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From “Kingship in Heaven” to King Lists: Syro-Anatolian Courts and the History of the World

From “Kingship in Heaven” to King Lists: Syro-Anatolian Courts and the History of the World Abstract I examine the literary and conceptual background of a Hurro-Hittite ritual calling on divinized royal ancestors ( d šarrena ), characters from Hurro-Hittite song, members of the Sargonic dynasty, a variety of kings from far-off lands, and the “lord of Hatti” (KUB 27.38). I show that the ritual provides a unique glimpse of the complex Near Eastern tradition telling the history of the world from its beginning. The ritual also helps us to understand how historical memory informed ritual behaviors that legitimated the kingship of regional rulers, allowing them access to the distant past and connecting them to world events. Overall, the šarrena ritual suggests that the histories of the divine and human worlds were linked into a single master narrative by the middle of the second millennium BCE. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions Brill

From “Kingship in Heaven” to King Lists: Syro-Anatolian Courts and the History of the World

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References (42)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Politics
ISSN
1569-2116
eISSN
1569-2124
DOI
10.1163/156921212X629482
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract I examine the literary and conceptual background of a Hurro-Hittite ritual calling on divinized royal ancestors ( d šarrena ), characters from Hurro-Hittite song, members of the Sargonic dynasty, a variety of kings from far-off lands, and the “lord of Hatti” (KUB 27.38). I show that the ritual provides a unique glimpse of the complex Near Eastern tradition telling the history of the world from its beginning. The ritual also helps us to understand how historical memory informed ritual behaviors that legitimated the kingship of regional rulers, allowing them access to the distant past and connecting them to world events. Overall, the šarrena ritual suggests that the histories of the divine and human worlds were linked into a single master narrative by the middle of the second millennium BCE.

Journal

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2012

Keywords: Sargonic legends; Hurro-Hittite ritual; Kumarbi Cycle; king lists; d šarrena

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