Enlil-Bani: The Gardener King

The Babylonians believed that solar eclipses were divine warnings, signs that the gods planned to kill their king. To fool fate, the real monarch would appoint a "substitute king and queen" just before the eclipse, shower them with royal titles, and then have them executed afterward to satisfy the prophecy. But during one such ritual, King Erra-imitti accidentally died while eating hot porridge, leaving his stand-in, Enlil-bani, a humble gardener, as the new ruler. Instead of being killed, the "temporary king" kept the throne and ruled for 24 years.

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