Religious Leaders

In ancient Egypt, religious leadership rested primarily on the ruling pharaoh. As a living deity, he was the high priest, charged with maintaining divine order. As Egypt grew, the pharaoh designated priests to stand in for him to serve the gods and perform the necessary rituals. People did not look to priests for moral guidance or to interpret the wishes of the gods. Instead, priests served the gods by taking care of the cult statues the gods were believed to inhabit and by performing rituals that kept the natural order, such as ensuring the fertility of land and the daily return of the sun.

Only priests were permitted inside temples or could perform rituals. Priests usually served in the temple three months a year, for thirty days at a time. Otherwise, they had families and held jobs as carpenters, scribes, or goldsmiths. A full-time priest, usually chosen from the ranks of scribes, managed the temple. Larger temples might employ several priests to assist him. He was responsible for the temple and its staff as well as the crops, livestock, and orchards grown on the temple farm. In addition to his own land, the pharaoh donated spoils of war to the temple and captives to work on temple construction projects. Priests were paid from the pharaoh's coffers and received high-quality food from his storehouses.

Other types of priests were Wab priests who were responsible for the sacred cult statue. The statue was cleaned, dressed, and presented with offerings of food and drink several times a day. They had to shave all their body hair to avoid lice and wore nothing but pure white linen. They had to avoid certain foods and sexual relations. Other priests, called "scroll carriers" kept the library, recorded offerings and estate inventory, and recited prayers.

Most priests wore sandals and a style of fine linen kilt that distinguished them from the general population. Higher ranks of priests wore special robes, such as the Sem priests who wore whole leopard skins. The high priest of Heliopolis wore a dress of leather stars and the high priest of Memphis was distinguished by a special necklace and long plait attached to his head.

In the Coptic period, Christianity began to replace the ancient religions. Christianity was said to have been brought to Egypt by Saint Mark. Saint Mark converted Anianus, who later was consecrated a bishop and became Patriarch of Alexandria after Saint Mark's martyrdom. Coptic Christianity has a hierarchy of religious leaders. The primary leader is the Pope of Alexandria. He ordains bishops to help him in the management of the church and in overseeing the priests who serve the congregations of worshipers. The Pope and bishops must be monks but the priests must be married.

The Coptic Christian priesthood was concerned with guiding their congregations according to the wishes of God, receiving their confessions, and serving as intermediaries between the people and God. Those who sought to reach God through monasticism, such as Saint Anthony who lived alone in the desert and Saint Pachom who organized rules for monastic life, were also important role models for the Coptics.

Coptics also revered important religious thinkers, reading biographies of their lives and texts of their sayings. The Catechetical School of Alexandria, also called the Didascalia, was an important early Christian institution. It was founded around AD 190 by the scholar Pantaenus and was attended by Clement, famous for his Trilogy, a lengthy religious work. Origen, considered the father of theology, studied there as well.

Unlike Christianity, Islam does not have a priesthood. Muslims recognize religious leaders, but do not believe they mediate between the people and God. Islam encourages individuals to establish their own relationship with God. Prayers in mosques are led by an imam, or teacher, who has studied the Qur'an

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Egyptian relics - The Curse of the Pharaohs - the secret of mummification - Magic at the Pharaohs - Luxor - Sphinx - Pyramids - The Temple of Karnak - The Temple of Abu Simbel - Temple of Ramses II - Akhenaten - Tuthmosis III - Tutankhamun - Pharaoh - Nefertiti - Cleopatra - Nefertari - Hatshepsut -