Kings into gods
Subtitle: how prostration shaped Eurasian civilizations
By: by Vittorio Cotesta ; translated by Matthew D'Auria
Contributors: D'Auria, Matthew, translator
Series: International studies in sociology and social anthropology -- volume 127
Publisher: Brill; Brill Academic Pub
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Leiden; Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 152
ISBN-13: 9789004288416; 9789004288423
Subjects: Kings and rulers; Monarchy; Communication and culture; Ritual; Rites and ceremonies; Posture in worship; Gesture in worship; History
Work titles: Prosternarsi : Piccola indagine sulla regalita divina nelle civilta euroasiatiche
Description: "One might be surprised, astonished or indignant seeing men and women prostrating themselves in front of other men and other women. Or one might feel it is right to bow down before God, Allah, the saints, the Holy Virgin or the gods. Kings into Gods: How Prostration Shaped Eurasian Civilizations investigates the reasons why men prostrate themselves before deities or before powerful men. Through an in-depth historical and cultural analysis, this book highlights the connection between rituality and royalty within the Eurasian civilizations. The narrative and iconic documentation gathered and analyzed concerns the Greek and Roman world, the Mongolian civilization during the Middle Ages, the Hindu and Chinese civilizations, the Islamic civilization in India in the fourteenth century, the Mughal civilization and European civilization in the late Middle Ages. The different forms of the rituals in the courts of kings and emperors are tightly connected with the concept of royalty. The prostration is an act of humiliation of defeated enemies, a means to establish an abysmal distance between powerful elite and the people, a way of creating hierarchies within the elite itself"--
Notes: "First published in Italian by Bevivino Editore as Prosternarsi: Piccola indagine sulla regalita divina nelle civilta euroasiatiche, Milan, 2012."

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Proskynesis in Herodotus's histories; title: An enquiry on Alexander : apotheosis, multicultural empire; title: The great divergence between East and West; title: Proskynesis at the centre of the clash of civilizations; title: Proskynesis in the Euroasiatic continent : unity and diversity; title: Conclusion; title: Dialogue between the old oligarch and the neo-illuminist; title: A short glossary of the main terms and the main characters.