Clergy and religious life
The priests of ancient Egypt
In ancient Egyptian thought the king was the one true priest of every god. Temple reliefs show him alone making offerings, and every cult act was performed in his name. In practice the daily work of the temples was delegated to a large body of priests. The most senior were the hem-netjer, the “god’s servants”, ranked as first, second, third and fourth prophet in the great temples. Below them served the wab, the “pure ones”, who worked in rotating shifts and returned to ordinary life between them. Specialists stood alongside these ranks: the lector priest who read the rituals, the sem priest who performed funerary rites, and many musicians, scribes and stewards. Temples were also major landowners, and their priests administered fields, workshops and granaries. The priesthood lasted, much changed, for more than three thousand years, until the temples fell silent in late antiquity.
- Temple hierarchy
- Ritual specialists
- Royal women in the cult
Orders and states of life
Temple hierarchy
Each great temple had its own staff, headed by a first prophet, or high priest, and ranked through the grades of the hem-netjer. Appointments were in principle made by the king, but offices often passed from father to son. The wab priests, organised into groups called phyles, carried offerings, cleaned sacred objects and kept the temple pure during their month of duty.
Ritual specialists
Some priests were defined by a particular task rather than a rank in one temple. The lector priest knew and recited the sacred texts, and the sem priest performed key acts of the funerary ritual. Both appeared in temples and at tombs, and both were believed to command words and gestures that had real effect in the divine world.
Royal women in the cult
Women served throughout Egyptian history as priestesses of goddesses such as Hathor and Neith, and very widely as temple musicians. At Thebes the office of God’s Wife of Amun, held by royal women, grew into one of the most powerful positions in the land, combining ritual duties with control of the god’s vast estate.
Temple hierarchy
High Priest of Amun
hem-netjer tepy en Imen, "first servant of the god Amun" (Egyptian, ḥm-nṯr tpj n Jmn)
Addressed as First Prophet of Amun
The First Prophet of Amun at Karnak in Thebes headed the richest temple in Egypt during the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE). He acted for the king in the daily cult, led processions at festivals and oversaw an estate of fields, herds, workshops and dependent labourers recorded in documents such as the Great Harris Papyrus. The office could become a power in its own right: in the Twenty-first Dynasty high priests such as Herihor and Pinedjem I ruled Upper Egypt from Thebes, some taking royal titles.
What the figure wears
- Linen robe
A long, fine robe of white linen, often almost transparent and finely pleated; priests were required to wear linen, never wool, inside the temple.
- Pleated kilt shendyt (šndyt)
A pleated linen kilt wrapped around the waist and visible beneath the outer robe, the basic garment of Egyptian men of rank.
- Broad collar wesekh (wsḫ)
A wide collar of rows of faience, glass or stone beads spread over the shoulders and chest, worn by officials, priests and the gods themselves.
- Arm-shaped censer
A long bronze or wooden censer shaped like an arm, ending in an open hand that held a small cup of burning incense offered before the god.
- Outside services
- Outside the sanctuary a high priest lived as a great official, with a household, estates and a fine tomb. He kept his head and body shaved and wore linen, as purity required of every priest on duty.
- Insignia
- The shaven head and spotless white linen marked his purity; his rank was expressed by titles, a staff of office and his place beside the king.
Ritual specialists
Sem priest
sem or setem (Egyptian, sm / stm)
The sem priest was the chief officiant of the Opening of the Mouth, the ritual that gave life to a mummy, a statue or a temple image so that it could breathe, eat and receive offerings. Touching the mouth and eyes with special instruments, he restored the senses of the dead. In royal funerals the role was ideally taken by the heir, and Tutankhamun’s successor Ay is shown as sem priest in his tomb. At Memphis the high priest of Ptah also bore the title sem, an office once held by Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II.
What the figure wears
- Leopard skin
A leopard or panther skin worn over the robe, with the animal’s head resting at the shoulder and its paws hanging down; the distinctive mark of the sem priest.
- Linen robe
A plain white linen robe or kilt worn beneath the skin, keeping to the rule that priests wore only linen in sacred rites.
- Side-lock of youth
A single long lock of hair left on one side of the otherwise shaven head, a mark of childhood also worn by the sem in recalling the god Horus as dutiful son.
- Ritual adze netjerty (nṯrtj)
An adze-shaped instrument, sometimes with a blade of meteoric iron, touched to the mouth of the mummy or statue to open it for breath and food.
- Outside services
- The title was held alongside other offices, and many sem priests were high officials or princes. Between rites they lived as members of the elite, dressed in fine linen.
- Insignia
- The leopard skin and side-lock identified the sem priest at once in tomb paintings and reliefs.
Ritual specialists
Lector priest
kheri-heb, "he who carries the ritual book" (Egyptian, ẖry-ḥb)
Addressed as Chief Lector Priest (kheri-heb hery-tep) for the most senior
The lector priest read aloud the sacred texts that accompanied temple ritual and funerary rites, from offering formulas to the long liturgies of the Opening of the Mouth. Because exact recitation was thought to make rites effective, he was also seen as a master of heka, sacred or magical power. Literary tales such as those of the Westcar Papyrus celebrate chief lectors who worked wonders. Lectors were attached to temples and the royal court and were often hired to perform rites at private tombs.
What the figure wears
- Linen robe
A long or knee-length robe of white linen, the pure dress required of every priest who entered a sanctuary or took part in a funeral.
- Lector's sash
A broad band of white linen worn diagonally across the chest from one shoulder to the opposite hip, the visible sign of the lector priest.
- Papyrus roll
An unrolled papyrus held open before him, containing the ritual text he recited; the book itself gave the office its name.
- Outside services
- Lectors were literate men of the scribal class, trained in the House of Life, the temple's archive and school. Outside rites they copied, studied and kept sacred books.
- Insignia
- The diagonal sash and the open papyrus marked the lector in every scene of offering or burial.
Royal women in the cult
God's Wife of Amun
hemet-netjer en Imen (Egyptian, ḥmt-nṯr n Jmn); also dwat-netjer, "Divine Adoratrix"
The title first appears in the early New Kingdom, when Queen Ahmose-Nefertari held it at Thebes. In the Third Intermediate and Late periods (c. 1070–525 BCE) it was given to a king’s daughter, who remained unmarried and adopted her successor. Women such as Shepenupet I, Amenirdis I and Nitocris I performed rites for Amun, controlled a large estate and staff, and represented the ruling dynasty in Thebes. Kushite and Saite kings used the office to secure the south. It ended with the Persian conquest of 525 BCE.
What the figure wears
- Sheath dress
A close-fitting, ankle-length dress of fine white linen, the traditional garment of royal and noble women and of goddesses in temple art.
- Broad collar wesekh (wsḫ)
A wide collar of coloured beads over the shoulders and chest, matching the jewellery of queens and goddesses shown beside her.
- Cap with double plumes
A close cap or short wig crowned by two tall feathers, the headdress of Amun himself, which tied the God’s Wife to the god she served.
- Sistrum sesheshet (sššt)
A sacred rattle of bronze with loose metal discs, shaken in ritual to please the gods and drive away hostile forces.
- Outside services
- The God's Wife lived at Thebes with a household of officials, scribes and attendants led by a chief steward. She built chapels at Karnak and was buried at Medinet Habu.
- Insignia
- The double plumes, her cartouche and royal titles set her apart, and in reliefs she offers to Amun as kings did.
Questions people ask
Why did Egyptian priests shave their heads?
Priests had to be ritually pure to approach the gods. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the fifth century BCE, reports that they shaved their whole bodies every other day, washed several times a day and night, wore only linen and sandals of papyrus, and were circumcised. Egyptian texts confirm the stress on washing, shaving and linen, and wool and leather were not brought into sanctuaries. Purity was required during service; it was a condition of entering the temple rather than a lifelong vow.
Did Egyptian priests serve full time?
Most did not. The many wab priests and lower prophets were divided into groups called phyles, usually four, though five in the Old Kingdom and again after the Canopus Decree of 238 BCE. Each phyle served for one month and then handed over to the next, so a priest worked roughly three months a year. In between he returned to his family, fields or other office. Only the senior staff of the great temples were attached to them more or less permanently.
Were there women priests in ancient Egypt?
Yes. In the Old Kingdom many elite women bore the title *hemet-netjer*, priestess, usually in the cults of goddesses such as Hathor and Neith. In later periods women appear above all as temple singers and musicians, the "chantresses" of Amun and other gods, and as members of the household of the God's Wife of Amun. The God's Wife herself, at her height, controlled the greatest temple estate in Egypt and held exceptional political influence in the south.
How reliable is Herodotus on the Egyptian priesthood?
Herodotus wrote the fullest early outside description, in Book 2 of his *Histories*, and much of what he says about purity, linen and shaving agrees with Egyptian evidence. But he relied on interpreters and on what priests chose to tell a Greek visitor, and he sometimes generalised or misunderstood. Historians therefore read him alongside temple inscriptions, papyri and archaeology, accepting his testimony where it is confirmed and treating his more striking claims with caution.
When did the Egyptian priesthood come to an end?
The temples continued under the Ptolemies and Romans, who paid for new buildings and reliefs, but declined as Christianity spread from the third and fourth centuries. Imperial laws against sacrifice in the 390s ended public support. The last known hieroglyphic inscription was carved at Philae in 394 CE, and worship of Isis there lasted longest, until the emperor Justinian ordered the temple closed around 535. Some modern groups have revived the worship of Egyptian gods in new forms.
Sources and further reading
- The Priests of Ancient Egypt – Serge Sauneron, translated by David Lorton (Cornell University Press, 2000)
- Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt – Emily Teeter (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
- The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt – Richard H. Wilkinson (Thames & Hudson, 2000)
- The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice – Robert K. Ritner (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1993)