batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l4808-l4885
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l4808-l4885
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING
THE GOD.; lines 4808-4885
start: '4808'
end: '4885'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Frazer describes evidence for annual or periodic royal death and its modification
by substitution. He presents the Babylonian Sacaea, where a condemned prisoner
temporarily took royal privileges and was then executed, as a substitute for the
king. He then describes softened forms of temporary kingship, especially the Cambodian
King February, who reigned for three days, processed with royal symbols, and ordered
elephants to trample a rice scaffold whose grain was taken for harvest benefit.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that in some places a king was put to death after a year’s
reign and a new king appointed for the next year.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: At the Babylonian Sacaea, masters and servants changed places for five days,
with servants giving orders and masters obeying.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A condemned prisoner at the Sacaea was dressed in royal robes, seated on the
king’s throne, allowed to command, eat, drink, enjoy himself, and lie with the
king’s concubines.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: At the end of the five days the temporary royal prisoner was stripped, scourged,
and crucified.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The author interprets the condemned man as dying in the king’s stead and receiving
full royal rights to make the substitution complete.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The passage describes a modification in which the king abdicates briefly and
a temporary king reigns and suffers in his place.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says the king is slain in his character as a god, and that his
death and resurrection are treated as necessary to perpetuate divine life for
the salvation of people and world.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: In Cambodia, the king annually abdicated for three days in the month of Méac,
during which he performed no acts of authority and did not touch the seals or
receive revenues.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The Cambodian temporary king, called Sdach Méac or King February, was conducted
in procession, rode a royal elephant, sat in a royal palanquin, wore a peaked
white cap, and carried rough wooden regalia.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: On the third day the temporary Cambodian king ordered elephants to trample
the “mountain of rice,” a bamboo scaffold surrounded by sheaves of rice.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: People gathered the rice and took portions home to secure a good harvest;
some rice was also cooked for the king and presented to monks.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: king
description: A ruler whose bodily and mental vigor is treated as requiring periodic
renewal or replacement.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Babylonian condemned prisoner / mock king
description: A prisoner condemned to death who is dressed and enthroned as king
during the Sacaea and then executed.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: masters and servants at the Sacaea
description: Social groups who exchange positions during the five-day Babylonian
festival.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: King of Cambodia
description: The real king who abdicates annually for three days in Méac and receives
homage from the temporary king.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Sdach Méac / King February
description: The Cambodian temporary king who receives sovereignty for three days
and acts in royal procession.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Cambodian people
description: People who gather rice from the trampled mountain of rice and take
it home for harvest benefit.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: monks
description: Recipients of cooked rice presented after part of the trampled rice
is taken to the king.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: sacral or real king
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:4
basis: The passage treats the king as the figure whose authority, vigor, abdication,
death, or divine character organizes the ritual sequence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: substitute victim
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The condemned prisoner is described as dying in the king’s stead after receiving
temporary royal privileges.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: temporary sovereign
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
basis: Both figures occupy the royal place for a short fixed period and perform
or receive royal acts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: ritual status-inversion participants
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Masters and servants change places during the Sacaea.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: harvest-seeking participants
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: People collect rice from the trampled rice structure to secure a good harvest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: ritual recipients
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Monks receive cooked rice after the trampling of the rice structure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: king’s robes and throne
literal_form: Royal robes and the king’s throne used by the condemned prisoner during
the Sacaea.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: royal concubines
literal_form: The king’s concubines, with whom the temporary Babylonian king is
permitted to lie.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: scourging and crucifixion
literal_form: Executional actions performed on the Babylonian temporary king after
his five-day reign.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: seals and revenues
literal_form: Signs and instruments of Cambodian royal authority not used by the
real king during abdication.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: royal elephant and palanquin
literal_form: Royal elephant and royal palanquin used in the Cambodian temporary
king’s procession.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: white cap and wooden regalia
literal_form: A peaked white cap and rough wooden regalia worn or carried instead
of golden and jeweled royal regalia.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: mountain of rice
literal_form: A bamboo scaffold surrounded by sheaves of rice, trampled by elephants
at the temporary king’s order.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: rice for good harvest
literal_form: Rice gathered by the people after the trampling and taken home to
secure a good harvest.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Annual royal death pattern
summary: The passage introduces the pattern that a king may be killed after a fixed
reign because continued bodily and mental vigor is not trusted.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Babylonian Sacaea temporary kingship
summary: During a five-day festival, social roles are inverted and a condemned prisoner
temporarily occupies royal status with royal privileges.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Execution of the Babylonian mock king
summary: After the five-day reign, the temporary king is stripped of royal robes,
scourged, and crucified; the author explains this as substitution for the king.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Cambodian royal abdication in Méac
summary: The Cambodian king abdicates annually for three days, suspending acts of
authority while King February receives temporary sovereignty.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Cambodian procession and rice trampling
summary: The temporary king processes with altered royal symbols and orders elephants
to trample the mountain of rice, after which rice is distributed for harvest benefit
and religious presentation.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: temporary substitute king killed in place of the real king
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The Babylonian condemned prisoner is invested with royal status and then
executed, which the passage interprets as dying in the king’s stead.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports and interprets the custom through Frazer’s comparative
framework; it is not a direct Babylonian ritual text.
- id: motif:2
label: divine king’s death and renewal
taxonomy_refs:
- dying_and_returning
- death_rebirth
basis: The author states that the king is slain as a god and that death and resurrection
are treated as perpetuating divine life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The explicit death-and-resurrection claim is Frazer’s interpretation within
comparative religion scholarship.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual reversal of social hierarchy
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: At the Sacaea, masters and servants exchange places for five days.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: No specific taxonomy reference for status inversion is supplied in the
available list.
- id: motif:4
label: annual temporary abdication and nominal sovereignty
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The Cambodian king abdicates annually for three days while a hereditary temporary
king receives sovereignty and performs royal procession.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The rite is described as a softened form of an older custom; the passage
does not independently prove the older form for Cambodia.
- id: motif:5
label: ritual rice distribution for harvest fertility
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: After elephants trample the mountain of rice, people take rice home to secure
a good harvest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the stated harvest purpose but does not detail local
theology behind the act.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The Babylonian Sacaea and the Cambodian King February rite are presented
as related functional variants of temporary kingship during a real king’s abdication
or substitution period.
claim_level: same_function
target: Babylonian Sacaea and Cambodian Sdach Méac / King February temporary kingship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage frames the comparison through Frazer’s interpretation and
does not establish historical contact between Babylon and Cambodia.
- id: claim:2
claim: The Babylonian condemned prisoner is compared by function to the broader
pattern of a dying criminal representing a dying god.
claim_level: same_function
target: dying criminal representing a dying god
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage announces that other examples will be given later, but
this excerpt itself does not provide those further examples.
- id: claim:3
claim: Ethiopia, Sofala, Calicut, Babylon, and Cambodia are presented as examples
or modifications of a rule requiring royal death or its ritual substitute after
a fixed period or sign of decline.
claim_level: same_function
target: periodic killing or substitution of the king in Frazer’s comparative examples
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The excerpt summarizes Ethiopia, Sofala, and Calicut only briefly and
does not include full evidence for those cases.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4808-4812
quote_or_summary: The passage says some people did not trust the king’s vigor beyond
a year, so at year’s end he was killed and a new king appointed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 4812-4823
quote_or_summary: 'Berosus is cited for the Babylonian Sacaea: a five-day festival
of master-servant reversal in which a condemned prisoner wore royal robes, sat
on the throne, exercised royal freedoms, and was then stripped, scourged, and
crucified.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4823-4833
quote_or_summary: Frazer argues that access to the royal concubines shows the mock
king was not merely a jest but a man about to die in the king’s stead with full
royal rights during his brief reign.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4833-4849
quote_or_summary: The passage compares modifications of royal-killing rules in Ethiopia,
Sofala, Calicut, and Babylon, explaining the Babylonian pattern as a brief abdication
in which a temporary king suffered for the king.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4849-4855
quote_or_summary: The author says other examples will show a dying criminal representing
a dying god, and states that the king is slain as a god whose death and resurrection
perpetuate divine life for people and world.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 4856-4865
quote_or_summary: In Cambodia, the king annually abdicated for three days in Méac,
performing no authority, not touching the seals, and not receiving revenues, while
the temporary king Sdach Méac reigned.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4865-4878
quote_or_summary: The temporary Cambodian king’s hereditary office is described;
he is processed by mandarins, rides a royal elephant in a royal palanquin, wears
a white cap and wooden regalia, receives sovereignty for three days, and processes
through palace and capital.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 4878-4885
quote_or_summary: On the third day King February orders elephants to trample the
mountain of rice, a bamboo scaffold with rice sheaves; people take rice home for
a good harvest, and some is cooked for the king and presented to monks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The extraction follows explicit passage content. Motif and comparison fields
reflect Frazer’s comparative interpretation and therefore require review against
primary sources.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
All claims are limited to the provided excerpt from a public-domain comparative religion text.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg__l4808-l4885
passage_sha256=8d7d20da911dcd0581adc2c4c42465d8f68bb7882d6e2fe2ca26459460aeab89