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There were many different types of priest and priestess in ancient Egypt, with a strict system of ranks and responsibilities.

Unlike Christian priests, their job was not to preach or to influence the minds of ordinary people - they simply existed to serve the gods in different ways. In effect, the priests gave offerings to the gods on behalf of Pharaoh, who could not cope alone with the sheer number of offerings required.

The basic requirement for a novice priest was circumcision. The entire body must then be shaved and kept permanently free of all hair, including having the eyebrows and lashes removed regularly. Priests were forbidden certain foods, including beef, pork, mutton, pigeon, fish, beans, garlic and all green stuff. The point of all of this was for a priest to be completely "clean" in a religious sense - the general term for a low-ranking priest was wb, meaning purified.

Clothing had to be made from clean, fine linen and cut according to ancient patterns; on their feet they always wore white sandals. Higher ranks of priest wore special items such as a ribbon across the chest, a leopard-skin, a special necklace or a long fake plait attached to the bald head. Lector-priests wore two large feathers attached to their heads.

Some priestesses served as temple musicians, singers and dancers.

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14y ago

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