A favorite image that kings chose forthemselves in statues from the Early Dynastic period shows themonarch with a basket of earth for construction on his head. Hemight be a mighty ruler, but he was also a builder, erectingmonuments to his gods and taking care of his people.
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Every human alive, the king included, was just a servant to thegods, and those gods could choose to treat him or her however theywanted.
At what point in history did it seem apparent to a larger portion of the populace that "god(s) anointed the king" was no longer a presumed reality? When did it seem that way to the kings themselves? Or have they always believed the myth?
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And just as professions tended to run in families, the kingmight have trained his son in the arts of leadership, grooming himfor the throne.
It certainly makes some sense that in a diversifying economy familial connections of passing down trades from father to son by dint of closeness, teaching, and familial connection that the job/title of king should be passed down in the same way.
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Eventhe gods themselves had a king—the great god Enlil, who lived inthe city of Nippur.
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- Apr 2025
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www.aina.org www.aina.orgeog.pdf1
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Gilgamesh has gone into the marriage-house and shutout the people. He does strange things in Uruk, the city of great streets. At the roll of thedrum work begins for the men, and work for the women. Gilgamesh the king is about tocelebrate marriage with the Queen of Love, and he still demands to be first with the bride,the king to be first and the husband to follow, for that was ordained by the gods from hisbirth, from the time the umbilical cord was cut.
This highlights a deeply patriarchal structure in which sexual dominance is intertwined with kingship and “heroism.” Gilgamesh, in asserting the right of being king, believes he getsto sleep with brides before their husbands. As a right as a king, which is an abuse of power rooted in divine right. This divine justification reflects a gender definition where male power is linked with ownership, control, and domination, while female bodies are communal property in service of male status.
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