Editing Pharaoh (section)

=== Ancient Egypt ===
In [[Ancient Egypt]], the Pharaoh was often considered to be divine. This precept originated before 3000 BCE and the Egyptian office of divine kingship would go on to influence many other societies and kingdoms, surviving into the [[modern era]]. The Pharaoh also became a mediator between the gods and man. This institution represents an innovation over that of [[Sumer|Sumerian]] city-states where, though the clan leader or king mediated between his people and the gods, did not himself represent a god on Earth. The few Sumerian exceptions to this would post-date the origins of this practice in ancient Egypt. For example, the legendary king [[Gilgamesh]], thought to have reigned in Uruk as a contemporary of the Egyptian ruler [[Djoser]], was cast as having had his mother as the Mesopotamian goddess [[Ninsun]] alongside his father, the previous human ruler of Uruk. Another Mesopotamian example of a god-king was [[Naram-Sin of Akkad]]. During the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]], the Pharaoh was represented as the divine incarnation of [[Horus]], and the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt. By the time of [[Djedefre]] (26th century BCE), the Pharaoh also ceased to have a father, as his mother was magically impregnated by the solar deity [[Ra]]. According to Pyramid Text Utterance 571, "... the King was fashioned by his father Atum before the sky existed, before earth existed, before men existed, before the gods were born, before death existed ..." According to an inscription on the statue of [[Horemheb]] (14th–13th centuries BCE): "he [Horemheb] already came out of his mother's bosom adorned with the prestige and the divine color ..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Najovits |first=Simson R. |title=Egypt, trunk of the tree. 1: The contexts |date=2003 |publisher=Algora Publ |isbn=9780875862347 |location= |pages=151–157}}</ref> Inscriptions regularly described the Pharaoh as the "good god" or "perfect god" (''nfr ntr''). By the time of the [[New Kingdom]], the divinity of the king was imbued as he possessed the manifestation of the god [[Amun-Re]]; this was referred to as his 'living royal ''ka''<nowiki/>' which he received during the coronation ceremony. The divinity of Pharaoh was still held to during the period of [[Persia|Persian]] domination of Egypt. The Persian emperor [[Darius the Great]] (522–486 BCE) was referred to as a divine being in Egyptian temple texts. Such descriptions continued and were designated to [[Alexander the Great]] after his conquest of Egypt, and later still for the rulers of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] that succeeded Alexander's rule.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Collins |first=Andrew |date=2014 |title=The Divinity of the Pharaoh in Greek Sources |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/divinity-of-the-pharaoh-in-greek-sources/10B843BD8305A47AFB789F70AF0E7D11 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |language= |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=841–844, also see n. 1 |doi=10.1017/S000983881400007X |issn=0009-8388}}</ref>