Name:	Votive Relief of the Sun
Picture:
Description:	From Corbridge (Corstopitum). Corbridge Museum. H. 0.6m. Relief of a bust of the sun-god Sol-Helios, in very simple style. The neck and shoulders are merely indicated, the head being the important focus here. The face is frontal, with huge eyes and a simple nose and mouth. Stylised hair, then a halo of hatched lines radiating out from the back of the head.
Date:	Fourth century A.D.
Discussion:	Sun-worship was important in the native Celtic religion of Britain, and this was combined with worship of Helios and with that of Mithras (who could appear as a sun-deity; see for example at the Carrawburgh Mithraeum) to create a blend of religions all intent on the worship of Sol. Such religious syncretism worked well in Roman Britain, and persisted despite (or because of) the early waves of Christianity spread by Constantine, who originally married sun-worship with Christianity.