ID for Head wearing a Phrygian Helmet?

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

Lead; 31mm/32.7gm

A friend of mine sent me this odd artifact for photography. I asked him what it was and he could only tell me that he purchased it
at a trade show 25 years ago, in a lot of random artifacts. FYI - the base is flat and as cast, not broken.

As seen in the photo, the head appears to be wearing either a pointed cap or helmet with cheek guards. Attis, maybe? Something completely different?

Like my friend, I have no clue. Your thoughts, guys?

[*Alex]

Mithras is usually depicted wearing a Phrygian Helmet. He was a popular god with the army and Mithraic temples are found all over the Empire, especially in places where the army was stationed. Mithraism was a mystery religion, a bit like modern masonry, it was only open to men who had to go through various trials or rituals to join.

Alex

[Molinari]

Hard to say without any context. I recently saw a lead Herakles in a Phrygian cap on a votive object from Olbia, identified by the cornucopia he was holding.

[Serendipity]

I'm inclined to agree with Alex about this exquisite and symbolic piece. It's also very worn suggesting it served its purpose and was once owned by a mithraist in the army. This is very much an early Roman artefact. The Phrygian cap reappears in figures related to the first to fourth century religion of Mithraism which is why I would give it an approximate dating of the 1st. BCE-4th. CE. I struggle to convey Mithraism's appeal to men of the Roman army but Alex does a fine job with the apt analogy to modern masonry, such as the shared meals and male bonding which the trials or rituals entailed. In fact, Mithraism may have functioned in part as providing clubs for the unclubbed, since qualification for Roman collegia tended to be restricted to particular families, localities or traditional trades.

[Mayadigger]

Ave all!

Mithras Cult, for sure.  Thanks!

 

[SC]

Hard to tell Attis and Mithras apart.  Attis should be younger but that is not always clear.

This cap has very low sides which is unusual for either.  But that might just be a regional style.

SC