Spirituality & Religious StudiesSacred King
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carried a sacral meaning & was identical with that of a high priest & judge.
Divine kingship is related to the concept of theocracy. Although a sacred King doesn’t necessarily rule through his religious authority. But rather, the temporal (or non-religious) position itself has a religious significance behind. The monarch may be divine, become divine, or represent divinity to a greater or lesser extent.
In sacred kingship, the king often has little political power, & is contrasted with divine kingship where the king triumphs in the politico-religious struggle between the people & the king. A sacred king is often encumbered with ritals & used as a scapegoat for disasters such as famine & drought. However, they can become divine & achieve greater power.
In Africa, sacred kings are often represented as volatile & potentially dangerous wild animals. The Ashanti flog, yes flog, a newly selected King (Ashantehene) before enthroning him.
From the Bronze Age in the Near East, the enthronement & anointment of a monarch is a central religious ritual, reflected in such titles as Messiah or Christ. This became separated from worldly kingship. Sargon of Akkad described himself as a “deputy of Ishtar.” This is like how the modern Catholic popes take the role of the “Vicar of Christ.”
Kings are styled as shepherds from the earliest times. The term was applied to Sumerian princes such as Lugalbanda in the 3rd millennium BCE. Shepherd imagery combines themes of leadership & the responsibility to supply food & protection, as well as superiority. As a mediator between the people & the divine, the sacred King was credited with special wisdom (like Solomon or Gilgamesh) or vision (via oneiromancy). Oneiromancy is a form of divination based on dreams, & also uses dreams based on dreams, & also uses to predict the future.
Here are some examples of some sacred kings:
- Chakravartin, a righteous king derived from Indian religious thought
- Devaraja, a cult of divine kings in Southeast Asia
- Germanic kingship
- Kings in pre-Christian Scandinavia & England claimed descent from God’s such as Odin & Freyr. Scandinavian kings in pre-Christian times served as priests at sacrifices.
- The kings of Goryeo claimed descent from the Dragon King
- Holy Roman emperors
- Imperial cults
- The Omukama of Kitara ruled as a heavenly sovereign
- The High King of Ireland, according to medieval tradition, married the sovereignty goddess
- The Eze Nri, ruler of the defunct Igbo Nri Kingdom in present-day Nigeria. He was addressed as “Igwe,” meaning “heavenly one” in the Igbo language, & has bestowed his title to the monarch of a contemporary traditional state of the same name.
- The Emperor of Japan is known in Japanese as Tenno (Heavenly sovereign) & was formerly believed to be a living kami.
- The Kende was the sacred King of the Magyars in the 9th century.
- The Khagan
- The kings of Luba became deities after death.
- The earthly power of the papacy.
- Pharaoh, the title of Ancient Egyptian rulers. The pharaoh adopted names symbolizing holy might.
- The last vestige of Athenian monarchy, Archon basileus, mainly retained the duties of overseeing certain religious rites.
- The Son of Heaven, an East Asian title
- Shah & Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, Islamic concepts
- The kings of Sparta claimed direct descent from Heracles himself, & served as hereditary priests.
- Madkhalism in Islam
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