SORU: aşağıdaki parçaya göre cevaplayınız
The underlined word 'upholders' in the passage is closest in meaning to ----.
Egypt's Old Kingdom flourished on the flood-enriched
banks of the River Nile. It was an era of prosperity,
relative stability, and strong centralized rule. During this
period, the pyramids were built and Egyptian society
worshipped their mighty kings, or pharaohs, as 'gods on
Earth'. Old Kingdom society was tightly controlled by
the powerful pharaoh. Central to life, politics, and
religion, which were all closely combined, was the idea
that the pharaoh was a semi-divine figure who acted as
mediator between the gods and his people. The
pharaoh not only oversaw elaborate religious rituals but
also headed a vast, highly organized political and
administrative bureaucracy. Pharaohs were believed to
be earthly representations of the gods and were the
upholders of a justice system that aimed to reflect the
cosmic order. A pharaoh was also the figure who
worked with the gods to ensure that the Nile brought
silt-rich annual floods each year, maintaining the Nile
valley fertile enough to support the country. Though
Egyptians did seem to realize he was a flesh-and-blood
human, they stood in awe of the sacred power of the
pharaoh