MITHREDATII
tarded. In modem tinies Christian writers have been again induced to look favorably upon the assertion that some of our iscclesiastical usages (e. g. the institution of the Christmas festival) originated in the cultus of Mith- raism. Some writers, who refuse to accept the Chris- tian religion as of supernatural origin, have even gone so-far as to institute a close comparison with the founder of Christianity ; and Dupuis and others, going even be- yond this, have not hesitated to pronounce the Gospel simply a hrunch of Mithraism. The ablest reply to these theories we have from Crouzer and Hardwick.
Among the cliitf authorities on this subject are Sainte-Croix, Ji(c/ii i-c/k s /u's/ariques et critiques sur les mi/steres dii jiiii/in/l.<iiii . cillfrd l)y Sylvcstre de Sacy (Par- is, 1817); liunioui. ,s/(/- /r Vucna. p. 351 sq. ; Lajard, JRecherches sur h' culir juih/ir it hs mt/sieres de Mithra (Paris, 1847-8); (>. .^ItilkT, Dtukmalcr d. ulteii Kunst ; Creuzer, Mythohyie u. Syinbolik (id ed.), i, 238, 261, 341, 714 sq. ; id. Das Mitkreuni (Heidelb. 1838); Schwenk, MytJwlogie der Perser (Frankf. 1850) ; Seel, Die Mithrus- geheimnisse (Aarau, 1823) ; \i&vamex,Mithriaka (Vienna, 1834) ; Dupuis, Orit/ine tie tous les cultes, i, 37 ; Hard- wick, Christ and other Masters, ii, 431-438. See Pau- SEEs; Zendavesta. (J. H.W.)
Mith'redath (Heb. Mitkredatk', r/linr, from the Pers. given by Mithras, see Gesenius, Thesaur. lleh. p. 832, and comp. the Gr. form of the name Mi5rpiSdTr]Q, 'Lat.Mithridates; Sept. Mi^pi5uTi]c and Mi^paSaTi)^), the name of two Persian officers after the exile.
1. The " treasurer" C^TS) of king Cyrus, commis- sioned by him to restore the sacred vessels of the Tem- ple to Sheshbazzar, the Jewish chief (Ezra i, 8). B.C. 636.
2. One of the governors of Samaria, who wrote to king Artaxerxes, or Smerdis, charging the Jews with rebellious designs in rebuilding Jerusalem (Ezra iv, 7). B.C. 522.
Mithrida'tes (Mi^piSaTr^r or Mi^padarriQ), the Grrecized form {a. 1 Esdr. ii, 11 ; h. I Esdr. ii, 16) of the Heb. name Mithredatii (q. v.)
Mitre is the rendering in the Auth. Vers, of the Hebrew word rSSIi'O Qnitsne'pheth, something 7-olled around the head), spoken especially of the turban or head-dress of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii, 4, 37, 39 ; xxix, 6; xxxix, 28, 31; Lev.viii, 9; Kvi, 4; for its form, see Josephus, Ant. in, 7, 8; Braun, De Vesfitu sacerd. Heb. p. 624 sq. ; TcippfFer, De tiaris summi et minormn sace7-dotum,Yitemb. 1722 ; Funcke, De tiara pontif. Ebr. Gies. 1728), once of a roj^al crown ("diadem," Ezek. xxi, 26) ; also r|"^2^ (tsaniph', from the same root), spo- ken of a tiara or head-band, e. g. of men (Job xxix, 14, "diadem"), of women (Isa. iii, 23, "hood"), of the high- priest (Zech. iii, 5), and once of the king (Isa. Ixii, 3, "diadem," where the text has rjillS or Cj^iJi). See Bonnet; Crown; Priest.
MITRE is the name given also to the head-dress worn in solemn Church services bj' the pope, the bish- ops, abbots, and certain other prelates of the Church of Rome. The name, as probably the ornament itself, is bor- rowed from the Orient- als, although, in its present form, it is not in use in the Greek Church, or in any oth- er of the churches of the various Eastern rites. The Western mitre is a tall, tongue-shaped cap, terminating in a twofold point, which is supposed to symbolize the " cloven tongues," in the form of which the Holy Ghost was imparted to the apostles, and is fur- nished with two flaps, which fall behind over the shoul- ders.
587
MITTARELLI
Roman Catholic Mitre.
Opinion is much divided as to the date at whicli the mitre first came into use. Eusebius, Gregory of Nazi- anzum, Epiphanius, and others speak of an ornamented head-dress worn in the church; but there is no very early monument or pictorial representation which exhib- its any head-covering at all resembling the modern mi- tre. A statue of St. Peter, said to have been erected in the seventh century, bears this mark of distinction in the shape of a round, high, and pyramidal mitre, such' as those which the popes have since worn, and offers, perhaps, one of the earliest instances of its usage in churches. The most ancient mitres were very low and simple, being not more than from three to six inches in elevation, and they thus continued till the end of the thirteenth century. Since the 9th century the mitre is foimd to have been in use quite extensively. From the time of Leo IX until Innocent IV the mitre was worn by cardinals, and instances are recorded in which the popes granted permission to certain bishops to wear the mitre; as, for example, Leo IV to Anschar, bishop of Hamburg, in the ninth centurv. In the fourteenth century, when the mitre had come into general use, they gradually increased in height to a foot or more, and became more superbly enriched ; their outlmes also presented a degree of convexity by which they were distinguished from the older mitres.
The mitre, as an ornament, seems to have descended in the earliest times from bishop to bishop. Among the Cottonian MSS. is an order, dated Jtdy 1, 4 Henrj' VI, for the delivery to archlishop Chichely of the mitre which had been worn by his predecessor. It was in some cases a very costlj' ornament. Archbishop Peche- ham's new mitre, in 12S8, cost £173 As. Id. The mate- rial used in the manufacture of the mitre is very vari- ous, often consisting of the most costly stuffs, studded with gold and precious stones. The color and material differ according to the festival or the service in which the mitre is used, and there is a special prayer in the consecration service of bishops, used in investing the new bishop with his mitre. The mitre of the pope is of peculiar form, and is generally called by the name of tiara (q. v.). There are four different mitres which are now used by the pope. These are more or less richly adorned, according to the nature of the festivals on which' they are to be worn. The two horns of the mi- tre are generally taken to be an allusion to the cloven tongues of fire which rested on each of the apostles on the day of Pentecost,