THE KING AS BRINGER OF BLESSED POWER

Sacred kingship, religious and political concept by which a

river is seen as an incarnation, manifestation, meditator or
agent of the sacred or holy. The concept originated in
prehistoric times, but it continues to exist a recognizable
influence in the modern world. At one time when religion was
totally connected with the whole existence of individual as
well as that of the community and when kingdoms were in
varying degrees connected with religious institutions, there
could be no kingdom that was not in some sense sacral.
The primary form was the god-kingdom of the large empires
of the ancient Middle East and East Asia of ancient Iran. The
secondary form occurred in the Persian and European
empires.

STATS AND FUNCTIONS

THE SACRED STATUS OF KINGS, LEADERS AND
CHIEFTAINS
Basic to an understanding of sacred kingship is a
recognition that the exercise of power of one person
over other persons or over a community in early times
was general and not divided. Power could be exercised
by one person – Because he was ruled over a
community, the king’s power extended to everything
pertaining to the life of the community. Only gradually
did a division develop.
THE POSSESOR OF SUPERNATURAL POWER
The ruler may be viewed as the possessor of
supernatural power both beneficial and malevolent -
needed to maintain the welfare and order of the
community and to avert danger and damage.
Concentrated in the chief is the common inheritance of
the magical power of the community and his authority
is based solely on the possession and exercise of this
supernatural power. As we have seen in the chapter
“THE KING AND THE SWORD.”

The divine or semidivine king

In some societies, especially in ancient kingdoms or
empires, the king was regarded as a god or identified
with some god. In early Egypt he was identified with the
sky god (Horus) and with the sun god. The Persian
king was regarded as the incarnation of the sun
god or of the moon god. In addition to sky or sun
deities, the sacred king also has been identified
with other gods: the town god (Mesopotamia), the
gods of the country, the god of the storm, and the
weather god. Generally, however, the king was not
identified with a specific god but rather was
regarded as himself a god.

The king as the principal agent of the

sacred
there is also a widespread belief that the king is the
executive agent of a god. As the servant of a god, he
carries out the work of the god on earth. The divine
character of this form of sacred kingship is connected not
so much with the individual king as with the institution of
kingship. In this emphasis on the institution of kingship
lies the difference between kingship in Mesopotamia and
Egypt and in India and China. 

The king as bringer of blessed power

The usual function of a sacred king is to bring blessings
to his people and area of control. Because he has a
supernatural power over the life and welfare of the tribe,
the chief or king is believed to influence the fertility of
the soil, cattle, and human beings but mostly the coming
of rain. He has power over the forces of nature. Where
rain is vitally necessary for the welfare and continuity of
a people, the king can be described primarily in terms of
this special function. The function of the king as
dispenser of good fortune has had an amazingly long
influence: the English king was believed to have had
healing power over a special disease (the king’s evil).