Finding out

True delight is in the finding out rather than the knowing.

 
I saw this comment today and I know it applies to me completely. Sometimes I just have to know, I am very curious; but the real delight lies in the process of finding out.
 
That's why the Future Learn online course on Hadrian's Wall, which I am following, appeals so much. Written and presented by the Archaeology Department of Newcastle University, it is not so much learning about life on the Roman frontier, as learning about how people have found out, and are still finding out, about it. The process of finding out from archaeology is fascinating.
 
Today we went in search of the Carrawburgh mithraeum on Hadrian's Wall, a place we had not been to before. This was a temple on the edge of a fort - Brocolitia, not far from Chesters. (I have added an extra picture showing the platform on which the fort was built.) As you follow the Hadrian's Wall Path round the fort, you go down a bank and there is the temple. Most people stop to have a look before continuing along the path. In my temple picture you can see some stiles that take walkers from here and across a wet marshy area. In the far distance you can see a few walkers heading for the road and back to the Wall itself. (Look at the location map to see just where the temple is in relation to the Path.)
 
The temple was discovered in 1949 and the three altars you can see here, although these are replicas, the originals being in a museum in Newcastle, were found in their original positions in the temple. Learning how much archaeologists have found out just from the words carved on the altars is fascinating. (A close up of the altars is here.)
 
The temple was dedicated to an Eastern god, Mithras, who originated in Persia. He was the centre of a mysterious cult, popular with the army, which undertook dark mysterious ceremonies, particularly hated by Christians. The temple was found in a trashed state and this is thought to be the work of Christians, once Christianity had become established in Britain. There is a full-scale reconstruction of the temple in the museum in Newcastle.