utførte arkeologiske utgravninger i Eufrat ved Dura-Europos, et tidligere ukjent sted. Han publiserte sin forskning herfra i 1926. Han var medlem av de fleste europeiske akademier. I 1936 ble han æret med prisen Prix Francqui for humanistiske studier. I 1947 donerte han sitt bibliotek og papirer til Academia Belgica i Rome hvor de er tilgjengelige for forskere. Hans verker omfatter blant annet: Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra, som er den forskningen som ga ham internasjonale berømmelse ved dens originalitet og massive dokumentasjonen. Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain, var forsiktig uttrykt, men det korrigerte mange feilaktige oppfatninger av hedenske, ikke-kristne ritualer som kristne apologister hadde gjort. Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans Etter hans død har kritikk av hans fortolkning av Mithras-kulten som etterkommer av den iranske guddommen Mithra blitt mer hørbar og kom til overflaten ved Den første internasjonale kongress for mithraiske studier i Manchester, England, i 1971. Moderne fortolkninger av Mithras-kulten som den astronomiske okseslakteren har siden bevegd seg videre fra Cumonts i sin tid innovative fortolkninger, men hans dokumentasjon er fortsatt bedømt som svært verdifulle. I 1997 feiret Det kongelige bibliotek i Brussel 50. årsdagen for Cumonts død med en konferanse om synkretismen i antikkens middelhavsverden. (no)
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  • 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 . After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia 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 credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard 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. (en)
  • Cumont fu professore a Gand, tra il 1899 e il 1910 e conservatore del Museo reale di Bruxelles. (it)
  • Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (* 3. Januar 1868 in Aalst, Belgien; † 25. August 1947 in Brüssel) war ein belgischer Klassischer Archäologe und Religionshistoriker, Philologe und Epigraphiker, der diese oft isolierten Spezialdisziplinen für die Erforschung der synkretistischen Mysterienreligionen der Spätantike, vor allem des Mithraskultes, vereinte. (de)
  • Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3. januar 1863 – 25. (no)
rdfs:label
  • Franz Cumont (en)
  • Franz Cumont (it)
  • Franz Cumont (de)
  • Franz Cumont (no)
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