Defining the Divine in Achaemenid Persian Kingship: The View from Bisitun

Was the Achaemenid Persian king worshipped as/considered (or intended to be considered) a god? This chapter aims to sketch broad problems and potentials in the study of the nature of Achaemenid kingship today and offer a case study of new possibilities specifically in visual representation through an analysis of the Bisitun Monument of Darius I. The chapter offers a preliminary projection on the nature of Achaemenid art as evidence in the longstanding debate on the divine or not-divine nature of Achaemenid kingship. It reviews selected aspects of this debate and its particular challenges and potentials for further work, as these are set against recent discussions of kingship in closely related fields. The chapter presents a sequence of abbreviated case studies in representation and interpretation, aimed at asserting the importance of an approach to definitions of the divine that circumvents the rigidity and the logocentricity of traditional discourse on the topic. Keywords:achaemenid art; Achaemenid Persian king; Bisitun Monument