Temple Work and Ritual

Temple Work and Purity

The priesthood was divided into four phyles, i.e. groups, and each phyle worked one month out of three. The servants of the god kept up their normal profession, whatever it was, for eight months of the year, and the remaining months were served at the temple.

When in the temple, ritual purity was of utmost importance. Each temple had its own lake where the priests purified themselvs and the ritual vessels that were used in ceremonies, and from where water was taken for the libation offerings. Priests could only wear white linen and sandals made from papyrus, all animal products were considered unclean. The priest who held the leading role in a procession or other ceremony, used the cheetah- or leopard skin robe draped across his back. But that one might also have been an imitation.

During temple duty, a priest had to shave off all his bodily hair, even the eye brows and was expected to abstain from sexual activity. Outside of temple duty, they could marry, raise families and live normal lifes.


Services and Rituals

The god, in the form of a statue, was seated in a shrine, a so called naos, which was built of satone or wood and kept in the innermost chamber of the temple. The statue could be made of stone, gold or gilded wood, inlaid with semi-precious stones and it was not always lifesized. It was not regarded as an idol, but as the receptacle of the deity¥s ka. Three times a day, if not more, rituals were performed at the shrine. At dawn the temple singers awoke the god by singing the Morning Hymn. And after having purified himself, the priest conducting the Morning Service, broke the seal and drew back the bolts that had been tied last night, and the doors to the god was opened. Now the god received the same purification process as the priests already had undergone. Incense was burned and the god was dressed, perfumed and had cosmetics put on, in the same way as the King would have been prepared for the day.

The Offerings

Then food and drink was put before the god. This was a display of the best that could be found; joints of meat, roasted fowl, bread, fruits, vegetables, beer, wine, and everything in large quantities, out of the temple¥s own kitchens, gardens and farms, and of superior quality. The meat came from animals that had been slaughtered out of the sight of the god, and overseen by a priest who had ensured it was fit to put before the god.No blood or unsightly scenes were allowed before the god.


The offerings always included flowers, bound in garlands and in large temples there were gardens with gardeners and florists to ensure the supply and prepare the offerings.

Over these offerings the priest poured libations of water, and in a spoon-like saucer, shaped like a forearm with an open palm holding a small pot, incense was burned. Incense was considered the "Perfume of the gods" and as the intention was to stimulate all the senses of the gods, it played an important part in the rituals. Food and drink meant taste, music and singing meant sound, and flowers were added to make the offering beautiful and presentable. So while the god's ka was believed to be absorbing these offerings, musicians, singers and dancers enteratined him. The text of the hymns was simple, with many repetitions of the god¥s attributes and names, and the music could be rattling of the sistrum or menat, percussion, and for special occasions, harp, flute, drums and cymbals.


Temple Organization

The larger temple centres were like veritable cities and employed all kinds of workers. There were temple bakeries and breweries, and some temples had a fleet of boats and fishermen, hunters and stables with donkeys, there were farms or tenants of land. The produce arrived daily to fill the god¥s storehouses and everything was recorded and kept in books by the temple scribes. On top of that the temple employed craftsmen like stonemasons, painters, carpenters, weavers, scribes and administrators, not to mention the priests. It was a huge organisation and as an example there is Karnak, with a list of more than 81.000 employees!

Festivals and Processions

The temples celebrated regular festive days, the First of the Month and the New Moon. The god¥s statue was then paraded around the temple grounds, and at certain places the procession stopped for offerings. These "restingplaces" of the god usually had something in common with the particular festival.


Then there were the larger religious festivals where the god was carried outside the temple precinct in front of the people. As they were not allowed inside the temple, this was a popular occasion, the god carried on his bark, although veiled from the direct look of the commoner, and the sacred books carried on the shoulders of a priest walking in front of the procession. Priests fanned and sheltered the god from the sun with ostrich plumes or fans made from palm fibre. Incense was burned and offerings were made at the resting places along the route. Some of these were permanent little temples, others were erected just for the event. Here, the bark was set down on an "altar" while the rituals were performed. At some occasions the bark was put on the god¥s own bargue from the temple quai and was towed further along the Nile, escorted by a flotilla of boats, sometimes even the royal family was present to watch. These were great occasions, in which everybody took part and they usually lasted for several days, when eating and drinking was abundant.


Festivals could also be shared between two temples, like the commemoration of the Sacred marriage of Hathor and Horus at Denderah. All these celebrations had to be held at the right time and day and it was the task of the temple star watcher to keep track of the religious calendars.



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