KINGSHIP

Kingship

Kingship

Introduction

Kingship provides a distinctive political philosophy that mediates between mundane political realities and the demands of the divine. Key early models of kingship are provided by Hellenistic, Hebrew, and Persian culture. As a governmental form, kingship had evolved in the classical period to become the dominant form of European statehood by the High Middle Ages. The body of the king came to represent more than his individual personality and to stand symbolically for state sovereignty. In both the east and the west, monarchy took multiple forms, ranging from small family kingdoms to powerful empires, but several general trends are observable (Stephanie, 1998).

Different justifications for monarchy are apparent in classical and medieval political thought. Pragmatic accounts of kingship emphasize that kingship is a reward for military prowess. Philosophical accounts contend that kingship is the most efficient way to achieve the common good and that the king is an embodiment of reason. Religious accounts of kingship point to the divine selection and ordination of kings and the particular virtues of the king. Legalistic accounts of kingship base the legitimacy of monarchy on either natural or positive justice.

Mesopotamia

Often called the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia was the site of the world's first cities. This urban development involved not only just a large group of people living in close proximity but also a revolution in social organization, in farming, and in technology. This cultural leap was a transition from the primitive settlement to the modern society.

Beginning around 5500 BCE and continuing for the next 2,000 years, people gradually began to move from the mountains into the Mesopotamian plain and settled in cities. In addition to the development of cities, these people developed irrigation, canals, and flood control. They learned how to drain marshes and to turn them into farmland. They also invented the plow, the wheel, and metallurgy (copper and bronze). During this time, the Sumerians moved to this area and became the dominate people.

Ugarit

After a period of war and disunity (First Intermediate period, ca. 2160-2040 BCE), Egypt entered the Middle Kingdom period (ca. 2040-1650 BCE). Provincial lords held much power during much of this period in Egypt. However, the government did regain enough internal stability so that it could reestablish trade with the Levant (Byblos and Ugarit) and Lower Nubia.

During the Second Intermediate period (ca. 1670-1550 BCE), an Asiatic people that Manetho (an Egyptian priest and historian from the 3rd century BCE) called the “Hyksos” ruled Egypt. Eventually, the Thebans ran them out of the country and reunited Egypt. Battle with the Hyksos marked the beginning of a warrior culture in Egypt that led to its rise as a military power that had an organized, standing army (Michael, 1978).

Classical Ideas of Kingship

Persian

Kingship was the defining political form of pre-Islamic Iran. Iranian kings held lordship over the Persian tribal aristocracy and supreme law-giving powers over their subjects as a whole. The title “king of kings” signaled their inheritance of the preceding kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria. The king was not divine but belonged to a ...