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ANCIENT EGYPT See Also: Pharaoh The Ancient Egypt ian Pharaohs were believed to be descendants and incarnations of the god Horus . ANCIENT ROME See Also: Imperial cult (Ancient Rome) In the Roman Empire the ''Imperial cult'' was the worship of the Roman Emperor as a god. This practice began at the start of the Empire under Augustus , and became a prominent element of Roman Religion . The cult spread over the whole Empire within a few decades, more strongly in the east than in the west. It was gradually abandoned when the emperor Constantine I started supporting Christianity . ANCIENT CHINA In Ancient China , an Emperor was considered the Son Of Heaven . The Scion and representative of heaven on earth, he was the ruler of All Under Heaven , the bearer of the Mandate Of Heaven , his commands considered sacred edicts. A number of legendary figures preceding the proper Imperial Age Of China also hold the honorific title of emperor, such as the Yellow Emperor and the Jade Emperor . JAPAN Before the end of World War II , the Japanese Emperor made similar claims to deity; see:
HAILE SELASSIE AND THE RASTAFARI An imperial cult of a totally different dimension occurred also in the 20th century. Thousands of miles from where the Ethiopia n Emperor Haile Selassie lived, a new religion developed in the Caribbean, stating the Ethiopian Emperor to be a manifestation of God . The Rastafari ans, named after the Emperor's earlier name, consider him an earthly aspect of the God referred to in the Bible. Haile Selassie was exiled in Britain during Italian occupation of his country (1935-1941) but returned to rule for another three decades. Rastafari belief peaked in the 1970s and 1980s , when it was spread around the world with Reggae music as its best known carrier. FICTION In the book Dune by Frank Herbert, after Paul Atreides subverts Emperor Shaddam IV and becomes Emperor of the known universe, and even before that, the native Fremen of the planet Dune worship him as a Prophet, a Messiah, and even a God. His son, Leto Atreides is worshipped as a demiurge to an even greater level, likely due to his ability to commune with the past and his slow transformation into sandworm form. In the game Warhammer 40,000 the Emperor Of Mankind is worshipped as a god by trillions of his subjects, though he clearly states he is not a god ('I want warriors, not worshippers'). Imperial cult appears in a fictional Empire Of Tamriel from The Elder Scrolls games, which has much resemblance to the historical Roman Empire. In Tamriel, Imperial Cult is an organization worshipping the Nine Divines , one of whom is Talos , the first Emperor of the Septim dynasty and founder of The Third Empire Of Tamriel . See Also: Imperial Cult (Elder Scrolls) SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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