Chapter 66: Divine Kings

This article focuses on concept of divine kingship and archaeology. The application of the concept of divine kingship to contemporary cultures and groups is problematic, requiring an in-depth knowledge of how it operates, as well as an awareness of looking back into the past. However, taking into account its complexity, ambiguity, and variability, the concept of divine kingship remains relevant to archaeology when assessing past evidence of political and religious practices. When written sources describe religious beliefs and practices, as well as the political system, it is possible to grasp if there was a king-like figure and to what extent it was assimilated to a divinity, like the pharaoh in ancient Egypt.