Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 37:2 (Spring 2023)
Article: Beyond Moses And Elijah: The Regency-Coregency Continuum As A Model For Mentored Succession With Hatshepsut Of Egypt And Vani Vilasa Of India As Case Studies
Author: Havilah Dharamraj

PP 37:2 (Spring 2023) p. 22

Beyond Moses And Elijah: The Regency-Coregency Continuum As A Model For Mentored Succession With Hatshepsut Of Egypt And Vani Vilasa Of India As Case Studies

Havilah Dharamraj

Havilah Dharamraj is Head of the Department of Biblical Studies at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in Bangalore, India. Her academic degrees include an MS in biochemistry, an MA in Christianity, and the PhD from the University of Durham, UK. She is a well-published and widely respected OT scholar. She promotes the use of the various Indian storytelling traditions for preaching and teaching. For more about Havilah and her transition to editor of Priscilla Papers, see the editorial at the front of this issue.

An extended version of this article will soon be published in a festschrift for Graham Houghton by SAIACS Press, Bangalore, India, as a chapter titled “Beyond Moses and Elijah: The Regency-Coregency Continuum as a Model for Mentoring Faculty in Theological Institutions.”

Moses and Joshua. Elijah and Elisha. These are the go-to OT examples of carefully mentored succession. Joshua fills Moses’s shoes to complete the arc of the exodus-wilderness wandering-conquest-settlement story. Elisha follows up Elijah’s onslaught against the Baal-patronizing dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel to bring it to a grisly end. These two narratives are certainly commendable picks for a conversation on preparing successors to leadership positions in Christian ministry—churches, seminaries, and Christian organizations. But perhaps one other type of biblical narrative is a better candidate: stories of regency and coregency. Alongside the biblical examples, I have picked two historical cases of mentored succession—one from ancient Egypt, and one from the recent history of the royal house of Mysore in southern India.

Being a woman in leadership, and having myself practiced mentoring for succession, I should confess that I intentionally picked female regents for the two case studies. Furthermore, readers of Priscilla Papers are committed to women being both mentors and mentees in the church and in other Christian organizations, and the model for mentored succession presented below can help such relationships thrive.

Regency And Coregency

Egypt

Before we speak about regency, let us understand coregencies. Coregencies are situations in which the throne is held simultaneously by two monarchs, and each can legitimately count this period into their years of rule. As an important example, coregencies were common in ancient Egypt.1 An ageing Pharaoh would appoint for himself a coregent, typically one of his sons. Officially, the two had identical status—both were P...