List of pharaohs deified during lifetime

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Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt depicting, from right to left, the god Ra-Horakhty, the deified form of Ramesses II, and the gods Amun Ra and Ptah Templo de Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egipto, 2022-04-02, DD 26-28 HDR.jpg
Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt depicting, from right to left, the god Ra-Horakhty, the deified form of Ramesses II, and the gods Amun Ra and Ptah

In ancient Egypt, it was standard for pharaohs to be worshipped posthumously as transfigured beings amongst the royal ancestors. This was generally performed in the form of a mortuary cult. [1] [2] During the pharaoh's lifetime, they were generally recognized as having divine properties, in accordance with imperial cult government. However, it was exceedingly rare for a pharaoh to have a cultic devotion of worshippers during the pharaoh's lifetime. These followers regarded the pharaoh’s divine status as equivalent to that of a true deity. Amongst the indigenous ancient Egyptian dynasties, this was resultant of a successful self-deification attempt usually substantiated by military accomplishment. Pharaoh Amenhotep III is the exception to this military substantiation custom, as his deification was substantiated via political leadership.

Contents

Half of these indigenous ancient Egyptian pharaohs also co-deified their wife during her lifetime. However, this spousal co-deification was normalized in the Ptolemaic dynasties.

Pharaohs deified during their lifetime

A few pharaohs have been confirmed to have been honored with cultic worship as deities during their lifetime. Ptolemaic pharaohs were also deified during their lifetime, although the theological context is different from that of the pharaonic era deifications. In Pharaonic Egypt, for a pharaoh to have a cultic devotion during their lifetime was a form of earned exaltation of status. These cults differed in nature from cults of personality and political cults in that they were strictly meritocratic.

Egyptologist Karen Byrson writes: [3]

"Any king could expect to be venerated among the royal ancestors and as a transfigured being after death. Some, however, became the object of more intense and specialized worship in life"

This deification is analogous to how for ancient Egyptian nonroyals, to be posthumously deified was a form of honorific exaltation, as nonroyals were generally not posthumously deified. Out of the hundreds of pharaohs of the indigenous ancient Egypt dynasties, four are confirmed to have been deified during their lifetime (statistical rarity no more than approximately 2%). All four cults had established worship occurring at Nubia, not just in Egypt.

Pharaohs deified during their lifetime
PharaohDynastyReignedDeification Spouse deifiedAssociated diety
Pharaonic Egypt [4] [5] [6]
Senusret III was deified during his lifetime as a god in his own right, due to his military achievements. [8] This was especially done in Nubia, where he led four victorious military campaigns. [9] He was traditionally likened to the warrior goddess Sekhmet. [10]
No
Amenhotep III initiated his own self-deification [12] around year 30 of his reign primarily as the dazzling Aten . [13] He was not a warrior pharaoh, known to only have participated in one military campaign. Alternatively, under his political leadership, [14] Egypt reached a golden age of peace and prosperity. [15] Egyptologist Raymond Johnson writes that during Amenhotep III's last decade:

"He was officially considered to be a living manifestation of the creator god Re, particularly in his manifestation as the sun's disk, Aten, and hence was a living embodiment of all the gods of Egypt, their 'living image' on earth." [16]

Amenhotep III concurrently deified his wife, Queen Tiye, [17] who was associated with the goddess Hathor. [18]

Yes
Tutankhamun deified himself during his lifetime as the incarnation of the god Amun sometime after year 4 of his reign. [20] Military performance contributed to the substantiation of the deification. Egyptologists Colleen Manassa and John Darnell write of Tutankhamun's military robustness in Nubia:

A very few, but far-ranging, and even unique monuments of his reign suggest that the adorations of the deified Tutankhamun was well deserved, since he showed particular vigor in the deserts east and west of the Nubian Nile Valley. [21]

Also, the Stela of Huy equates Tutankhamun with the god Amun.

No
Ramesses II deified himself during his lifetime [23] as the god Amun, his favorite god, [24] while retaining his own personal identity, [25] primarily for his military campaigns and diplomatic successes. [26] For example, Stele Aksha 505 describes how Ramesses II's status in the army was divine. [27] Ramesses II concurrently deified his wife, Queen Nefertari. [28]
Yes
Ptolemaic Kingdom [29]
Ptolemaic rulers The Ptolemaic Dynasty had its own distinct imperial cult theologically founded upon Alexander the Great, who was posthumously deified in ancient Egypt. As the Ptolemaic Dynasty progressed, its dynastic cult eventually led to the rulers' self-deification and worship as deities during the rulers' lifetime. In this dynastic cult, it was generally standardized for couples to be co-deified during their lifetime. Historian Tara L. Sewell-Lasater stated :

"Ptolemy I founded the dynasty and established the basis of the dynastic cult, which was based on his association with the divinity of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy II would continue developing the legitimization scheme of the dynasty by implementing a practice of incest as a method of associating the Ptolemies with the gods and reinforcing the dynastic cult. Ptolemy III established the precedent of deification while the monarchs were a living couple, and he implemented the worship of preceding sovereigns." [30]

The tradition continued through to the famous ruler Cleopatra, who herself was a descendant of Ptolemy I, nine generations apart. It lasted until the end of the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty's last sovereign ruler Ptolemy XV Caesar.

Yes
(standard)
Various deities

Pharaonic era cult comparison

In overview, aside from Senusret III, all confirmed cultic devotion to deified forms of indigenous ancient Egyptian pharaohs occurred within relative chronological proximity to each other. Similarities of those cults has been noted by scholars. Egyptologist Lanny Bell wrote that: [20]

"It is known that both Tutankhamun and Ramesses II patterned their own cults after Amenhotep III in Nubia"

However, as summarized in the table, a key difference between the cult of Amenhotep III and the Tutankhamun and Ramesses II cults is that Amenhotep III strictly substantiated his cult on political leadership as opposed to military performance.

Pharaohs Ramesses II and Tutankhamun are the only pharaohs defied during their lifetime associated with the same deity, Amun. However, the deification of Ramesses II did incorporation an equation of himself as Amun, unlike in Tutankhamun's deification, but rather Ramesses II identified himself as a distinct person in Amun's likeness. Ramesses II is also the only pharaoh of nonroyal birth to be deified during their lifetime. Meanwhile, Tutankhamun was the last pharaoh of royal birth prior to this, and was the last pharaoh of royal birth to be deified during their lifetime until the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Senusret III is the only of these pharaohs to be associated with a deity of a gender nonidentical to his own. The warrior goddess Sekhmet, is known to have masculine qualities. Senusret III's association with Sekhmet may represent his gender fluidity. [31] It is also noteworthy that only Senusret III's cult and Tutankhamun's cult have no evidence of co-deification of their respective spouses, while Amenhotep III's cult, Ramesses II's, and the Ptolemaic cults did.

Also, notably, there is not evidence that Thutmose III, ancient Egypt's most militarily successful pharaoh, whom reign a few centuries after Senusret III, was deified during his lifetime.

Associated deity theological comparison

The cult of Tutankhamun, which equated Tutankhamun with the god Amun was a particularly high status deity association, as Amun was considered the most important of the gods, [32] and alone regarded as the king of the gods. [33] Relatedly, the cult of Ramesses II, which associated him with Amun while still retaining his own distinct personhood, is also similarly a relatively hgih status deity association.

The cult of Senusret III, which associated him with Sekhmet while he was deified in his own personhood, is a high status deity association, yet not as high status as Amun. [34]

The deity association of Amenhotep III was more theologically nuanced, as his deification program identified him personally as the Aten, which is literally the visible solar disk, the image of the solar deity, Ra. The Aten deity alone, was a lower status god, compared to other gods. [35] The theological caveat of Amenhotep III's deification was that he was recognized as the living image of Ra-Horakhty, a fusion god Ra and Horus, but as a manifestation of this god as the Aten. In this regard, the deity association of Amenhotep III is more akin in status to the deification of Senusret III as himself while concurrently associated with Sekhmet. [36]

Pharaohs possibly deified during their lifetimes

Because deification during a pharaoh's lifetime increases a leader's power, especially within their royal circle, it was sought after. Various pharaohs attempted self-deification during their lifetime, but not every attempt was successful. There is some evidence or speculation that other pharaohs were deified during their lifetimes.

Pharaohs possibly deified during their lifetime
PharaohDynastyReignedDeification
Pharaonic Egypt
It has been stipulated that Mentuhotep II was deified during his lifetime, but this is disputed. [37]
1839 BC – c. 1786 BC
There is some evidence Amenemhat III attempted self-deification during his lifetime, but success of this attempt has not be conferred. [38]
Akhenaten attempted to deify himself during his Atenism religiopolitical upheaval, although the success of this attempt has not been conferred. [39]
There is some evidence Horemheb attempted self-deification during his lifetime, [41] although this is disputed. [42]

There is a pattern in that of the pharaohs whom attempted self-deification during their lifetime, the majority of them are successors to a pharaoh who successfully accomplished self-deification during their lifetime: Amenemhat III was the successor to Senusret III via coregency, [43] Akhenaten was the successor to Amenhotep III, [44] and Horemheb was the successor (barring Ay's Iry-pat interception interregnum) to Tutankhamun. [45]

Atenism & Amenhotep III cult

An important note about Akhenaten's self-deification program is that it was theologically connected to Amenhotep III's during-lifetime deification. Egyptologists David O'Connor and Eric H. Cline have examined the relationship between Amenhotep III's cult and Akhenaten's Atenism, concluding that the influence of the former on the latter is unquestionable. Further, they argue that the former laid the religiopolitical and theological foundations for the latter, proposing:

Akhenaten's famous sun cult might have actually been an extraordinary part of his father's deification program, and that the deified Amenhotep III and Akhenaten's new sun god, the Living Aten, were one and the same god. [46]

Furthermore, Akehnaten's Atenism was actually the culmination of his father, Amenhotep III's, deification program. There is evidence indicating the Atenism revolution was already set in motion prior to Amenhotep III's death, as some inscriptions from the his mortuary temple, which was constructed before his death, mention only the god Aten without mention of other gods. This is unusual for a pharaoh. [47]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Bommas, Martin; Harrisson, Juliette; Roy, Phoebe (6 December 2012). Memory and Urban Religion in the Ancient World. London New Delhi New York Sydney: A&C Black. ISBN   978-1-4411-3014-3.
  2. ↑ Meskell, Lynn (2001). "The Egyptian Ways of Death". Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association. 10 (1): 27–40. doi:10.1525/ap3a.2001.10.1.27. ISSN   1551-823X.
  3. ↑ Bryson, Karen (Maggie) (16 November 2018). ""Man, King, God? The Deification of Horemheb"". Academia.edu. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Charlton, Nial (1974). "Some Reflections on the History of Pharaonic Egypt" . The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 60: 200–205. doi:10.2307/3856187. JSTOR   3856187 . Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Shaw, Ian (6 May 2015). "Pharaonic Egypt". Academia.edu. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J. (18 June 2010). "Dating Pharaonic Egypt" . Science. 328 (5985): 1489–1490. Bibcode:2010Sci...328.1489B. doi:10.1126/science.1191410. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   20558694 . Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology", Edited by Donald B. Redford, p. 85, Berkley, 2003, ISBN   0-425-19096-X
  8. ↑ "Hymns to king Senusret III". UCL. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  9. ↑ Edu, World History (17 December 2024). "Pharaoh Senusret III". World History Edu. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  10. ↑ Lloyd, Alan B., ed. (2014). A companion to ancient Egypt. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World (Paperback ed.). Malden, Mass.: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN   978-1-118-78514-0.
  11. ↑ Kozloff, Arielle P. (20 February 2012). Amenhotep III. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2, 51, 121, 174, 197. ISBN   978-1-107-01196-0.
  12. ↑ Laboury, Dimitri (2017). "Senwosret III and the Issue of Portraiture in Ancient Egyptian Art". Cahier de Recherches de l'Institut de Papyrologie et d'Égyptologie de Lille. Université de Lille, Lille, France: 77. hdl:2268/223728. ISSN   0153-5021 . Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  13. ↑ Tutankhamun: discovering the forgotten Pharaoh: exhibition organized at the Europa expo space TGV train station "les Guillemins", Liège, 14th December 2019-30th August 2020. Liège: Presses universitaires de Liège. 2020. p. 239. ISBN   978-2-87562-245-7.
  14. ↑ Phelps, Danielle O. (2020). "Intentionally Forgetting: An Anthropological Examination of the Burial of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt". The University of Arizona. p. 65-66. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  15. ↑ "Queen Tiye and Amenhotep III shared power to rule Egypt". History. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  16. ↑ Johnson, W. Raymond (1996). "Amenhotep III and Amarna: Some New Considerations". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 82: 68. doi:10.2307/3822115. JSTOR   3822115 . Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Queen Tiye and her Family". ProQuest. 1 January 2000. ProQuest   1293472880 . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  18. ↑ Budin, Stephanie Lynn; Turfa, Jean MacIntosh (2016). Women in antiquity: real women across the ancient world. London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN   978-1-315-62142-5.
  19. ↑ Press, Oxford University (2003). The Oxford Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology. Berkley Books. p. 85. ISBN   978-0-425-19096-8.
  20. 1 2 Bell, L. (1985). Aspects of the Cult of the Deified Tutankhamun.
  21. ↑ Darnell, John Coleman; Manassa, Colleen (3 August 2007). Tutankhamun's Armies. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 135. ISBN   978-0-471-74358-3.
  22. 1 2 Lichtheim, Miriam (1973). "Features of the Deification of Ramesses II . Labib Habachi". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 32 (3): 354–355. doi:10.1086/372293. ISSN   0022-2968.
  23. ↑ Price, Campbell (1 January 2011). "'Ramesses, "King of Kings": On the Context and Interpretation of Royal Colossi'". S. Snape and M. Collier (Eds) Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen (Rutherford Press, Bolton, 2011), 403-411.: 404. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  24. ↑ Treasure, Matthew (1 January 2021). "Four Faces on One Neck: The Tetracephalic Ram as an Iconographic Form in New Kingdom Egypt". Academia.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  25. ↑ Eyma, A. K.; Bennett, C. J. (2003). A Delta-man in Yebu. S.l.: Universal-Publishers. ISBN   1-58112-564-X.
  26. ↑ Furlan, Urška; Husøy, Thomas Alexander; Bohun, Henry (30 September 2022). Narratives of Power in the Ancient World. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 64. ISBN   978-1-5275-8276-7.
  27. ↑ A. Rosenvasser, "The Stele Aksha 505 and the Cult of Ramesses II as a God in the Army", RIHAO 1 (1972), p. 104
  28. ↑ Xekalaki, Zeta (28 September 2011). "Aspects of the Cultic Role of Queen Nefertari and the Royal Children during the Reign of Ramesses II". Academia.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  29. ↑ Hölbl, Günther (2001). A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. Hoboken: Psychology Press. ISBN   0-415-23489-1.
  30. ↑ Sewell-Lasater, Tara (1 January 2020). "Becoming Kleopatra: Ptolemaic Royal Marriage, Incest, and the Path to Female Rule". University of Houston Dissertation Repository: 92. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  31. ↑ Diamond, Kelly-Anne (1 December 2021). "Gender, Deities, and the Public Image of Sobekneferu". Near Eastern Archaeology. 84 (4): 278. doi:10.1086/716826. ISSN   1094-2076 . Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  32. ↑ "Amun-Re and the Theban Triad". Hypostyle. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  33. ↑ Stark, Rodney (2007). Discovering God: The origins of the great religions and the evolution of belief (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperOne. p. 405. ISBN   978-0-06-117389-9.
  34. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 181.
  35. ↑ Rosalie David, op. cit., p.125
  36. ↑ Hart, George (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Psychology Press. p. 133. ISBN   978-0-415-34495-1.
  37. ↑ Karwowska, Paulina (2023). "In the presence of my king forever: Royal images in the tombs of noblemen of the Middle Kingdom and beyond". Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean. 32 (2): 160. doi: 10.37343/uw.2083-537X.pam32.2.08 . ISSN   2083-537X.
  38. ↑ Andreu-Lanoë, Guillemette; Morfoisse, Fleur (2017). Sésostris III et la fin du Moyen Empire. Villeneuve-d'Ascq: Université de Lille, SHS. p. 77. ISBN   978-2-9525870-7-5.
  39. ↑ Wade, Sabrina (1 October 2021). "Atenism and Pharaoh Akhenaten's Attempt to Deify Himself". Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History. 11 (2). doi: 10.20429/aujh.2021.110201 . ISSN   2163-8551 . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  40. ↑ Martin, Geoffrey Thorndike (1989). The Memphite Tomb of Ḥoremḥeb, Commander-in-chief of Tutʻankhamūn: Human skeletal remains. London: Egypt Exploration Society. pp. 72, 73. ISBN   978-0-85698-188-3.
  41. ↑ "www.aegyptologie.com" (PDF).
  42. ↑ Bryson, Karen M (13 April 2018). The Reign of Horemheb: History, Historiography, and the Dawn of the Ramesside Era. JScholarship (Thesis). Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  43. ↑ Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 94-95. ISBN   978-0-500-05128-3.
  44. ↑ Wilkes, Jonny (26 February 2024). "Akenhaten Facts: Who Was The 'Heretic Pharaoh'?". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  45. ↑ Kawai, Nozomu (2010). "Ay versus horemheb: the political situation in the late eighteenth dynasty revisited". Journal of Egyptian History. 3 (2): 261–292. doi:10.1163/187416610X541727. ISSN   1874-1657 . Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  46. ↑ O'Connor, David B.; Cline, Eric H. (2001). Amenhotep III. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 91. ISBN   0-472-08833-5.
  47. ↑ "Rebellious Son". Smithsonian Magazine. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
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