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During the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, starting with Amnhotep III and ending with Ramses XI, pharaohs were worshipped as living 'deities'. After the declaration of Wehem Mesut and the subsequent collapse of the 20th dynasty, and by extension, the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt into the Third Intermediate Period, pharaohs were no longer seen as 'deities' by the common populace. The building of Mammisi (essentially a birth chapel) during the Late Period served as an attempt to legitimize the pharaoh as a son of the Egyptian 'deities', and so that the pharaonic cult could perhaps potentially continue. Of course, by the end of the Late Period, the pharaoh was seen as essentially just a regular human being who by something akin to the divine right was put on the throne to rule the country.

What I'm curious about is where the cutoff is: basically, who is the last pharaoh in the history of Egypt to be seen as 'divine'? I have tried looking for relevant sources on this, but I couldn't find an exact cutoff.

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    Seems like we had a variant of this question before, but I couldn't find it.
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Commented May 23, 2023 at 22:31
  • You might be thinking of this one deleted a few days ago.. Seems related with connection to 'last pharaoh'.
    – justCal
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 2:04
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    We can't read your mind, so we don't know your criteria. You need to provide an example of a Pharoah you consider "not divine" and compare him /her with a divinely worshipped predecessor.
    – Spencer
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 22:22
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    Seconding @Spencer's comment: What do you mean by "worshipped as living 'deities'"? Especially since you scare-quote "deities", it's hard to tell if you are looking for a reasonably widespread belief that the Pharaoh really was a god with super-human attributes or simply a pro-forma "X is Pharaoh. The Pharaoh is officially a god. X is officially a god. QED." (But no one really thinks the Pharaoh is anything more than a king.) Or somewhere in between.
    – Mark Olson
    Commented Jul 9, 2023 at 14:53
  • I suspect that this question is founded on imprecise definitions & assumptions. What did it mean for the Pharaoh to be worshiped as a deity? The fact that OP has to scarequote the words leads me to suspect that there can be no acceptable answer without a definition.
    – MCW ♦
    Commented Jul 11, 2023 at 12:08

2 Answers 2

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Wikipedia suggests Maximinus Daza, Roman Emperor and Pharaoh of Egypt from 310 to 313 CE:

Maximinus Daza's status as a non-Christian accorded the priests of Egypt an opportunity to style him as Pharaoh, in the same manner that other foreign rulers of Egypt had been styled before.(...) Maximinus Daza would prove to be the last person afforded the title of Pharaoh – no Christian Roman/Byzantine emperor, nor Islamic leader, continued the ancient tradition of the pharaonic god-king of Egypt.

The title of pharaoh, given by Egyptian priests to Roman Emperors (as long as they were not Christian) was definitely a religious title, because having such a deity was required for their cult. People worshipping the ancient Egyptian religion considered pharaohs as deities, and actually the title disappearence in the 4th century coincides with the dwindling numbers of worshippers.

Meanwhile, political and administative elites didn't care: they just recognized an Emperor.

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  • I don't have enough points, but I'd -1 this answer. Maximinus Daza was only given the title of a pharaoh - however, like I wrote in my question, pharaohs by that point were no longer considered 'deities' nor did common people really believe that there was anything divine about them, it was simply more about tradition and the continuation, as well as elite shennanigans.
    – setszu
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 18:15
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    @setszu It was Egyptian priests who gave Roman Emperors (as long as they were not Christian) the title of pharaoh, because such deity was required for their cult. Meanwhile, political and administative elites didn't care (they just recognized an Emperor). In other words, the title of Pharaoh was specifically a theological thing. AFAICT, people worshipping the ancient Egyptian religion still considered pharaohs as deities, and actually the title disappearence in the 4th century coincides with the dwindling numbers of worshippers.
    – Evargalo
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 6:34
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Cleopatra

She was also the last pharaoh: the practice lasted as long as there were pharaohs.

She particularly presented herself as form of Isis.

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    This is hard to reconcile with what's in the WP article on Roman Pharaoh.
    – kimchi lover
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 1:45
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    Cleopatra VII was the last queen of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Only a very few of the dozens of Egyptian queens became female pharaohs, the ones who became monarchs in their own right. And since the Ptolemys were a Macedonian dynasty they may not have followed Egyptian royal rules. Anywat, Clepatra VII's son and co ruler, Ptolemy XV Caesarion was certainly a king, so he can be considered the last pharaoh.
    – MAGolding
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 17:46
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    @MAGolding The question however isn't about who the last pharaoh was.
    – setszu
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 18:16

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