REFLECTION AND RECTIFICATION OF THE SACRAL PALACE CEREMONIAL "PROSKYNESIS" AT THE COURT OF THE ASSYRIAN AND ACHAEMENID RULERS

Abstract

The palace ceremonial "proskynesis" (gr. – προσκύνησις) – which consisted of a kiss and a bow – was considered and interpreted. A comparison of ancient Eastern traditions at the royal court of Assyrian and Achaemenid rulers is highlighted. The author tries to reconstruct the essence and meaning of proskynesis in the lives of kings and ordinary people. The work uses ancient greek written sources and the eastern source heritage, which is represented by reliefs and obelisks from Assyria and the Achaemenid Empire. The pertinence of the topic is an attempt to interpret part of the palace ceremony – proskynesis, and to highlight the royal cult of the ancient Eastern traditions at the court of Achaemenid empire. The purpose of the project is to determine some points in the ceremonial proskynesis, as a reflection of the sacred status of the ruler or as an element of court etiquette. The tradition of the sacralization of royal power was inherent in virtually all the ancient eastern people, but the concrete forms of this sacralization in different states could differ significantly from one another and not always included the "adorable" of the monarch. This ritual from the Persians borrowed from different countries was meant to mean the king's majesty. With his adoration, the ritual had nothing in common. Kings were considered to be the favorites of the gods, their pious choirs and priests. The range of postures to which proskynesis was applied is diverse, and therefore we have to make out the idea which gesture proskynesis can be consist off and we have to interpret this in several different ways, depending on its context, with possibilities ranging between "sending a kiss forward", kneeling down, prostrating oneself, or just a bow. And at all we need to determine is the proskynesis equal to prostration?

Keywords

• proskynesis
• palace ceremony
• sacralization
• royal cult
• king's court
• assyria
• achaemenid empire