King of the Universe

The title saw its final usage under the Seleucids, Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 BC) being the last known ruler to be referred to as "King of the Universe".

It is possible, at least among Assyrian rulers, that the title of King of the Universe was not inherited through normal means.

The similar title of šar kibrāt erbetti ("King of the Four Corners of the World") may have required successful military campaigns in all four points of the compass.

[citation needed] During the Early Dynastic Period in Mesopotamia (c. 2900–2350 BC), the rulers of the various city-states (the most prominent being Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Umma and Kish) in the region would often launch invasions into regions and cities far from their own, at most times with negligible consequences for themselves, in order to establish temporary and small empires to either gain or keep a superior position relative to the other city-states.

[8] Eventually this quest to be more prestigious and powerful than the other city-states resulted in a general ambition for universal rule.

[8] Rulers attempting to reach a position of universal rule became more common during the Early Dynastic IIIb period (c. 2450–2350 BC) during which two prominent examples are attested.

[9] The first, Lugalannemundu, king of Adab, is claimed by the Sumerian King List (though this is a much later inscription, making the extensive rule of Lugalennemundu somewhat doubtful) to have created a great empire covering the entirety of Mesopotamia, reaching from modern Syria to Iran, saying that he "subjugated the Four Corners".

[12] This title had also been employed by some earlier Sumerian kings claiming control over all of Sumer, such as Enshakushanna of Uruk.

It is important to note that Sargon and his successors did not rule the city of Kish directly and did thus not claim kingship over it.

The Assyrians took it, as the Akkadians had intended, to mean "King of the Universe"[1] and adopted it to lay claim to continuity from the old empire of Sargon of Akkad.

In particular, the kings of Eshnunna, a city-state in central Mesopotamia, had used similar titles since the fall of the Neo-Sumerian Empire.

[25] The title seems to have had similar requirements among Babylonian kings, the king Ayadaragalama (c. 1500 BC) was only able to claim the title late in his reign, his earliest campaigns that established control over cities such as Kish, Ur, Lagash and Akkad not being enough to justify its use.

[33] The title of "King of Lands", also used by Assyrian monarchs since at least Shalmaneser III,[34] was also adopted by Cyrus the Great and his successors.

[35] The title was last used in the Hellenic Seleucid Empire, which controlled Babylon following the conquests of Alexander the Great and the resulting Wars of the Diadochi.

[44][clarification needed] In Islam the equivalent term is "rabbil-'alamin" ("Lord of the Universe"), as found in the first chapter of the Quran.