King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies and empires throughout history. The title originates in the Ancient Near East. It is broadly the equivalent of the later title Emperor.
The first king known to use the title "king of kings" (šar šarrāni) was Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria (13th century BC). The title used to be intended quite literally, as a šar or mlk was the title of a king of a city-state, and with the formation an empire in the Late Bronze Age, the Assyrian rulers installed themselves as rulers over the existing structure of rulers (kings) of city-states.
The Persian title of a king of kings is shahanshah /ˈʃɑːənˈʃɑː/, associated especially with Persian Achaemenid Empire, where it referred to the monarch ruling over other monarchs who had a vassal, tributary or protectorate position.
The title is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, as מלך מלכיא, applied to Nebuchadnezzar and to Artaxerxes. In Daniel 2:37, Daniel interprets the dream of Nebuchadnezzar to the effect that
- "Thou, O king, a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory."
In Christianity, "king of kings" (βασιλευς των βασιλευοντων) is one of the titles of Jesus, based on 1 Timothy 6:15, and Revelation 17:14, 19:16.
The Emperors of Ethiopia had the title of "king of kings" (nəgusä nägäst).
Read more about King Of Kings: Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words king of, king and/or kings:
“If I asked her master he’d give me a cask a day;
But she, with the beer at hand, not a gill would arrange!
May she marry a ghost and bear him a kitten, and may
The High King of Glory permit her to get the mange.”
—James Kenneth Stephens (1882–1950)
“... and the next summer she died in childbirth.
That’s all. Of course, there may be some sort of sequel but it is not known to me. In such cases instead of getting bogged down in guesswork, I repeat the words of the merry king in my favorite fairy tale: Which arrow flies for ever? The arrow that has hit its mark.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Whenever there’s a big war coming on, you should rope off a big field. And on the big day, you should take all the kings and their cabinets and their generals, put ‘em in the center dressed in their underpants and let them fight it out with clubs. The best country wins.”
—Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)