Features of Monarchical Rules and Succession in the Ancient Near East

Abstract

Features of kingship in the Ancient Near East manifested in the use of titles which expressed the relationship between the King and the Divine. The titles in later usage were developed, formulated, promulgated and finally became the royal ideology. The features, therefore, revealed that the concept of Kingship in the Ancient Near East is of divine origin. This paper argues that those features were conceived and nurtured by the Kings, the royal court and palace traditions in order to subject and subdue the opposing voices among their followers especially the opposition group who might had contested for the throne during the succession. The features were used to benefit the rulers and their palace officials. The approaches used in this research to arrive at this argument include historical, descriptive and comparative. Historical approach had been used because the terms ‘features’ and ‘monarchy’ seems to be historical terms. Descriptive approach had been used because grammatical relationship of words were examined. Thirdly, comparative approach had been used to point out how the two kingdoms though years apart but had similarities in terms of their royal ideologies. This research concludes that the features as used by the kings were an oppressive means used by the rulers over their subjects through exaggerating the powers of gods to manipulate the minds of their followers even though the King’s ruthlessness can be seen in the open, especially in enacting decrees and harsh policies on taxations and corveer.