TY - JOUR

T1 - Of Gods and Kings

T2 - Divine Kingship in Ancient Mesopotamia

AU - Brisch, Nicole

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - The idea that any living human being could be worshipped like a god may appear to some people unfathomable or sacrilegious. This is related to how the distinction between humans and god(s) is perceived in a given cultural context; divinity is a concept that has been understood very differently throughout history. This is not a new point but remains all too often underappreciated when discussing the blurring of lines between human and god as evidenced in the deification of kings. In ancient Mesopotamia, one of the oldest high civilizations in the world, it was a short-lived but nevertheless interesting phenomenon. The first instances of royal deification occur in the third millennium BCE during times of political expansion and centralization. Whether this worship continued into the second millennium BCE is still a matter of contention, yet Mesopotamian kings always maintained a close proximity to the divine to legitimize and bolster their power.

AB - The idea that any living human being could be worshipped like a god may appear to some people unfathomable or sacrilegious. This is related to how the distinction between humans and god(s) is perceived in a given cultural context; divinity is a concept that has been understood very differently throughout history. This is not a new point but remains all too often underappreciated when discussing the blurring of lines between human and god as evidenced in the deification of kings. In ancient Mesopotamia, one of the oldest high civilizations in the world, it was a short-lived but nevertheless interesting phenomenon. The first instances of royal deification occur in the third millennium BCE during times of political expansion and centralization. Whether this worship continued into the second millennium BCE is still a matter of contention, yet Mesopotamian kings always maintained a close proximity to the divine to legitimize and bolster their power.

U2 - 10.1111/rec3.12031

DO - 10.1111/rec3.12031

M3 - Journal article

VL - 7

SP - 37

EP - 46

JO - Religion Compass

JF - Religion Compass

SN - 1749-8171

IS - 2

ER -