Chosen of the gods

The last conference, "The Chosen of the Gods", reviewed Akkadian beliefs and their evolution during this period of profound change in Akkadian society. We evaluated the efforts made to create a national pantheon and the relationships between traditional Akkadian gods and those of conquered territories, mainly Sumer. In addition, we studied the Akkadian development of the idea that kings resembled gods and gods resembled kings. We compared this with the older tradition of the northern Semites, according to which a king was seen as a human leader who took advantage of opportunities and defeated his enemies through intelligence and strategic decisions, rather than through physical power or divine intervention. Finally, we consider how the Akkadian king, who in fact possessed no transcendent god-like powers, maintained his authority through military and administrative innovations.