The Sacral Kingship of the Early Arsacids I. Fire Cult and Kingly Glory

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate and identify the nature of the sacral kingship of the rulers of Parthia in the early Arsacid period. The divinization of the rulers was a concept somewhere between monarchical ideology and religious worship; therefore, it must be examined in light of the religious practices of the Parthians and neighboring peoples, as well as the political tendencies of the given period. The Arsacid concept of kingship was shaped in the early phase of the growth of Parthia, when the seeds of the main tendencies, later to be developed, were sown in the country’s cultural, political, and religious development. The Parthian dynasty pursued a multi-layered monarchical ideology that invoked several different political and cultural traditions. In Iran, the royal fire was associated with the kingly Glory/Charisma called khvarenah (Parthian farn-). The royal fire cult was closely connected to Arsacid sacral kingship and this tradition was inherited from Achaemenid Iran. The well-known Arsacid monopoly of power in Iran was based on a religious sanction which turned out to be extremely enduring.