The Priesthood
The power and condition of the Egyptian priesthood varied greatly
with the passing of the centuries. It was in all likelihood at all
times independent of the royal power, and indeed there were periods in
Egyptian history when the sway of the Pharaohs was seriously endangered,
or altogether eclipsed, by the ecclesiastical party. Vast grants of
land had enriched the hundreds of temples which crowded the Egyptian
land, and these gave employment to a veritable army of dependents and
officials. Under the New Kingdom, for example, the wealth and power
of the god Amen rivalled, if it did not eclipse, that of the Pharaoh
himself. In the time of Rameses III this influential cult numbered no
fewer than 80,000 dependents, exclusive of worshippers, and its wealth
can be assessed by the circumstance that it could count its cattle by
the hundred thousand head. The kings, however, periodically attempted to
diminish the power of the priesthood by nominating their own relatives
or adherents to its principal offices.
In early days the great lords of the soil took upon themselves the title
and duties of chief priest in their territory, thus combining the feudal
and ecclesiastical offices. Beneath them were a number of priests, both
lay and professional. But in later times this system was exchanged for
one in which a rigorous discipline necessitated the appointment of a
professional class whose duties were sharply outlined and specialized.
Despite this, however, and contrary to popular belief, at no time did
the priestly power combine itself into a caste that was distinctly
separate from the laity, the members of which continued to act along
with it. Individuals of the priesthood were generally alluded to as _hen
neter_ ('servant of the god') or _uab_ ('the pure'). In some localities
the chief priests possessed distinctive titles, such as _Khorp hemtiu_
('chief of the artificers') in the temple of Ptah, or _Ur ma_ ('the
Great Seer'--literally, 'Great One of Seeing') at Heliopolis. At Mendes
he was known by the title, odd enough for an ecclesiastical dignitary,
of 'Director of the Soldiers,' and at Thebes as 'First Prophet of Amen.'
Those priests who conducted the ceremonial were known as _kheri-heb_.
The duties of the priesthood were arduous. A most stringent and exacting
code had to be followed so far as cleanliness and discipline were
concerned. Constant purifications and lustrations succeeded each other,
and the garb of the religious must be fresh and unspotted. It consisted
entirely of the purest and whitest linen, the wearing of woollen and
other fabrics being strictly forbidden, and even abhorred. The head
was closely shaven, and no head-dress was worn. The priest's day was
thoroughly mapped out for him. If he was on duty, he duly washed himself
and proceeded to the Holy of Holies, where he repeated certain formulæ,
accompanying them by prescribed gestures, preparatory to breaking the
seal which closed the sanctuary. Standing face to face with the god, he
prostrated himself, and after performing other ritualistic offices he
presented the deity with a small image of Maāt, the goddess of Truth.
The god, powerless before this moment to participate in the ceremonial,
was then supposedly regaled with a collation the principal items in
which seem to have been beef, geese, bread, and beer, having consumed
which he re-entered his shrine, and did not appear until the morning
following. In the entire ritual of these morning offerings it would
appear that the officiating priest represents Horus, son of Osiris,
who, like all dutiful Egyptian sons, sees to the welfare of his father
after death. Thus the ritual is coloured by the Osirian myth. The
remainder of the day was passed in meditation, the study of various
arts and sciences, theoretical and manual, and officiation at public
religious ceremonies. Even the night had its duties; for lustration
and purification were undertaken in the small hours, the priest being
awakened for that purpose about or after midnight.
The College of Thebes
Early Greek travellers in Egypt, and especially Herodotus and Strabo,
speak with enthusiasm of the abilities of the Egyptian priests and the
high standard of philosophic thought to which they had attained. The
great college of priests at Thebes is alluded to with admiration by
Strabo. Its members were probably the most learned and acute theologians
and philosophers in ancient Egypt. Colleges of almost equal importance
existed elsewhere, as at Anu, the On or Heliopolis of the Greeks.
Each nome or province had its own great temple, which developed the
provincial religion regardless of faiths which existed but a few miles
away. The god of the nome was its divinity _par excellence_, Ruler of
the Gods, Creator of the Universe, and giver of all good things to his
folk.
But it must not be imagined that, if the priesthood as a body was
wealthy, some of its members did not suffer the pinch of hardship.
Thus, although the best conditions attached to office in the great
temples, these were by no means overstaffed. At Abydos only five
priests composed the staff, while Siut had ten attached to it. Again,
the smaller temples possessed revenues by no means in proportion to
their size. A study of this subject shows the stipend of the chief
priests of the smaller shrines. "On the western border of the Fayûm,"
says Erman, "on the lake of Moeris, was the temple of _Sobk[2] of the
Island, Soknopaios_ as it is called by the Greeks. It had a high-priest
who received a small stipend of 344 drachmæ, and all the other priests
together received daily about one bushel of wheat as remuneration for
their trouble. They were not even immune from the statutory labour on
the embankments, and if this was lessened for them, it was owing to
the good offices of their fellow-citizens. The revenues of the temple,
both in regular incomes and what was given in offerings, was used for
the requirements of the ceremonies, for at every festival fine linen
must be provided for the clothing of the three statues of the gods,
and each time that cost 100 drachmæ; 20 drachmæ were paid on each
occasion for the unguents and oil of myrrh employed in anointing the
statues, 500 drachmæ were for incense, while 40 drachmæ were required
to supply sacrifices and incense for the birthdays of the emperor. And
yet these priests, who were in the position of the peasantry and of the
lower classes of townspeople, maintained that their position in no way
diminished their ancient sanctity."
Priestesses also held offices in the temples. In earlier times these
officiated at the shrines of both gods and goddesses, and it is only at
a later date that we find them less often as celebrants in the temples
dedicated to male deities, where they acted chiefly as musicians.
Mysteries
There is a popular fallacy to the effect that 'volumes' have been
written concerning the Egyptian 'mysteries,' those picturesque and
unearthly ceremonies of initiation which are supposed to have taken
place in subterranean dusk, surrounded by all the circumstances of
occult rite and custom. The truth is that works which deal with the
subject are exceedingly rare, and are certainly not of the kind from
which we can hope to glean anything concerning the mysteries of Egyptian
priestcraft. We shall do better to turn to the analogous instances of
Grecian practice or even to those of savage and semi-civilized peoples
concerning whose mysteries a good deal has been unearthed of recent
years.
Regarding the Egyptian mysteries but little is known. We have it on the
authority of Herodotus that mysteries existed, possibly those in the
case cited being the annual commemoration of the sufferings and death of
Osiris. Says Herodotus:
"At Saïs in the Temple of Minerva, beneath the Churche and neere unto
the walle of Minerva, in a base Chappell, are standinge certayne greate
brooches of stone, whereto is adioyninge a lowe place in manner of a
Dungeon, couered over wyth a stone curiously wroughte, the vaute it
selfe being on euery side carued with most exquisite arte, in biggnesse
matching with that in Delos, which is called Trochoïdes. Herein euery
one counterfayteth the shadowes of his owne affections and phantasies
in the nyghte season, which the Aegyptians call Mysteryes; touchinge
whiche, God forbid, I should aduenture to discouer so much as they
vouchsafed to tell mee."
In chapter i of the _Book of the Dead_, too, we encounter the phrase,
"I look upon the hidden things in _Re-stau_"--an allusion to the
ceremonies which were performed in the sanctuary of Seker, the god of
death at Saqqara. These typified the birth and death of the sun-god, and
were celebrated betwixt midnight and dawn. Again, in chapter cxxv of
the _Book of the Dead_ (Papyrus of Ani) we read, "I have entered into
_Re-stau_ [the other world of Seker, near Memphis] and I have seen the
Hidden One [or mystery] who is therein."
Chapter cxlviii (_Saïte Recension_) is to be recited "on the day of the
new moon, on the sixth-day festival, on the fifteenth-day festival,
on the festival of Uag, on the festival of Thoth, on the birthday of
Osiris, on the festival of Menu, on the night of Heker, during the
mysteries of Maāt, during the celebration of the mysteries of Akertet,"
and so forth. Herodotus, who was supposed to have been initiated into
these mysteries, is righteously cryptic concerning them, and just as he
has aroused our interest to fever heat he invariably sees fit to remark
that his lips are sealed on the subject.
But is there anything so very extraordinary in these terrible doings?
Theosophists and others would lead us to suppose that in the gloomy
crypts of Egypt weird spiritistic rites of evocation and magical
ceremonies of dark import were gone through. What are the probabilities?
The Greek Mysteries
Let us briefly examine the mysteries of ancient Greece. We find that
these are for the most part pre-Hellenic, and that the conquered
populations of the country adopted the mystic attitude in order to
shroud their religious ceremonies from the eyes of the invaders. Now
those early populations inherited a strong cultural influence from
Egypt. The most important of the mysteries was perhaps the Eleusinian,
and we may take it as typical of the Greek religious mysteries as a
whole. The chief figures in this mysterious cult were Demeter and Kore
(or Persephone) and Pluto. Now these are all deities of the underworld
and, like many other gods of Hades all the world over, they are also
deities possessing an agricultural significance. Much remains uncertain
regarding the actual ritual in the hall of the Mystæ, but one thing
is certain, and that is that the ceremony was in the nature of a
religious drama or Passion-play, in which were enacted the adventures of
Demeter and Kore, symbolic of the growth of the corn. Hippolytus also
stated that a cornstalk was shown to the worshippers at the Eleusinian
mysteries. The whole mystery then resolved itself into symbolism of the
growth of the crops. Exactly how the ceremonies in connexion with this
came to have the appearance of those usually associated with a savage
secret society is not quite clear. The blackfellows of Australia and
certain North American Indian tribes possess societies and celebrations
almost identical with that of Eleusis, but why they should be wrapped
in such mystery it is difficult to understand. It has been stated
that the mystic setting of these cults arose in many cases from the
dread of the under-world and the miasma which emanated therefrom, and
which necessitated a ritual purification; but this does not seem at
all explanatory. In the _Popul Vuh_ of Central America we find what
appear to be the doings of a secret society among the deities of the
underworld, some of whom are gods of growth.
We seem to see some such society outlined in the _Book of the Dead_,
which perhaps dates from prehistoric times, and is most probably the
remains of a Neolithic cult connected with the phenomena of growth.
In its pages we find password and countersign and all the magical
material necessary to the existence of such a secret cult as we have
been speaking of. We may take it, then, that the Egyptian mysteries
strongly resembled those of Greece, that their ritual was of a character
similar to that of the _Book of the Dead_, and that it perhaps possessed
an origin in common with that work. These mystical associations would
appear to be all of Neolithic origin, and to possess an agricultural
basis for the most part. When, therefore, we see in Herodotus and
elsewhere a strong disposition to preserve these mysteries intact we
find ourselves once more face to face with the original question--Why
are they mysteries?
In the first place, all growth is mysterious, and primitive man probably
regarded it as in some manner magical. Secondly, it is noticeable that
nearly all these mysteries, in the old world at least, took place
underground, in darkness, and that there was enacted the symbolism of
the growth of corn, probably for the purpose of inciting the powers of
growth to greater activity by dint of sympathetic magic.
The Egyptian Temple
The earliest form of temple was a mere hut of plaited wickerwork,
serving as a shrine for the symbols of the god; the altar but a mat
of reeds. The earliest temples evolve from a wall built round the
name-stelæ, which was afterward roofed in. With the advent of the New
Empire the temple-building became of a much more complicated character,
though the essential plan from the earliest period to the latest
remained practically unchanged. The simplest form was a surrounding
wall, the pylon or entrance gateway with flanking towers, before which
were generally placed two colossal statues of the king and two obelisks,
then the innermost sanctuary, the _naos_, which held the divine symbols.
This was elaborated by various additions, such as three pylons, divided
by three avenues of sphinxes, then columned courts, and a hypostyle
or columnar hall. In this way many of the Egyptian kings enlarged the
buildings of their predecessors.
These temples stood in the midst of populous cities, the huge
surrounding wall shutting out the noise and bustle of the narrow
streets. Leading up to the great pylon, the chief gateway, was a broad
road carried right through the inhabited quarter and guarded on each
side by rows of lions, rams, or other sacred animals. In front of the
gateway were two obelisks, likewise statues of the king who founded the
temple, as protector of the sanctuary. On either side of the entrance
stood a high tower, square in shape, with the sides sloping inward.
These were of course originally designed for defensive purposes, and
the passage through the pylon could thus be successfully barred against
all foes, while from postern-gates in the wall sorties could be made.
Tall masts were fixed in sockets at the foot of the pylon. From these
gaily coloured streamers waved to keep afar all menace of evil, as did
the symbol of the sun, the Winged Disk, over the great doors. These
were often made of wood, a valuable material in Egypt, and covered with
a sheathing of glittering gold. The outer walls were decorated with
brightly coloured reliefs and inscriptions, depicting the deeds of the
founder, for the temple was as much a personal monument as a shrine of
the tutelary deity. Inside the pylon was a great court, open to the
sky, usually only colonnaded on either side, but in larger temples,
as that of Karnak, a series of columns ran the length of the centre.
Here the great festivals were held, in which a large number of citizens
had the right to take part. By a low doorway from this the hypostyle was
entered, the windows of which were near the roof, so that the light was
dim, while the sanctuary was in complete and profound darkness.
The Holy Place
This, the Holy Place, was the chief room of the temple. Here stood the
_naos_, a box rectangular in shape and open in front, often with a
latticework door. This served as the receptacle of the divine symbols or
in some cases as the cage of the sacred animal. On either side of the
sanctuary were dark chambers, used as the store-rooms for the sacred
vestments, the processional standards and sacred barque, the temple
furniture, and so on. It is to be noted that as the progression was from
the blazing light of the first great court to the complete darkness of
the Holy of Holies, so the roofs grew less lofty. The inside walls and
columns were decorated with reliefs in brilliant colours depicting the
rites and worship connected with the presiding deity in ceremonial order.
Surrounding the temple was the _temenos_, enveloped by a wall in which
were situated other and smaller temples, with groves of sacred trees
and birds, lakes on which the sacred barque floated, the dwellings of
the priests, and sometimes palaces amid the gardens. Outside again were
sacred ways that led in different directions, some branching from temple
to temple, through cities, villages, and fields, while at the side steps
sloped down to the Nile, where boats were anchored. Along these ways
went the sacred processions, bearing the images of the gods; by them
came the monarch in royal state to make offerings to the gods; and here
the dead were carried to their tombs across the Nile.
Greece has frequently been alluded to as the 'Land of Temples.' The
appellation might with greater justice be applied to Egypt, where
fanes of Cyclopean magnitude rose in every nome ere yet Hellas could
boast knowledge of the mason's art. Still they stand, those giant
shrines, well-nigh as perfect as when fresh from the chisels of the old
hierophants who shaped and designed them. And so long as a fostering
love of the past dwells in the heart of man so long shall they remain.
[1] See Seligmann, _Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_,
vol. xliii.
[2] Sebek.