Through the Eras

Religiontrators. Frequently, priestly offices could be inherited.Yet priests could also hold civil offices in addition totheir priesthoods.PRIESTLY FUNCTIONS. There were two main classesof priests. The higher class of priest was the hem-netjer,“god’s servant.” These priests functioned in the cult beforethe god’s statue. The Greeks translated hem-netjeras “prophet,” an equation that derived from the priests’role in interpreting oracles. The lower class of priests wasthe wabu, or “pure ones.” They carried the god’s barque(sailing vessel); poured water for the various libations requiredduring the temple service; oversaw craftsmen, artisans,or scribes; or served as craftsmen themselves,making such sacred objects as the gods’ sandals. In additionto these two priestly titles, there was a third, theit-netjer, or “god’s father.” It has been suggested that thetitle “god’s father” was given to senior wab priests whohad reached the level of prophet but were not yet formallyinducted into that office. One of the it-netjer’sfunctions seems to have been to walk in front of thegod’s image when it was in procession and sprinkle wateron the ground in order to purify the path.PURITY. Inherent in one of the Egyptian words forpriest is the concept of purity. Priests were required tomaintain a status of ritual purity while serving in theiroffice. Priests attained and maintained such puritythrough several means. During the Ramesside Period(1292–1075 B.C.E.), priests had to bathe in the sacredlake of a temple three times a day; the ancient Greekhistorian Herodotus (fifth century B.C.E.) wrote that inhis day priests bathed twice a day and twice during thenight. Priests had to cleanse their mouths with natron(a salt-like substance) dissolved in water, and remove allhair from their bodies. Herodotus wrote that theyshaved their whole bodies every third day. Furthermorethey were circumcised. They also had to abstain fromsexual activity for several days before entering their serviceas priests and during the period of their service.While serving in the temple, they were not allowed towear wool, and were required to wear white sandals.Priests had to observe certain food taboos, which differedfrom nome (province) to nome. For example, inthe Third Upper Egyptian nome, eating fish was forbidden,and in the Sixth Upper Egyptian nome, honeycould not be eaten.GANGS OF THE SERVICE. Priests were divided intofour groups, called “gangs of the service,” to which theGreeks gave the name “phyles.” Each phyle served onelunar month in rotation, so that during the year eachgang served for a total of three months, with threemonths off between each month of service. This freetime allowed individuals to hold priesthoods in severaltemples. The chief priests of a temple were designatedby ordinal numbers; the high priest of the temple wascalled the first prophet, the next most senior priest wasthe second prophet, followed by a third and a fourthprophet. The high priests of some gods bore special titles.The high priest of Ptah was called “he who is greatat directing the crafts.” The high priest of Re was “hewho is great at seeing.” The high priest of Thoth wascalled “the arbitrator between the two,” while the highpriest of Khnum was called the “modeler of limbs.”These titles derive from the various spheres of influenceor mythological roles these gods played.SPECIALISTS. In addition to these classes of priests,there were also priestly specialists. The hery-heb (“he whocarries the festival roll”) was responsible for reading thehymns and spells which accompanied many of the ritualsin the temple. The sesh per-ankh (“scribe of the houseof life”) was responsible for copying the papyri used intemple and funerary rituals. Women also played a rolein the temple priesthood. During the Old Kingdom,women of high social station could hold the office ofpriestess (hemet-netjer) of Hathor or of Neith. Prior toera of the New Kingdom, women served as priestessesin the cult of a god, but only rarely, due to the fact thatwomen had numerous other duties in the culture andwere not allowed to hold any job that would detract fromthese duties. Only select women who never married anddedicated themselves to a life of religion were allowed toserve the cult of a god. This changed in the era of theNew Kingdom with the introduction of a professionalclass of priests, members of which gained title and property.Since women could hold no titles nor own propertyin ancient Egypt, they were no longer able to servein the role of priestess. Instead they served mainly as musicians,singers, and dancers in the temple.SOURCESSerge Sauneron and Jean-Pierre Corteggiani, The Priests ofAncient Egypt (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,2000).PERSONAL RELIGIONEVIDENCE. Personal piety is not uniformly attestedthroughout Egyptian history. Before the New Kingdom(1539–1075 B.C.E.), it is very rare to find a private persondepicted on a stele (etched slab of stone) worshippinga deity. Old Kingdom tomb biographies tended toArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 233