Imperial Cults
| Who | Image | When | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egyptian pharaohs | 3050 – 30 BC | Egyptian pharaohs were kings of Ancient Egypt, and were considered by their culture to be gods. Their titles equated them with aspects of the likes of the hawk god Horus, the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the cobra-goddess Wadjet. The Egyptians believed that when their Pharaoh had died, he would continue to lead them in the next life, which is why his burial was grand and completed to perfection, to please him in the next life and ensure his immortality to protect his people. See List of pharaohs. | |
| Naram-Sin | 2255 – 2119 BC | The first Mesopotamian king to claim divinity. | |
| Chinese Emperors | 221 BC – AD 1911 | Deified as "Sons of Heaven" since the Qin Dynasty under Qin Shi Huang. | |
| Roman Emperors | 42 BC – AD 363 | Following Julius Caesar who in 42 BC was formally deified as "the Divine Julius", and Caesar Augustus henceforth became Divi filius ("Son of the Divine One"), some (not all) Roman Emperors of the 1st to 4th centuries claimed divinity, including Tiberius 14–37, Caligula 37–41, Claudius 41–54, Hadrian 117–138, Commodus 161–192, Constantine I 306–312, Julian the Apostate 361–363 Further information: Imperial cult (ancient Rome), Augustus (honorific), and Augusta (honorific) | |
| Japanese Emperors | 660 BC – | Claimed, at least by some Shintoists, including government officials, to be divine descendants of the goddess Amaterasu. Hirohito, the Showa emperor, repudiated the "false conception" of his divinity in the Humanity Declaration in 1945. | |
| Natchez rulers | 700 | The Natchez were a theocracy ruled by "The Great Sun." This ruler has sometimes been deemed a God-king. | |
| The Sailendras | 700 | The Sailendra dynasty of Java were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the plains of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, including the world famous Borobudur. | |
| Dalai Lamas | 1391- | Considered re-incarnations of Avalokiteśvara in Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lamas are incarnations of Amitābha. | |
| Inca Emperors | 1438 | The Inca Emperors had a status very similar to that of the Pharaohs of Egypt. | |
| Ismail I | 1502–1524 | Self-claimed to be an emanation of God and was considered such by the Safaviya order, Turkem subjects and Alevis. | |
| Nepalese monarchs | 1768–2008 | Although Nepal was the birthplace of the Buddha, the kings of the Shah dynasty were held to be incarnations of Vishnu. |
Read more about this topic: List Of People Who Have Been Considered Deities
Famous quotes containing the words imperial and/or cults:
“All the terrors of the French Republic, which held Austria in awe, were unable to command her diplomacy. But Napoleon sent to Vienna M. de Narbonne, one of the old noblesse, with the morals, manners, and name of that interest, saying, that it was indispensable to send to the old aristocracy of Europe men of the same connection, which, in fact, constitutes a sort of free- masonry. M. de Narbonne, in less than a fortnight, penetrated all the secrets of the imperial cabinet.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)