68 PRTESTESSES

for amounts over ten deben. Numbers, then, were usually

rounded to the nearest five. J. J. Janssen (1988) illustrated
that principle by the following example. The Ostracon
Deir el-Medina72 verso described the purchase of a coffin
in the following way:
Given to him in exchange for the coffin: eight and one-half
deben of copper; again five deben of copper; one pig made five
deben; orre goat made two deben; two logs of sycamore wood
made two deben. Total: twenty-five and one-half deben.
There, the value of the coffin was first agreed to be ap-
proximately twenty-five deben. Then values were estab-
lished for the individual items brought to the exchange.
The coffinmaker would decide how much use he could
make of the two lots of coppeq the animals, and the wood
before determining the value he would assign to them. It
is unlikely that those goods were accepted for resale at
a profit, since that concept seems to be unknown to the
Egyptians. The actual desire to own these items becomes
much more important than the abstract value assigned to
themindeben.
There is eviderice for inflation and price fluctuation
during the course of the Ramessid period. During the
reign of Ramesses II, one deben of silver was valued as
one-hundred deben of copper. By the reign of Ramesses
IX, one deben of silver was valued at sixty deben of copper.
Janssen (1988) believed this change occurred by the reign
of Ramesses III, when a
rypical
mss-garment was valued
at five deben or one sertyu. Thus the silver-to-copper ratio
would be 1:60. It seems unlikely, though not impossible,
that the government would have intervened in setting
prices of this sort. Clearly, the Egyptian state regulated
the standard measures of length and volume so that the
basic ratio of one sack of grain to one deben of copper
seems not to have varied.
The best source for our knowledge of loans is also Deir
el-Medina. There are two kinds of loans attested from the
village: one type is made with a fixed date for repayment
and a penalty if that date is missed; a second type appears
not to have a repayment date and is more likely to reflect
an obligation for reciprocity between the lender and
debtor. There is lirnited evidence that loans with fixed re-
palrnent dates were made from people of higher social
status to those of lower social status, while reciprocal
loans were made between people of more equal status.
In sum, the Egyptians were able to conduct business
in a way that met their needs without ever fu\ ab-
stracting the concept of money from their units of ex-
change va\ue. An otten robust economy ran smooth\y, us-
ing various means of valuing labor and commodities
without either money or true markets.
lSee
also Coinage; Trade and Markets; and Weights
and Measures.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bleiberg, Edward. "Debt, Credit, and Social Solidarity at Deir el-
Medina." In Deir el-Medina in the Third Millennium AD. Leiden
(forthcoming). Attempts to explain the two different methods of
lending found in the village.
Janssen, J.J. Commodity Prices
from
the Ramessid Period: An Eco-
nomic Study of the Village of Necropolis Workmen at Thebes. Leiden,
1975. Groundbreaking study of the Deir el-Medina ostraca, which
established the values for most commodities in ancient Egypt.
Janssen, J. J. "On Prices and Wages in AncierrtBgpt." Altorientalische
Forschungen 15 (1988), 10-23. An important essay on the Egyptian
concept of value.
Janssen, J. J. "Debts and Credit in the New Kingdom." Journal of
Egptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 129-136. A consideration of recip-
rocal loans.
Kemp, Barry. "The Birth of Economic Man." In Ancient Egltpt:.Anat-
omy of a Ci,tilization, pp. 232J60. London, 1 989. An account of the
economy that gives less weight to redistribution and reciprocity.
Menu, Bernadette. "Le prCt en droit 6g5,ptien ancien." ln Recherches
sur I'histoire juridique, economique, et sociale de I'ancienne Egypte,
pp. 230-27 2. Versailles, 1 982.
EDWARD BLEIBERG
PRIESTESSES. See Priesthood.
PRIESTHOOD. For much of ancient Eg5ptian history,
there was no class of full-time professional priests. The
king served as Egypt's archetlpal high priest of all divine
cults, and is the only individual shown carrying out cultic
activities in the temples. Until the New Kingdom, most
priests served on a part-time basis while continuing to
hold other administrative positions in the state or local
government. Priestly service was prestigious, since the
practitioner of cultic duties was filling an essentially royal
role, acting as a liaison between humanity and the gods.
It was also potentially lucrative, as priests on duty re-
ceived a portion of the offerings presented to the gods and
deceased kings in whose cults they served.
Yet there is relatively little firm evidence regarding the
qualifications for priesthood. The Egyptians attributed all
priestly appointments to the king himself. Private "autobi-
ographies," such as that of the Middle Kingdom chief
priest at Abydos, Wepwawet-aa, describe the official's pro-
motion to the priesthood as taking place within the royal
palace-in the case of Wepwawet-aa, this was perhaps a
ceremonial palace used by the king on visits to the sanctu-
ary of Osiris. In actual practice, highly ranked priests and
officials (other than the king) must also have played an
active ro\e in selecting pnests,
lust
as they did in the per-
formance of cult rituals in the gods' temples. In the Old
and Middle Kingdoms, local officials served as priests, of-
ten apparently inheriting the role, as did the local gover-
nor (L1jty:), who acted as the chief priest. In the Neu
PRIESTHOOD
69
Kingdom,
when Tutankhamun
restored the temples fol_
lowing the Amarna period,
he stated that he selected the
sons of prominent
dignitaries
as priests. By the Late pe_
riod, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus,
many priestly
titles were inherited.
Categories
of
priests.
Numerous categories
of priests
existed in Egypt, varying with different cuits, regions, and
historical periods.
Among the earliest documented
and
longest-lived
categories of priest were the
fumw_n1r
(hem;
"god's
servants" or "prophets,,),
who are first attested in
the first dynasty. Associated primarily
with temples rather
than funerary cults, these priests performed
rituals, pre_
pared offerings, and participated
in the economic activi_
ties of the temples, including the maintenance
of temple
estates. They were among the limited number of people
who had access to the innermost parts of the temple and
to the hidden cult image, the tangible manifestation
of the
deity. In temples of local deities, particularly
during the
Old and Middle Kingdoms, the overseer of hem-piests
(imy-r
fomw-n1r) was almost invariably the local governor
of the district.
A lower-ranked
class of priests,
the w,bw (wab;
,,pure
priests")
assisted the hem-pnests in the maintenance
of
the temple and the performance
of cultic activities.
priests
in this category had apparently
been initiated into the
priesthood,
but had not yet advanced to the rank ofhem_
priest; biographies
refer to wab_pnests
being promoted
to
the office of hem-piest later in their careeris .
y,lhlle
wab_
priests
were not permitted
to enter the temple,s innermost
sanctuary
or come face to face with the god,s image, they
did handle sacred objects and cult instruments.
They were
therefore required
to observe strict rules of purity, and
they can be identified in some representations
by their
shaved heads. In New Kingdom temples, wab_piists are
shown carrSring the gods image in processions.
In temples, the l,ontiw-i, often viewed as secular offi_
cials associated with the temple, appear to have per_
formed many of the same functions as-the hem_ and, wab_
priests,
at least during the Old Kingdom, although they
did not enter the sanctuary or see the god's cult statue. In
ceremonies and rituals, including funerals, another priest,
designated
as the inry-bnr (..the
one who is in froni), ap_
pears to have led the activities.
The priest
who actually recited the spells and rites,
both in temple ceremonies
and at funerals, was a
,,lector_
priest" (hry-hbt). priests
of this category are recognizable
by their characteristic
attire of a kilt and wide sash, worn
diagonally over the shoulde4 and they are often depicted
holding or reading from a pap),Tlls
scroll. Lector_priests
are first attested in the Old Kingdom cult of Re at He_
liopolis. Although the earliest holders of the title were
members of the royal family, by the Middle Kingdom, any
literate official seems to have been able to serve in this
capacity. Egyptian
literature often portrays lector_priests
as wise men and sages who can foresee coming events. In
the Thle of King Khufu and the Magicians for example,
lector-priests
perform
miraculous
feats, and are privy to
secret knowledge,
unknown even to the king. The Middle
Kingdom prophet
Neferti, who warns of disaster; followed
by salvation, is also said to be a lector_priest.
Owing to
their knowledge
of the appropriate
speis, lector-prilsts
were among the principal practitioners
of magic and
medicine. They also took part in funerals, reading the nec_
essary spells and assisting in the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony. The significance
of chief lector_priests
in re_
searching and preserving
ancient religious texts is demon_
strated by evidence such as the twenty_fifth
dynasty tomb
of the chief lector-priest
petamenophis,
who revived the
long-dead Pyramid Texts, along with the Cof,frn Texts,
the Book of Going Forth by Day (Book
of the Dead),and
the
Amduat (royal
Underworld Books).
From the Old Kingdom,
sem_piests (smw)
were as_
sociated with the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.
In
mortuary religion, they played the role of Horus in the fu_
neral ceremonies,
while the deceased was cast in the role
of Osiris. Originally members of a high_ranking
class of
priests
associated with the Memphite funerary deity,
Ptah-Sokaf,
sez-priests
came to be relatively
"o*_orr. From the end of the Old Kingdom onward, they are de_
picted in tomb scenes showing mortuary rituals. Ih the
New Kingdom, they regularly take part in funeral ceremo_
nies shown intheBookof
Going Forthb Day and on tomb
walls, especially in the Ramessid period,
where they can
be identified by their panther-skin
robes. Sez_priests
were
the first priests
to wear robes of this type, although by the
New Kingdom, they were worn by high_ranking priests
of Amun and others as well. Another atiribute sometimes
associated with sem-priests is the sidelock, a sign of youth
that identifies them with Horus.
Women in the
priesthood.
During the Old Kingdom,
women frequently held priestly
titles, a practice
that de_
clined appreciably
in the Middle Kingdom, and then reap_
peared late4 in the Third Intermediate
period.
Among the
titles commonly
held by elite Old Kingdom women was
l.tmt-nlr ("god's
selant" or
,.priestess,,)
of ffathof, or less
often of Neith.
Queens and princesses
also served in this
capacity in the mortuary cults of their fathers and hus_
bands.
Although no female wab-priests have been identified
O1n.r* the Old Kingdom, the Abusir
papyn
(see
below)
refer to women carrying out some of the duties of the
wab-pnest and receiving the same pay as their male coun_
terparts. Two Middle Kingdom stelae identifi. women
holding the title of w,bt. By the New Kingdom, when the
priesthood
developed into a full-time profession,
women
rarely played a role other than as musicians. Rare excep_
70 PRIESTHOOD
PRIESTHOOD . Apriest throwing grain to thefire, and a priestess
with a
flute.
This wall painting is from the tomb of Amennakht
at Deir el-Medina. (Boromeo / Art Resource, NY)
tions do exist, however, including a female second prophet
of Amun and a female second prophet of Mut. At no
period did women serve as overseers of pnests (imy-r
hmwt-ntr).
Upper-class women served as singers and musicians in
the temple cults of a variety of deities from the Old King-
dom onward, and many of the priestesses of Hathor may
have been involved in musical performances during reli-
gious festival and other rites. From the Middle Kingdom
until the end of the New Kingdom, the role of singer was
almost the sole priestly activity of women. The
funr
("mu-
sical troupe") included women who danced and played
music under the leadership of a woman identified as the
wrt-l,tnr (the "chief of the musical troupe"). Prior to the
New Kingdom, the usual term for a woman serving as a
singer in the temple was
fusyt.
The term im'yt was first
used in reference to individual singers during the New
Kingdom, at which time it became one of the most fre-
quently attested feminine titles. In addition to singing,
temple chantresses apparently played a variety of musical
instruments. In many instances, they are shown holding
a sistrum or a menat (a type of necklace sacred to the god-
dess Hathor), which was shaken to create music.
Three Middle Kingdom women are known to have
borne the title of "god's wife" (hmt-nlr) of a deity, serving
in the cults on Min, Amun, and Ptah. Although the duties
associated with this title during the Middle Kingdom are
unclea4 by the early New Kingdom the title of "God's Wife
of Amun" had taken on considerable importance, the ear-
liest examples being associated specifically with the queen.
The first queen to hold the title was Ahmose-Nefertari, the
wife of Ahmose and first queen of the eighteenth dynasty.
Ahmose-Nefertari had served as the second prophet of
Amun, an exceptional rank for a woman, but arranged by
contract to exchange the title for the positiqn of god's
wife. Following her death, she was succeeded by Hatshep-
sut and her daughter Neferure, and, from the reign of
Thutmose III on, by a series of lesser-known women, who
seem to have been related to the royal family only by mar-
riage. New Kingdom "Godt Wives" are shown taking part
in temple rituals at Luxor and elsewhere, and sometimes
bear the additional titles of
"Divine
Adoratrix" (dwSt-ntrr)
and "Hand of the God" (drt-nlr).In the Late period, "God's
Wives" rose in significance to become the principal priests
of the cult of Amun at Thebes (see below).
Temple Priests. Temple reliefs typically portray the
king as the sole practitioner of all divine cults, the quint-
essential high priest of every god's temple. Although the
king presumably performed cultic activities on special oc-
casions at major temples, a hierarchy of local priests was
responsible for performing the daily cultic rituals in
temples throughout Egypt. These rituals, recordbd in
scenes from a number of temples (notably the temple of
Sety I at Abydos), were performed three times per day in
major temples. These ceremonies involved: the ceremonial
breaking of the sanctuaries' seals; the recitation of prayers
and offering of incense; the awakening of the cult statue
and its removal from the shrine by thehem-priest; the un-
dressing, cleansing, anointing, and reclothing of the cult
image; the performance of the Opening of the Mouth to
revivify the deity; the offering of food and other gifts; and,
ultimately, the return of the cult statue, wrapped in clean
linen, to its shrine. The Opening of the Mouth was perhaps
the most vital element of the ritual, since it enabled the
deity to act through his or her statue. Priests utilized a
number of implements in this ceremony, one of the most
characteristic being the psikf, a blade with which the of-
ficiating priest touched the mouth of a statue or of the
mummy, thereby animating it. Finally, the priest backed
out of the sanctuary, sweeping away his footprints behind
him, and the shrine was resealed.
During festivals, the priests at major temples were re-
sponsible for carr5.ing the cult statue from the temple in
a bark or palanquin and bringing it into public view. Be-
I
l
i
i
i
I
I
ft
cause the priests themselves are rarely labeled in scenes
of these activities, it is not clear whether those who con-
ducted the divine image were particularly important
members of the priesthood or the priests who happened
to be on duty at the time. From the New Kingdom on-
ward, chief priests were also instrumental in interpreting
oracles-when asked a question, the god would answer
by directing his portable bark, carried by priests, in the
direction of the written response it chose.
At least three institutions associated with the temple
were devoted to storing and disseminating information
and skills required for specialized categories of priests. In
the "House
of Gold" (hwt nbw), master craftsmen put the
finishing touches on cult statues, which were then trans-
formed into suitable residences for the deity by ceremo-
nies, including the Opening of the Mouth. The "House of
Books" (pr mdSt) housed the manuscripts of sacred texts,
such as transfiguration spells, litanies of gods'names, reli-
gious treatises, and instructions for rituals. The "House of
Ilte" (pr'nb) not only housed the texts of rituals, includ-
ing
those for crowning the king and mummifying the
dead, but also served as a point of reference for both
priests and royalty, thus preserring ancient ceremonies
and cult practicbs for future generations of priests.
Funerar5r and Mortuary Cult Priests. Although stelae
and tomb scenes usually show burial offerings being
brought by family members, professional mortuary priests
ae documented serving in private memorial cults as early
as the first dynasty. A class of specifically funerary priests
irrluded
the servants of t}:'e ka (hmw-k), who provided
hr the immortal life force of the deceased person. Scenes
in tombs from the Old Kingdom onward show priests par-
tfoipating in the funeral-wab-piests pour libation offer-
ings, while lector-priests read aloud the funerary texts
qitical
to transforming the deceased person into an im-
mrtal being. Lector-priests also perform the int-rd cete-
ilxlnv, sweeping away the footprints of the celebrants
adter the ceremony has been completed.
ldortuary literature, from the Pyramid Texts on, pro-
uirks evidence that the funeral ceremony included not
m\'the reading of religious texts, but also the perfor-
mrgrrce
of acts such as playing the role of deities associ-
s.d with the myth of Osiris. The Coffin Texts, for ex-
mple, include directions for those taking part in the
qemony,
along with texts that must have been spoken
rtqd, presumably by a lector-priest. Women, who had
nElled as funerary priests (hmwt-k) during the Old King-
drrn,
thereafter acted as
4/ry-mourners,
impersonating the
pining Isis and Nephthys.
Sern-priests are identifiable by the end of the Old King-
drrn, after which they are shown offering incense and
Wcrbrming
the Opening of the Mouth ceremony on the
mrmnrny of the deceased. Beginning in the New Kingdom,
PRIESTHOOD 7I
scenes of the funeral accompany several chapters of the
Book of Going Forth by Day, and form an increasingly sig-
nificant part of tomb decoration. A priest wearing a mask
of the god Anubis is shown preparing the mummy for
burial, and supporting the upright coffin in front of the
tomb entrance, while the Opening of the Mouth takes
place. The heir of the deceased is typically shown per-
forming this ritual, touching the mouth with a ceremonial
implement, such as an adze tipped with iron or flint.
Wealthy and influential officials established mortuary
endowments in the same way as kings, to perpetuate their
memorial cults and to provide for mortuary priests. Sev-
eral Abydene stelae refer to contractual arrangements
with mortuary priests, and the twelfth dynasty tomb of
the vizier Djefai-hapi I at Asyiut preserves the complete
text of his mortuary contracts. According to the contracts,
the priests are responsible for delivering offerings of
bread and other items to the vizier's statues in the local
temple, in exchange for being paid a portion of the offer-
ings dedicated in the temple.
Domestic Cult and Magic Priests. Many domestic
cults, aimed in large part on protecting the home and its
inhabitants from harm, required literate or learned indi-
viduals to perform the appropriate rites. Hence, priests
were often called upon to serve in this capacity. Lector-
priests, with their specialized knowledge of religious
texts, were the principal practitioners of apotropaic magic.
They also appear to have been consulted in times of medi-
cal emergencies, as the Old Kingdom biography of Wash-
ptah attests. A group of men identified as
hk"v
("magi-
cians") appears in association with the House of Life.
Both lector-priests and physicians (swnw) also held spe-
cialized titles associated with specific types of magic, such
as "Scorpion Charmer." Along with written and spoken
prayers, these priests were familiar with, and able to pro-
duce, the correct amulets for protection and talismans
for blessing.
Organization. Among the best preserved evidence for
the organization of the priesthood during the Old King-
dom are the archives of the royal cult temples of the
fifth-dynasty king, Neferirkare Kakai, at Abusir. Ac-
cording to the carefully recorded temple accounts, the
priests and other temple staff worked on a rotating basis,
serving full-time in the temple for one month in every five-
month period. Some staff members were employed on the
temple estates in other capacities during the remainder of
the year. The priests on duty were organized into work-
groups, or "phyles." Each phyle was in turn subdivided
into two subgroups, each headed by a shd, ("inspector").
The temple's inventory income, and expenditures were
meticulously registered at the end of each watch.
During the Old Kingdom, while local rulers headed the
temples of their own provinces, the chief priests of the
72 PRIESTHOOD
state-sponsored temples of major deities were often mem-
bers of the royal family, sons, or sons-in-law of the king.
This pattern suggests a strong degree of royal control over
the temples during this period. Certain deities and cult
centers had specific titles for their chief priests: at He-
liopolis, the chief priest of Ra was known as the "Greatest
of Seers," while the chief priest of Ptah at Memphis was
the
"Greatest
of Directors of Craftsmen," in recognition of
Ptah's role as the god of craftsmen. The chief priest of
Thoth at Hermopolis was the
"Great
One of the Five," re-
ferring to the creator god and the four pairs of deities that
made up the Hermopolitan Ogdoad.
In the Middle Kingdom, the local governor continued
to serve as the chief priest of the local temple, although in
many cases these men were now appointed by the king.
The excavations at Illahun, the town built for the priests
maintaining the mortuary cult of King Senwosret II, pro-
duced a series of papyll, including the archives of the
temple scribe, Horemsaf, who recorded both the temple's
accounts and the correspondence of the chief priest. As in
the Old Kingdom, priests served in rotating watches, but
the number of watches was now reduced to four. The
records document the distribution of offerings to several
categories of priests, indicating their relative rank. The
chief priest (irny-r hmw-nlr) was the highest-paid, fol-
lowed by the chief lector-priest (bry-hbt
17bt
fury+p),
the
lector-priests, the phyle regulator (mty
m sj), the wab-
priests and other priests associated with offerings and
cult maintenance, and finally the temple scribe. The
homes of the priests, and the layout of the town itself,
corroborate the written evidence of the organization of
the priestly community and relative status of the priests.
At Abydos, the state constructed a town of similar struc-
tures to house the priests associated with the cult of Sen-
wosret III, whose temple and cenotaph lie nearby.
No temple archives of the New Kingdom has survived
to provide evidence similar to that of the Abusir or Illahun
material. Nevertheless, the priesthood is reasonably well
documented, owing to the better overall preservation of
temples and private tombs. Although secular administra-
tors continued to serve as priests of many cults (at least
early in the period), the priesthood emerged during the
New Kingdom as a full-time profession. During the first
half of the eighteenth dynasty, the old title for the chief
hem-priest was replaced by a new one, the "first prophet"
(hm-nlr
tpi). At first, this new, full-time position was held
exclusively by members of the royal family, but soon
thereafter by other officials appointed directly by the king.
The first prophet enjoyed considerable authority in the
major divine cults, particularly that of Amun at Thebes,
and his wife typically served as the leader of temple musi-
cians and dancers. In the largest cult centers, such as
Thebes, a series of full-time second, third, and occasion-
ally fourth prophets assisted with the running of the
temple.
The first prophet of Amun at Karnak, responsible for
the cult and revenues of Egypt's largest temple complex,
was one of New Kingdom Egypt's most important offi-
cials. A pair of inscriptions dedicated by the priest Bak-
enkhons record the progress of his caree4 stating that
fourteen years of schooling and public service preceded
his appointment to the rank of wab-priest. Thereafteq,
he served as "god's fathe4" third prophet, and second
prophet-a process that took nearly four decades-before
he received the title of first prophet. In the early part of
the eighteenth dynasty, the first prophet at Karnak also
held the title of chief prophet of Upper and Lower Eglpt,
and with it the duty of supervising, on the king's behalf,
the affairs of all the temples in Egypt. During the reign of
Thutmose IV this office was transferred to another offi-
cial, often the chief priest of Ptah, serving in Memphis.
The first prophet of Amun became extraordinarily influ-
ential by the end of the New Kingdom, by which time the
office had come to be hereditary.
Also serving a crucial role in New Kingdom temple rit-
uals was the chief lector-priest (bry-hbt
hrytp),
who, as in
previous periods, oversaw the preservation and recitation
of the texts, prayers, and rituals. In the larger temples,
he was now assisted by a second, third, and sometimes
fourth lector-priest. Lector-priests are also documented
announcing the verdicts of the oracles that took place at
festivals. Wab-piests continued to function on a rotating
basis as earlie4 with four phyles of priests serving a one-
month term. The
"God's
Father" (it-ntr),
occasionally at-
tested in the Old Kingdom, became a regular priestly title
in the New Kingdom. Among other responsibilities,
"God's
Fathers" led the processions held at festivals. The
wives of priests, organized into phyles as were their hus-
bands, served as temple musicians.
Although the classes of priests continued essentially
unchanged into the Third Intermediate Period and the
Late period, the status of the priesthood of Amun skyrock-
eted. At the end of the twentieth dynasty, generals used
the title of first prophet to take actual political control
over southern Eg5pt, contributing to the disintegration of
Egypt's central government.
Some additional changes in
the temple administration also took place during this
time. The full-time priests were now assisted by part-time
hem-piests, arranged in phyles and serving on a rotating
basis, resuming a priestly title that had gone out of use
early in the New Kingdom. Most priestly offices by this
period had become hereditary.
When Egypt was reunited under the Saite and Kushite
dynasties, the volatile office of first prophet of Amun was
eliminated, and the "God's
Wife of Amun" became the
highest priestly title in Thebes. Although earlier "God's
l
i
l
i
i
{
j
!
Ul
Wives" had clearly married and had children, those of the
Late period were celibate, unmarried daughters of the
rrler or a powerful priest, who adopted their successors.
Their chosen successors eventually came to be known as
the first prophets of Amun. In the twenty-fifth dynasty, the
Kushite ruler Kashta enlisted the "Godt Wife of Amun,"
Shepenwepet I, to adopt his daughter Amenirdis as her
successoq thus solidifying his own claim to power in
Thebes. Amenirdis was in turn followed by Shepen-
rvepet II and Amenirdis II, during whose term of office
Psamtik I expelled the Kushites to found the twenty-sixth
dynasty. In order to establish his own rule, Psamtik, with
the aid of the "Overseer of Upper EgWt," Montuemhat,
arranged for his own daughtel Nitocris, to be adopted as
heiress. The stela recording her installment as god's wife
describes the elaborate ceremony involved, and lists the
enorrnous endowment allotted to the offrce during this pe-
riod. The invasion of Cambyses and the Persians brought
the significance of the "God's Wives" to an end; although
the title continued to exist in later times, it never regained
its political importance.
During the Greco-Roman period, the full-time clergy of
major cults continued to be assisted by part-time priests,
dhided into four phyles; until 238 ecE, when Ptolemy III
r@rgarrized the system, adding a fifth phyle. Virtually all
offices were hereditary. The highest-ranking member of
the priesthood in this period was the high priest of Ptah
ar Memphis, although the priests of Amun at Thebes re-
mined significant status. Several categories of priest be-
lhr- the rank of prophet included (among
others): the sa-
cred scribes known ashierogrammates (of which Manetho
nas one); the hierostoli.s/es, who tended the cult statue;
M harologoi, astronomers who maintained the calendar
of festivals; and the pastophoroi, who carried the gods'
shines in processions. "God's Wives" continue to func-
tfun, albeit in a reduced role, and female wab-priests and
ffiern-priests are also documented.
ffiin; Cults; Economy, atticle on Temple Economy; Funer-
ror' Ritual; Offerings; and Ternples.l
BIBLIOGRAPHY
mmtd- A Rosalie. Religious Ritual at Abydos. Warminster, 1973. Dis-
,esses in detail the daily temple ritual.
ffibcbs, Henry G. "Priesterin." ln Lexikon der Agyptologie. 4: 1100-
[ 105. Wiesbaden, 1982. Provides a summary in English, of the evi-
dence regarding priestesses and their roles.
,ffitmm.
Michel, and Jean LeClant. "Gottesgemahlin." In l-exikon der
thgryologie, 2: 7 92-8 12. Wiesbaden, 1 974. Gives the fu llest available
.wmary
in German, of the title "Gods Wife," with reference to
iiodnridual holders of the title.
mn! &,
Wolfgang. "Priester." ln lc.xikon der Agyptologie, 4: 1084-1O97.
*lesbaden, 1982. A comprehensive summary in German, of the
matror categories of priests and their organization.
lfrioaft- Geraldine. Magic in Ancient Egypt. Austin, 1994. An informa-
PSAMTIK I 73
tive and easily readable account of Eglptian magical practices
and practitioners.
Quirke, Stephen. Ancient Egrptian ReLigion. London, 1992. An excel-
lent survey of Egyptian religious practices accessible to the general
readeq as well as the student or schola4 including a full discussion
of the organization of the priesthood, the role of priests, and the
development of their offices.
Robins, Gay. Women in Ancient Egtpt. Cambidge, Mass., 1993. An
excellent survey of the role of women in Egyptian society, with a
chapter dedicated to their position in the temple and their role in
cultic activities.
Roth, Ann Macy. Egyptian Plryles in the Old Kingdom. Chicago, 1991.
A full scholarly study of the organization of temple phyles in the
Old Kingdom, with a discussion of evidence for phyle organization
in Middle Kingdom.
Sauneron, Serge. The Priests of Ancient Egtpf. New York and London,
1960. One of the most compiete available works in English regard-
ing the function and activities of Egyptian priests, with reference
to original sources and to events of individual priests documented
in Egyptian texts.
Shafeq, Byron, ed. The Tbmple in Ancient Egypt. lthaca,1998. A thor-
ough summary of the major categories of priests and their organi-
zation, aTong with an excellent study of historical developments in
the priesthood.
DENISE M. DOXF-Y
PROPERTY. See Landholding.
PSAMMETICHUS. See Psamtik I.
PSAMTIK I (664-610 BcE), first ruler of the twenty-
sixth or Saite dynasty, Late period. Psamtik I's origins in
the eastern Nile Delta indicate that he belonged to a group
of powerful local potentates who had previously opposed
the attempts of the Kushite (twenty-fifth dynasty) kings to
dominate the whole of Egypt. With probable tacit supporr
from the Assyrians, led by Assurbanipal, Psamtik I consol-
idated his control over the North of Egypt, with a capital
in Sais, before moving south to Thebes in 656 BcE. The
inherent weakness of the Kushite dynasts meant that
Psamtik's annexation of Upper Eglpt was accomplished
more by diplomacy than by force of arms. During his long
reign, Egypt was once more unified. With a perspicacious
talent for solidifiiing his kingdom, Psamtik set up a series
of garrison posts at the various borders of Eg5pt (north-
ern, western, and southern), and also hired foreign merce-
naries, especially Carians and other Greeks. Owing to that
policy, Psamtik I became well known to the Greeks, who
called him Psammetichus.
At the beginning of his second decade of reign, Psamtik
attacked his Libyan neighbors in the northwest, in an ef-
fort to diminish their traditional influence in the Delta re-
gion. During the same time, a major Jewish quarter was