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Concept
King of the gods
Summary
As polytheistic systems evolve, there is a tendency for two deities to achieve preeminence as king and queen of the gods. This tendency can parallel the growth of hierarchical systems of political power in which a monarch eventually comes to assume ultimate authority for human affairs. Other deities come to serve in a Divine Council or pantheon; such subsidiary courtier-deities are usually linked by family ties from the union of a single husband or wife, or else from an androgynous divinity who is responsible for the creation.
Historically, subsequent social events, such as invasions or shifts in power structures, can cause the previous king and queen of the deities to be displaced by new divinities, who assumes the replaced deities's attributes and functions. Frequently the king and queen of the deities has spouses who are the queen and king of the deities.
According to feminist theories and masculinist theories of the replacement of original matriarchies and patriarchies by patriarchies and matriarchies respectively, male and female sky and earth deities tend to supplant female and male earth and sky deities and achieve omnipotence.
There is also a tendency for kings and queens of the deities to assume more and more importance, syncretistically assuming the attributes and functions of other divinities, who come to be seen as aspects of the deities.
Examples of kings and queens of the deities in different cultures include:
In the Mesopotamian Anunnaki, Enlil displaces Anu and is in turn replaced by Marduk.
In the Ancient Egyptian religion, Amun and Amunet with all the primordial Egyptian deities and all the other Egyptian deities such as Ra and Raet with all other Egyptian deities were the official deities of all the people of Egypt.
In the Canaanite pantheon, Baal (Hadad) displaces El.
In the Celtic pantheon, Lugus displaces Nuada.
In the Hurrian/Hittite pantheon, Teshub or Tarḫunz or Arinna displaces Kumarbi.
In the Armenian Mythology, it is Ar, – then Aramazd.
Official source
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