List of people who have been considered deities

This is a list of notable people who were considered deities by themselves or others.

Imperial cults and cults of personality

Who Image When Notability Pharaohs 3150–30 BCE Egyptian pharaohs were the kings of Ancient Egypt, and were considered to have divine properties. Their titles equated associated them with aspects of deities, such as the king of the gods Amun and the hawk god Horus. It was standard for Egyptians to worship deceased pharaohs as deities in the form of mortuary cults. However, with some rare exceptions. See List of pharaohs."The rulers of Egypt, first the kings and later the pharaohs, were gods as well as men who ruled by divine right. Each king was 'the son of god', who at the point of death became one with his father, a god in a cosmic Heaven." Christopher Knight, Robert Lomas (2001). The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus, 100. . Fair Winds publish."The king had a superhuman role, being a manifestation of a god or of various deities on earth. The king's principle original title, the Horus name, proclaimed that he was an aspect of one of the chief gods, Horus, a sky god who was depicted as a falcon. Other identifications were added to this one, notably, "Son of Re [the sun god]" and "Perfect God," both introduced during the 4th dynasty ( BCE), when the great pyramids were constructed. The epithet "Son of Re" placed the king in a close but dependent relation with the leading figure of the pantheon." Naram-Sin of Akkad 2255–2119 BCE The first Mesopotamian emperor who claimed to be a god. Japanese emperors ??? – 1945Hirohito denied being himself a living god, but the mythical ancestry is still the foundation of the Shinto worship, including the ceremonies and prayers done by the current emperor. Imperial Household Agency Claimed, at least by some Shintoists, including government officials, to be divine descendants of the goddess Amaterasu. The Shōwa Emperor repudiated the "false conception" of his divinity in the Humanity Declaration in 1945.Hirohito's 1945 Declaration in Japanese and English: "The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world." Chinese emperors 221 BCE1911 CE Deified as "Sons of Heaven", at least by some Confucianists, since the Qin dynasty under Qin Shi Huang.Mote, F.W. (1999). Imperial China: 900–1800. Harvard University Press. . Alexander the Great 356–323 BC To legitimize taking power (in Egypt) and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult the famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert, at which he was pronounced the son of the deity Amun. Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father; after his death, currency depicted him adorned with horns, using the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity. The Greeks interpreted this message—one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs—as a prophecy. Some believe he implied he was a demigod by actively using the title "Son of Ammon–Zeus". The title was bestowed upon him by Egyptian priests of the god Ammon at the Oracle of the god at the Siwah oasis in the Libyan Desert."Not the least of the many extraordinary facts about Alexander is that both in his lifetime and after his death he was worshipped as a god, by Greeks and Ancient Macedonians as well as, for example, Egyptians (to whom he was Pharaoh). The episode that led to Callisthenes' death in 327 was connected to this fact. Greeks and Ancient Macedonians believed that formal obeisance should be paid only to gods. So the refusal of his Greek and Macedonian courtiers to pay it to Alexander implied that they, at any rate, did not believe he genuinely was a living god, at least not in the same sense as Zeus or Dionysus were. Alexander, regardless, did nothing to discourage the view that he really was divine. His claim to divine birth, not merely divine descent, was part of a total self-promotional package, which included the striking of silver medallions in India depicting him with the attributes of Zeus. Through sheer force of personality and magnitude of achievement he won over large numbers of ordinary Greeks and Macedonians to share this view of himself, and to act on it by devoting shrines to his cult." Natchez rulers 700–1730 CE The Natchez were a theocracy ruled by "The Great Sun." This ruler has sometimes been deemed a God-king.The community leader would be called the Great Sun. Natchez social organization was based on the relationship of community members to the Great Sun. In the 17th century, French explorers and colonists met this leader, who lived in a large house on the top of a platform mound at the site that is now preserved by the State of Mississippi as the Grand Village of the Natchez. The Great Sun enjoyed the status of a living god Purnawarman 395–434 CEThe king of Sundanese Indianised kingdom called Tarumanagara. According to these inscriptions he embarked on hydraulic project and also identified himself with Vishnu, which indicates he and his kingdom were adhering to the Vishnuite faith. The Sailendras 7th–11th centuries CE The Sailendra dynasty of Java were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the plains of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, including the world-famous Borobudur."Patrons of Buddhism, the Sailendras during the height of their power in central Java constructed impressive monuments and temple complexes, the best known of which is the Borobudur on the Kedu Plain" (quoted from Hall 1985: 109). Majapahit kings 1293–1597 Javanese rulers of South East Asia's largest ever kingdom, in Indonesia. After death, they were depicted as Hindu gods (see for instance Raden Wijaya). Dalai Lamas 1391–present Considered re-incarnations of Avalokiteśvara in Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lamas are incarnations of Amitābha.Stein 1972, p. 84Das, Sarat Chandra. Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet (1970), p. 82. Manjushri Publishing House, New Delhi. First published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LI (1882).Геше Джампа Тинлей. Практика необычной Гуру-Йоги, 2003, с. 76 Inca emperors 1438–1533 The Inca Emperors had a status very similar to that of the Pharaohs of Egypt. Nepalese kings 1768–2008 In Nepal, the kings of the Shah dynasty were considered incarnations of Vishnu.

Posthumous deification