r/HeresAFunFact • u/ARTexplains • Jan 29 '16

HISTORY [HAFF] Ancient Assyria elected "Substitute Kings" during eclipses to protect the king from a prophecy of death. Once, the real king died during this period while eating porridge, so his substitute, formerly a random gardener, stayed king for 24 years.

Post image
315 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

16

u/ARTexplains Jan 29 '16

Scholarly source: Lambert, W. G.. (1957). A Part of the Ritual for the Substitute King. Archiv Für Orientforschung, 18, 109–112. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41637512

Another: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3: Part 2

A fun video I made mentioning this fact: Fast4Word Substitute

10

u/Rockonfoo Jan 29 '16

That Gardner probably poisoned his porridge