ABSTRACT

The sacralisation of power, by which a ruler reigns not by force but by the supernatural powers vested in him, is a well known feature of all anthropological studies of archaic states (Hocart 1927, Dumezil 1968, de Heusch 1972, Sahlins 1985). Frazer and Hocart documented the worldwide distribution of divine kingship as a special kind of mystical power emanating from the ritualisation of cosmic order. In Africa, a number of early diffusionist studies were devoted to investigating the origins of divine kingship through studies of the distribution of certain characteristic traits. Lagercrantz (1950) carried out the most exhaustive typological comparison, identifying the principal features of divine kingship as the presence of ritual regicide, royal incest and prohibitions or taboos against the person of the king.