This thesis examines why the cult of the sovereign goddess was considered important for the expression of royal power in mediaeval India. In literature and ritual, the goddess was conceptualized as the sovereign of heaven and earth. Her cult was heroic because it was primarily a cult of warriors: a good hero was one who worshipped the goddess for great powers, foremost among them being sovereignty. Certain ritual practices of the cult such as self-mutilation formed the criteria for a warrior- worshipper’s heroism. By assessing the available epigraphical, literary, scriptural and anthropological material, I will attempt to show that the association between Indic kingship and the cult’s belief-systems, also referred to as heroic Śāktism, was indeed an ancient one. Tracing its roots to non-Aryan religion, the cult of the sovereign goddess became a vital part of the Sanskritic kingdom, particularly from the latter half of the 6th c., when tribal kingdoms began to elevate themselves on the political map. One of the hallmarks of the cult, responsible for its pan-Indic popularity, was its syncretic nature: besides outcastes, its followers were from a number of sects. The goddess at its centre had no fixed identity but was formed of various personalities. The more public and well-attested of these was the martial goddess Durgā/Caṇḍī/Caṇḍikā, although other goddesses were also worshipped as her other aspects. In all these aspects the sovereign goddess was believed to grant the power of the king and the community. This idea was evoked in the mediaeval Indic world in an array of symbols: sacred statues, ritually empowered swords and insignia put on display for all to see, legends circulated throughout the kingdom, festivals where the sacred might of the realm was ritually reinforced. By assessing these symbols, I will attempt to show the vibrant forms whereby the connection of the cult with power was manifested in the mediaeval period.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Revelation has received much attention throughout the nearly two millennia since its acceptance into the Christian canon, and interest in it is escalating as the twenty-first century approaches. Recent scholarly work has served as a corrective to the excesses of popular thought about the Apocalypse, but much more needs to be done. The theocentricity of Revelation makes imperative to seek the mysterious One Who Sits on the Throne in the center of heaven. Narratology and in particular characterization forms the foundation of this historical-critical, inductive study. Its purpose is to discover the characterization of God through the interdividual relationships between God and the non-divine characters. Interdividuality emphasizes that characters are developed in essential relationships with others. God's character as depicted in Revelation is developed through interaction with all creation. Non-divine characters receive their identity from the One Who Sits on the Throne. Their response to their Creator shapes the hearer/readers' perception of God who is both revealed and shrouded with mystery through the apocalyptic visions recorded by a Christian prophet named John. The non-divine characters of Revelation are divided into four categories: People, Satanic Forces, Heavenly Beings, and "Women". The characters of each category are examined and their characterization established from both direct and indirect characterization perspectives. The characterization of God resulting from their interrelationship is then noted. The People of Revelation can be divided into two categories: those who follow Satan and those who follow God. The decision of who is Lord is the focal point of the Apocalypse. Although the narrative does not downplay the difficulty of following God the rhetoric is far from neutral. The story constantly confronts the hearer/readers with the necessity to shun the deceptive allure of the Dragon's false world and embrace the more difficult path to the New Jerusalem. God's faithfulness, love, mercy, power and holiness are revealed through relationships with and provisions for both sinner and saint. God is Creator of all and sovereign King, understanding Father and faithful Husband, merciful Judge and worthy Lord.

Notre thèse porte sur les institutions royales des Mossi de l'actuel Burkina Faso. Elle analyse les dynamiques politiques, sociales, religieuses et culturelles qui expliquent leur pérennité. Notre recherche couvre une période allant de la fin du XVe siècle, moment où apparaissent les premières formes d'organisation étatique dans le Bassin de la Volta Blanche, à 1991, date de l'instauration de l'actuelle IVe République. Notre travail vise à rendre compte de l'imagination politique dont on fait preuve les sociétés mossi et leurs chefs : les naaba. Nous entendons déconstruire le concept de « tradition » trop facilement employé pour caractériser les formes d'organisation socio-politique africaines. Au contraire, l'histoire des Mossi révèle des dynamiques qui ont conduit à la formation puis à l'affirmation de l'idée d'État dans cette partie de l’Afrique. Nous analysons ainsi tour à tour la création des États mossi de la fin du XVe siècle à la fin du XIXe siècle, puis les processus d’hybridation politique et social qui ont été favorisés par la présence coloniale française. Les naaba, de leur côté, ont opéré un « tri » dans les formes de modernité induites par cette dernière. Enfin, nous rendons compte de la formation de l’État-nation qui, mené par les nouvelles élites africaines à partir de 1958, a été engagée soit en réaction contre les chefferies « traditionnelles », soit avec leur concours, mais sans que jamais leur statut ne soit officiellement défini au sein de la République. / Our thesis focuses on the royal mossi institutions of the current Burkina Faso. It analyzes the political, social, religious and cultural changes wich explain their preservation. Our research covers a period wich begin from the late 15th century, when the first forms of state organization was born in the White Volta Basin, to the birth of the current 4th Republic in 1991. Our work aims to report the political imagination of Mossi people and its rulers : the naaba. This study is an opportunity to deconstruct a concept of "tradition" too easily used to characterize the social and political organizations in Africa. On the contrary, the history of the Mossi reveals some dynamics that led to the formation of the idea of state in this part of Africa. We analyze the creation and the strengthening of the royal states from the late 15th century to the late 19th century, then the political hybridization process induced by french colonization. We show that naaba were able to make a selection in the forms of 'modernity' imposed by the colonial rule. A final section focuses on the formation of the nation-state from 1945 to 1991. We show how the new African elite tried to build a community of citizens, sometimes by tackling head on the Mossi chiefs – often considered by them as a dangerous opposition force –, sometimes by trying to reconcile them in order to facilitate the administration of the territory and the mobilization of the people from the political center. However, politicans in power could not resolve the issue of their official status within the Republic.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Freitas Barros.pdf: 1152526 bytes, checksum: 1a9117462edd5bc7ccdf8811e53b486e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-30 / The objective of this master s thesis is an exegetical analysis in which will be described the theological dimensions of Psalm 110. Based on philological studies of ancient Hebrew a new translation of this Psalm is presented, as literal as possible. The study covers the historical and cultural context of the Psalm 110 as well as the theological thoughts related to the king and the Lord, God of Israel. Through the principle of canonical exegesis, the study includes the observance of parallels between biblical texts, which explain each other. Psalm 110 will also be researched within the texts of the New Testament, thereby demonstrating its importance for the reflection about Jesus Christ / O objetivo da presente dissertação de mestrado é analisar exegeticamente as dimensões teológicas do Salmo 110. A partir dos estudos filológicos do texto originalmente composto em hebraico, é apresentada uma nova tradução, a mais literal possível. No mais, o estudo abrange o contexto histórico-cultural do Salmo 110, bem como a sua reflexão teológica sobre o rei e o Senhor, Deus de Israel. Acolhendo o princípio da exegese canônica, o estudo aqui apresentado se baseia, sobretudo, na observância dos paralelismos na Bíblia Hebraica, imaginando-se que os textos bíblicos se expliquem de forma mútua. Finalmente, será pesquisado como os textos do Novo Testamento trabalham com a reflexão teológica presente no Salmo 110

Ce travail se propose d’analyser les images et les langages des pouvoirs en Cappadoce à l’âge du fer. Il vise à démontrer que l’idéologie, les pratiques et les propagandes des pouvoirs peuvent s’analyser et se comprendre entre de fortes permanences par rapport au passé hittite impérial d’une part, et d’autre part d’importantes mutations. L’étude procède selon six parties. La première étudie les sources externes (bibliques, urartéennes et assyriennes) et fait le point sur la géographie historique et la géopolitique. La deuxième présente les sources épigraphiques et iconographiques internes, proposant quelques nouvelles datations. La troisième section dresse un panorama qui se veut exhaustif de la société, de l’urbanisation, de la religion et des différents dirigeants de notre espace. La quatrième montre que les images (iconographie politique et religieuse, figures de styles) et les langages (topiques, anthroponymie « royale », formules annalistiques) des pouvoirs reposent sur un triptyque constitué de la montagne et du rocher d’abord, de la vigne et des céréales ensuite, et enfin de la justice et du « bon gouvernement ». Enfin et après une cinquième partie étudiant sur un temps long l’iconographie, les sanctuaires rupestres et l’archéologie des paysages en Cappadoce, la sixième et dernière section replace l’espace d’étude dans différentes koiné, en tant qu’espace-carrefour entre Orient et Occident qui produit, intègre ou diffuse divers éléments (produits commerciaux, symboles, titres et anthroponymes politiques, figures religieuses) entre l’Est (Assyrie, mondes néo-hittite, araméen, urartéen et phénicien) et l’Ouest (Phrygie, Lycie mondes grec et lydien surtout). / The aim of this study is to analyse the images, the representations and idiom of those in power in Cappadocia at the time of the iron age. We hope to demonstrate that the ideology, practices and propaganda of these rulers can be examined and fully understood in a context characterized by both strong permanences from the hittite imperial past and important changes. The study is divided into six parts. The first one deals with the external sources (biblical, Urartian and Assyrian) and reviews the situation in terms of historical geography and geopolitics. The second presents the internal epigraphic and iconographic sources while proposing several new datations. The third section is devoted to a panorama, which we hope to be complete, of the society, the urbanization, the religion and the various rulers of our area. The fourth shows that the images (political and religious iconography) and the phraseology (topical, « royal» anthroponymy, annalistic formulas) used by those in power revolve around three elements : mountain and rock, vine and cereals, fair justice and « good government ». After a fifth part that centers on an examination over a long period of the iconography, the open air rock sanctuaries and the archeology of the cappadocian landscapes, the last section contextualizes our research in different koiné, seen as a meeting point between east and west, producing and absorbing various elements (commercial products, symbols, politcal titles and anthroponyms) and spreading them over the East (Assyria and the neo-hittite, Aramaic, Urartians and Phoenicians) and the West (Phrygia, Lycia, and the Greek and Lydian worlds).

This thesis argues for a common character of royal self-presentation in the early Hellenistic world, defined in this thesis as the period between the death of Alexander in 323 BC and the accession of Antigonos Gonatas in 276. In contrast to current models of interpretation which analyse it on a predominantly regional or biographical basis, this thesis supports the validity of approaching Hellenistic kingship as a broader phenomenon. Royal self-presentation is defined here as imagery developed by the kings, ideology articulated by them, and symbolic deeds enacted by them. This thesis engages a distinction between local and international perspectives and a wide interdisciplinary view of the surviving evidence in order to demonstrate the common character of early Hellenistic royal self-presentation. This common character is in turn unified by a dominant Greco-Macedonian emphasis: accordingly, it is termed ‘the image of the basileus’ in this thesis. This ‘image of the basileus’ is a composite construction based on six themes of royal self-presentation, each of which is analysed and discussed in a separate chapter; their total character is adduced fully in the final conclusion to this thesis. Chapter 1 covers heroic themes in royal self-presentation, which scholars have generally overlooked in reference to the early Hellenistic kings despite their commonality and significance. Chapter 2 covers the diadem, which became the symbol of Hellenistic kingship par excellence and as such is of pivotal importance to this study. Chapter 3 covers the concept of spear-won land and the foundation of eponymous cities, which can be understood together as part of an image of territorial domination. Chapter 4 covers representations of divine favour and divine will, a crucial basis of support for the early Hellenistic kings. Chapter 5 covers joint kingship and father-son rule, an innovation in the structuring of royal power and thus a vital focus for this thesis. Chapter 6, the final chapter of this thesis, covers common imagery in the funerals of the kings, which is important as a summation of their self-presentation.

This study explores the relationship between the use of the third person for self-reference by Jesus and Yahweh and suggests the potential for both divine and royal themes associated with this manner of speech. Chapter 1 highlights that this issue has received little attention in scholarship. In order to offer a thorough evaluation, the study offers a comprehensive survey of illeim in the Bible, highlighting its prominence and various rhetorical implications. Chapter 2 surveys the use of illeism in antiquity in order to address whether illeism was a common manner of speaking. Though various Greek historians refer to themselves in the third person, evidence indicates that this was a rhetorical effort sometimes used to give a sense of objectivity to their works. No evidence was found that would indicate that illeism was commonly used in direct speech. Chapter 3 surveys the Old Testament and categorizes the various uses of illeism. The study highlights the similar and prominent use by both OT kings and Yahweh. Chapter 4 explores the ANE literature for occurrences of illeism and notes the relatively prominent use among both ANE kings and preeminent pagan gods. Chapter 5 addresses the illeism of Jesus, the only person in the New Testament to use illeism in direct discourse, and finds a similar manner of use and rhetorical intention as that of Old Testament and ANE kings and that of Yahweh. In each case the illeism serves to emphasize the speaker's unique identity and authority associated with royal and/or divine status. The study also notes the illeism of Yahweh and Jesus share the common characteristics of prominence of occurrences, a shifting between first and third person, a variety of distinct self-references, and similar rhetorical intent. Chapter 6 summarizes the study and highlights the suggestive nature of the evidence. In light of the evaluation of the use of illeism by Jesus and Yahweh, based on the similar usage among Old Testament and ANE kings, and ANE gods, as well as the analysis of the various rhetorical implications of illeism, the evidence suggests that a royal and divine theme may be associated with the third-person self-references of Yahweh and Jesus. Furthermore, in light of the parallels between the two uses, the study suggests this manner of speech may be yet another way Jesus presents himself "as God."

Located in an isolated gorge in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Neo-Assyrian rock reliefs at Khinnis are unusual for their size, shape, and subject matter. The most striking of these is the enormous Great Relief, the largest single Assyrian sculpture in existence, which depicts a pair of gods attended by the duplicated figure of the Assyrian king. Both the Great Relief and the other sculptures of the Khinnis site were carved on the orders of Sennacherib (r. 705-688 BCE), to commemorate the canal head he constructed there. The Great Relief itself was positioned over the exact juncture wherein the waters of the river Gomel were canalized and sent on their way towards Nineveh, designated by Sennacherib as Assyria’s new imperial capital, irrigating fields and orchards along the way. In this thesis I examine the composition and iconography of the Great Relief, both in the context of Sennacherib’s irrigation programs and the inscription carved at the Khinnis site. This inscription contains a curiously bifurcated account of both Sennacherib’s civil works in Assyria and his brutal sack of Babylon in 689. In both cases, Sennacherib emphasizes his ingenious technical ability to manipulate water for the benefit of the Assyrian state, either through the creative irrigation of the Assyrian heartland and the new capital, or the destructive flooding and leveling of Babylon. I argue that the dichotomy presented by these activities, a dualism of “nurture and control” through technical expertise, is a persistent theme throughout the rhetoric of Sennacherib’s inscriptions and reliefs. Through a close analysis of the Khinnis inscription, the Assyrian tradition of landscape sculpture, and the emblematic and narrative strategies employed in palatial relief programs, I argue that the Great Relief at Khinnis is an emblematic image of the dualistic ideology of Sennacherib’s reign. Ultimately, the Great Relief stands as a carefully devised visual statement about the nature of state power, consciously created by Sennacherib to signal his conceptual re-founding of the Assyrian empire. / text

Scholarship on education and social reform has studied how communities with a history of literacy and employment in pre-colonial state administrations adjusted to the new socio-political order brought about by the British Empire in India. My work shifts the attention to the Indian aristocracy and mercantile communities and examines why they promoted modern education. I argue that rulers of Indian states adapted to the colonial environment quite effectively. Instead of a break from the past, traditional ideas of rajadharma (duties of a king) evolved and made room for reformist social and economic policies. This dissertation examines why many Indian princes (kings and queens) adopted liberal policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I argue that English-educated rulers of Indian states became reformers and modernizers to enhance their monarchical authority. The main audience for princes was their own state population, neighboring princes, imperial officials, and Indian journalists and politicians. I have carried out research at government archives and public and private libraries in India and the United Kingdom. Sources used include official records and correspondence, annual administrative reports, newspaper accounts, social reform journals, and weeklies and monthlies dedicated to educational topics. I have also consulted memoirs and biographies of kings, queens, diwans (prime ministers) and merchants. My source material is in English and Gujarati. I draw evidence from princely states across India with a focus on Hindu Rajput and Pathan Muslim states in the Gujarat (specifically Saurashtra) region of western India, neighboring the former Bombay Presidency. Due to Gujarat's strong mercantilist tradition, commercial groups played an influential role in society. I examine how and why merchants in princely states supported their ruler's educational policies. I also discuss how mercantile philanthropy crossed political and religious boundaries with the Gujarati (Hindu, Muslim and Jain) diaspora across India, Africa and Burma supporting educational institutions in Gujarat. My dissertation examines the interactions between the English-educated upper caste Hindus, the Anglicized Rajput rulers and the Gujarati merchants to understand how they all contributed to the shaping of modern Gujarati society. / text

In this study, I show that the figure of Minos, the mythic ruler of Bronze-Age Crete, functioned in Greek literature of the Archaic Age to the fifth century BCE as a mythical conduit elucidating three notions central to the interests of Greek thought: epic kingship, tyranny, and thalassocracy. A destructive-minded individual and judge in epic, Minos resonates with the portrayal of Homeric monarchs, who display destructive behavior toward their subjects, yet bestow upon them the benefits of adjudication. Further, Minos is deliberately exploited as a precedent by Odysseus, as the hero resolves to use self-help against the suitors rather than a settlement in court. As a result, the epic representation of Minos is far from being marginal to the Homeric poems, as usually assumed. In fifth-century Athenian literature the character is demonstrably portrayed as a tyrant. The shift in the portrayal of Minos is only apparently inconsequent. Artistic and literary evidence is mustered to suggest that the Athenians perceived Minos’ epic role of judge as incompatible with their administration and conception of justice, and that adjudication could serve as a springboard for the achievement of tyranny. In his trajectory from judge to tyrant, Minos thus illustrated the fine line separating justice from tyranny. Again in the fifth century, Minos is envisaged as a thalassocrat. I contend that his thalassocracy is a construct developed by fifth-century historians and based upon earlier traditions that associated Minos’ sea power with the attainment of the status of supreme monarch. Minos’ thalassocracy instead had the quite different implication that its holder would incline toward tyranny. Minos’ thalassocracy, thus, is relevant to Athens maritime empire, also thought of as a tyrannical rule. An ominous model for Athens, Minos’ thalassocracy is both denied and accorded primacy among the sea powers by the historians. Whether accepted or denied, Minos constituted a reference point for the current Athenian archē. / text