King of the gods

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.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (16)

Anu

Anu ( , from 𒀭 an "Sky", "Heaven") or Anum, originally An ( ), was the divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the deities in ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was regarded as a source of both divine and human kingship, and opens the enumerations of deities in many Mesopotamian texts. At the same time, his role was largely passive, and he was not commonly worshipped.

Canaanite religion

The Canaanite religion was the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries AD. Canaanite religion was polytheistic and, in some cases, monolatristic. A group of deities in a four-tier hierarchy headed by El and Asherah were worshiped by the followers of the Canaanite religion; this is a detailed listing: Aglibol, god of the moon and brother of Malakbel. Part of a trio of gods of Palmyra, Syria, along with Bel and Yarhibol.

Tarḫunz

Tarḫunz (stem: Tarḫunt-) was the weather god and chief god of the Luwians, a people of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Anatolia. He is closely associated with the Hittite god Tarḫunna and the Hurrian god Teshub. The name of the Proto-Anatolian weather god can be reconstructed as *Tṛḫu-ent- ("conquering"), a participle form of the Proto-Indo-European root *terh2, "to cross over, pass through, overcome". It has cognates in Hittite tarḫu-, Latin trans-, Dutch door, German durch, and English through.