CIMRM 88 - Tauroctony. Sî`, Syria

The relief was discovered in 1916, and published by Butler, who had excavated it in the ruins of a temple of Dushara (Dusares) at Sî` (Seeia, modern Djebel Druze) in the Haurân, near Kenawât, the ancient Kanatha.¹

It does not seem that the Mithraeum was discovered.

Note that the snake is not licking the blood, but drinking the semen of the bull. See also the smashed Tauroctony relief in the Damascus National Museum.

CIMRM entry

SECIA 88 A rectangular relief in basalt (H. 0.72 Br. 0.68 D. 0.10). Preserved in the Museum at Damascus. Found at Sî (Djebel Druze) in front of the temple of Doushara or Dusares. Butler in Syria, 399 and fig. 344B; Frothingham in AJA 1918, 54ff and Pl. III (see fig. 33)2; Cumont in RHR LXXVIII, 1918, 207ff; Watzinger-Wulzinger, 109 No. 7 and fig. 75; Will in Syria XXIX, 1952, 67f; Berytus XI, 1954, Pl. II, 1; Abdul-Hak, 64 and Pl. XXVII, 2. Mithras tauroctone in usual attire and Phrygian cap. Scorpion and snake near the genitals of the bull; dog leaping up; the raven on the flying cloak of the god. Behind the bull Cautes is standing with upraised torch. The upper corners are occupied by the busts of Sol(l) with a crown of six (originally seven) rays around his head and of Luna(r) with crescent behind her shoulders. Remarkable is, that the bull's tail is not pointing upwards, but droops down.

See also CIMRM fig. 33 for a (not very good) photograph.

From Thomas M Weber, Sculptures from Roman Syria in the Syrian National Museum at Damascus, 2006, via the Born in Damascus website:

Seen in this plate are two basaltic sculptures of Mithras slaying the bull, a central ritual in this cult where the spilled blood renovates the fertility of the soil it irrigates. Both were found at or near Seeaa, a village in Soueida Governorate in Southern Syria and both date from the third century of the Common Era.

The top sculpture is 72 cm x 58 cm x 10 cm as far as dimensions are concerned. It was discovered in 1919 by an archaeological expedition from Princeton University and had been stored for a while at the Teacher's College at Mezze Boulevard before it changed location to the National Museum of Damascus, where it currently resides. ...

It is to be regretted that many such ancient sculptures have been transferred from their original sites to be recycled in relatively modern residences which has resulted in the deformation, and potentially the loss of those priceless treasures. Such has been the case throughout Syria including Damascus and the large cities.

Thomas M. Weber, Sculptures from Roman Syria, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft. Worms 2006