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Kingship is one of the most ancient institutions of civilisation. At the very dawn of history the king is not only already existent, but is regarded with a reverential awe that shews that the institution must have had its beginnings in very remote times. His functions are twofold, civil and religious; not only is he set apart from those over whom he rules, but by virtue of his other function, that of mediator between God and his people, we find him invested as it were with a halo of quasi-divinity. And so in early times we find the king possessing certain priestly prerogatives. Pharaoh was not an ordinary man but the son of Horus, and almost as one of the Gods. The kings of the Semites were priest-kings. In Homer the king is Θεῖος[1], he is set upon his throne by Zeus, he is invested with the divine sceptre as in the case of Agamemnon[2] and stands in a very special relation to the Deity. In ancient Rome it was the same; and when in Rome and Athens kingship was abolished, still it was necessary to have an ἄρχων βασιλεύς or a Rex Sacrorum to perform the special priestly functions hitherto belonging to the king.

In view then of the sacred character of the king it is only natural to expect to find some religious ceremonial accompanying his accession to his office, and although in the West there is little or no direct evidence of this, in the East there is found in very early times a solemn religious ceremony consecrating the king to his office.

The first actual reference to the consecration of a king occurs in the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence. In one of the letters Ramman-Nirari a Syrian king writing to Pharaoh speaks of the consecration of his father and grandfather, and that by unction with oil[3].

In the Old Testament there are a number of instances of the consecration of a king by anointing with oil, a rite parallel to the consecration of a priest or prophet. In the parable of the trees of Lebanon in the Book of Judges (ix. 15), the consecration of a king by anointing with oil is regarded as the general and accepted custom. Accordingly we read (1 Sam. ix-xi) of the first Israelitish king Saul being solemnly anointed by the prophet Samuel on his election as king. In the account of the inauguration of Saul, if we may use the term, three distinct features are noticeable—

(1) He is anointed with oil, and so is endowed with special gifts, for the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him.

(2) There is a ‘Recognition’ or acceptance of him as king by the people.

(3) King and people make a joint covenant with God.

David was anointed at first privately by Samuel, and by this unction he was endowed with the Spirit of the Lord ‘from that day forward’ (1 Sam. xvi. 13). But he was twice again anointed as king publicly, and in each case in connection with his recognition by the people, on the first occasion when he was made king by the men of Judah (2 Sam. ii. 4), and on the second when he was made king over all Israel (2 Sam. v. 3). Moreover on the second occasion we read of a covenant being made—‘King David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel.’ In the case of Solomon (1 Kings i. 38–40), we are given more information as to the ceremonial used. Solomon riding on the royal mule goes in procession to Gihon; he is anointed from a horn of oil out of the tabernacle by Zadok the high-priest; trumpets are blown and the people acclaim him with the cry ‘God save King Solomon.’ He is brought and enthroned on David’s throne.

In Israel and Syria we find kings consecrated in like manner by unction. Thus we read of Elijah being charged to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu king over Israel (1 Kings xix. 15, 16). The somewhat informal manner in which Jehu was anointed by a son of the prophets (2 Kings ix. 1 ff.) may have been due to the special circumstances of the case, or it is possible that there was a more gradual development of the ceremonial in Israel than in orthodox Judah.

The fullest account given in the Old Testament of a coronation is that of Jehoiada (2 Kings xi. 12 ff.). Here is the first actual mention of the crowning, and there are a number of separate ceremonial acts.

(1) The crown is set on the king’s head by the high-priest.

(2) The king is given the ‘testimony,’ for which we should probably read the regal ‘bracelets[4].’

(3) He is made king and anointed.

(4) He is acclaimed by the people, ‘God save the King.’

(5) A covenant is made not only between the Lord and the king and the people, but also between the king and the people.

Here then we have investiture with crown and perhaps with other regal ornaments. A recognition is probably implied in the expression ‘they made him king.’ He is anointed and acclaimed. The covenant made between king and people is, to use a later phraseology, the coronation oath. It was his refusal to make a satisfactory covenant with his people that was the occasion of trouble between Rehoboam and Israel.

At a much later period Isaiah refers to Cyrus as ‘the Lord’s anointed.’ The prophet’s language may be merely metaphorical, but on the other hand may imply that the anointing of a king at his accession was a rite common to the whole East. In later times there was a ceremonial crowning of a Persian king, as we happen to know from Agathias’ story of unusual circumstances attendant upon the coronation of Sapor[5].

Reference has been made above to certain regal ornaments mentioned in the accounts of the coronations of various Jewish kings. The crown and regal bracelets are mentioned among Saul’s kingly ornaments (2 Sam. i. 10). To these may perhaps be added the shield (2 Sam. i. 21), and the spear (1 Sam. xviii. 10, xxvi. 7, 22)[6].

Ezekiel (xxi. 26) mentions the crown and diadem in connection with Zedekiah as the special insignia of the king. There is also special reference made to royal robes distinctive of kingly rank (1 Kings xxii. 10, 30), but there is no evidence as to the nature of these robes.

If the book of Esther can be relied on, there was a definite royal apparel used by the Persian kings as well as a ‘crown royal’ (Esth. vi. 8); and a ‘crown royal’ is also mentioned in connection with the queen, in the case of both Vashti and Esther (i. 11, ii. 17). There can be little doubt that crown and royal vesture reach back to remotest antiquity.