2.1.3 Moreover, continued legitimacy depended on the king fulfilling
the mandate that the gods assigned to him, the most important ele-
ment of which from the legal perspective was the duty to do jus-
tice. The justice in question is expressed by pairs of terms in Akkadian
(kittum/mì“arum) and in Hebrew (mi“pa†/ßedaqah), the first member
reflecting respectively its static aspect of upholding the existing legal
order and the second its dynamic aspect of correcting abuses or
imbalances that have invaded the system. In particular, the king was
expected to protect the weaker members of society, such as the poor,
the orphan and the widow, against the stronger. In Egyptian, the
same motif is expressed through the wider concept of cosmic order
(maat), of which justice was a part.^222.1.4 The king, therefore, was not in law an absolute ruler. Although
not answerable to a human tribunal, he was subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the gods. Failure to fulfill his divine mandate could lead to
divine punishment, which might affect not only himself but also his
entire kingdom. As a Neo-Assyrian text puts it: “If a king does not
heed justice, his people will be thrown into chaos and his land will
be devastated.” Although in theory a matter for divine justice alone,
the king’s malfeasance could in practice provide retroactive justification
for rebellion or usurpation of the throne.2.1.5 The king’s constitutional role was not affected by divine king-
ship. In Egypt, this concept attached as a matter of routine to the
office, not the individual. The same is true even in those few cases
in Egypt and Mesopotamia where a king was deemed personally a
god, in that he had a divine cult of himself during his lifetime. Such
kings are still found worshiping the gods. It should be remembered
in any case that the pantheon had a hierarchy too: the Egyptian
king was explicitly referred to as a “junior god” (n∆r nfr).2.2 The Legislature
2.2.1 The king was the primary source of legislation. If advisers
were consulted beforehand, or if officials drafted the text and issued
it in his name, they had no legal role and have left little or no trace(^22) See Foster, “Social Reform.. .”; Morschauser, “Ideological Basis...”
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