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).
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Famous quotes containing the words king of, king and/or kings:
“For who shall defile the temples of the ancient gods, a cruel and violent death shall be his fate, and never shall his soul find rest unto eternity. Such is the curse of Amon-Ra, king of all the gods.”
—Griffin Jay, Maxwell Shane (1905–1983)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)