substitution rital, the difference being that in the Babylonian one,
the substitutewasactually executed at the end of his brief period on
the throne.)
If you yourself as king had committed some egregious offence
which provoked divine wrath, then your entire kingdom could be
made to suffer for it. Foreshadowing Old Testament belief, the sins
of the fathers could be visited on their sons, just as the sins of the
kings could be visited on their subjects. Thus Suppiluliuma’s son
King Mursili IIfinally ascertained through oracular enquiry that
the plague which ravaged the Hittite land allegedly for 20 years was
due to divine wrath caused by several offences, including the
violation of an oath and the neglect of sacrifices, which his father
had committed years before. Once these offences were identified,
appropriate expiation could be made and the affliction brought to
an end.
The king’s religious obligations included constant tours through
his land to attend and participate in the kingdom’s most important
religious festivals. These often lasted many days and were regular
annual events in the religious calendar. If a king failed to turn up, the
consequences of divine displeasure could be severe. But he had other
pressing duties to attend to as well, and sometimes of necessity he
had to appoint high-ranking deputies, notably members of his own
family, to stand in for him when the celebration of a particular
festival normally required his personal presence.
THE KING’S SECULAR RESPONSIBILITIES
Two other responsibilities of kingship stand out conspicuously.
Thefirst we’ve already referred to. Royal ideology required the king
to be a great warrior, and to demonstrate regularly his abilities on
thefield of battle. As preparation for kingship, he was trained in the
arts of war from an early age and often gained experience on the
battlefield itself when he was barely more than a child. After
assuming kingship, he could expect to spend most years of his reign
leading his army against enemy or rebellious vassal states. Success
on the battlefield, demonstrated by large processions of booty-
people–prisoners-of-war–through the streets of his cities, along
INTERMEDIARIES OF THE GODS:THE GREAT KINGS OF HATTI 95