Enuma Elish VI
The Seven Tablets of Creation
Ancient Near East
The great gods assembled, They exalted the destiny of Marduk and did obeisance. They invoked a curse on themselves And took an oath with water and oil, and put their hands to their throats. They granted him authority as King of Kings, They confirmed him as lord of the gods of heaven and netherworld. Anšar gave him his exalted name, Asalluhi At the mention of his name, let us show submission! When he speaks, let the gods heed him, Let his command be superior in upper and lower regions. May the son, our avenger, be exalted, Let his lordship be superior and himself without rival.
Date: 1800 - 1750 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Diodorus Siculus Library of History 1.55.7
Bibliotheca Historica
Classical
6 In the same way he brought all the rest of Asia into subjection as well as most of the Cyclades islands. And after he had crossed into Europe and was on his way through the whole length of Thrace he nearly lost his army through lack of food and the difficult nature of the land. 7 Consequently he fixed the limits of his expedition in Thrace, and set up stelae in many parts of the regions which he had acquired; and these carried the following inscription in the Egyptian writing which is called "sacred": "This land the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Sesoösis, subdued with his own arms." 8 And he fashioned the stele with a representation, in case the enemy people were warlike, of the privy parts of a man, but in case they were abject and cowardly, of those of a woman, holding that the quality of the spirit of each people would be set forth most clearly to succeeding generations by the dominant member of the body.
Date: 30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... “King of kings” (compare 1 Enoch 84:2 and 63:4) is a royal title with a long history in the ancient Near East. In Jewish literature, this title is applied to the God of Israel in contexts that stress his sovereignty over earthly kings. Compare 2 Maccabees 13:4; 3 Maccabees 5:35; Philo Cherubim 99 (compare Special Laws 1.18); mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 (the king mints coins with his image on them). Thus, the title may be either a claim of sovereignty over other kings or the attribution to God of a title already employed by earthly monarchs ... For the double title, compare Diodorus Siculus 1.55. 7, and the Neo-Babylonian title of Marduk, "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 211) Fortress Press, 2001
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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