Even though we don´t know for sure how far back there existed a priesthood, it is not wrong to assume that at least there were special persons chosen to honour the deites at their shrines. From the beginning this might have been the clan leader or community leader. During the Early Dynastic Period at least, it was already the king who carried the main responsibility of acting as the intermediate between men and gods. This was soon partly delegated to the priesthood whose task it was to care for the most important citizens of Egypt, i.e. the gods and so the average Egyptian could live safe in the knowledge that everything was taken care of, that the gods were treated with the utmost attention and therefore stayed on in the land, thereby keeping it safe and prosperous.

It is of importance to note, however, that the King remained the highest priest in the country and that the priesthood served as his deputies, and many times at his whim. No matter how 'called' a person might feel to work in temples (after all, it entailed good chances for making a career, and it put food on the table and a roof over one´s head,) the King could do as he pleased, and substitute priests without forewarning and elevate others. To be of good family and linked by blood to the King also had its importance.

Worshipping has always included recitation and singing of hymns, and this knowledge was handed down from generation to generation, until there were hieroglyphs and scribes clever enough to put these abstract concepts into writing. The Kemetic mythologies were probably evolved at religious centres, where learning was recorded and kept in sacred libraries.

The sacred scrolls are read out loud by the "kher heb", the lector priest, who is obliged to read them directly from the papyrus book held open in his hands. He has to recite them exactly as they are written, even if he has read them many, many times before, for making a mistake can offend the god. This was done at the official ceremonies and at the head of the processions, when the god was carried out before the people. The "kher heb" was the title used for someone who normally was a hem-netjer, while he was performing the ritual reading of the sacred texts. At each temple with a big enough priesthood, one of the higher educated and therefore highly placed priests could act as a "kher heb".

The "Hem netjer", or the High Priest

It was not regarded as important to spread teachings about the god´s superiority, nor was it the hem netjer´s task to see to the people´s spiritual or moral welfare. His job was to take care of the god and the god´s needs, to act as a servant of the god. By treating the god as an important citizen of Egypt, it was ensured that the god would live on and care for the people of Egypt. And the highest priest was Pharao, who acted as a servant to all the different gods, in all the different religious centra throughout the land. He appointed High Priests to act for him at the different temples, their number depending on the size of the temple and the cult´s popularity. This appointment to High Priest was both a religious and a political one and sometimes it was held within a powerful family for several generations.

Women from noble families were accepted as "hemet netjers" already in the Old Kingdom. Usually they were attached to the goddesses. It´s uncertain what work they really performed, more than being singers, dancers and musicians. At one occasion in the Third Intermediate Period there was a royal lady titled God´s Wife of Amen. She was served by female acolytes, lived in celibacy and adopted another royal lady to secure the successorship.

God´s Father

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.

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.

When the god had "consumed" all he wanted, the food was taken away and shared among the temple workers and the priests. In the larger temples it was probably put at lesser deities before it went on to the workers and priests. And in the evening, the god´s vestments were taken away and the statue was put back in the shrine, while the Evening hymn was sung. After each of these ceremonies, the priest put the bolts back and sealed the door, and bowingly traced his footsteps backwards from the shrine carefully sweeping the floor to obliterate any trace of his footprints. One never turned his back to the god.

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!

Wages

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.

Three festivals of weight:
The Passion Plays of Osiris
The Opet Festival
The Beautiful Feast of the Valley

The temple was considered the home of the god and only members of the priesthood was allowed to enter beyond the outer court. The ordinary worshipper had to stop there, and when he brought offerings, it was taken care of by a priest who carried it into the temple. All temples were surrounded by a wall and in the outside of this there was a hole or a window to which worshippers could come and whisper their prayers or questions or leave a note with some words scribbled on it. The priest on duty then took care of the note in order to bring the words in front of the god.

In the remote corners of the land, far away from the great religious centra, the gods were as ardently revered. Maybe offerings were not as lavish, nor the priesthood as many or as prosperous, but in those villages or little towns where there was no temple, a shrine was erected out in the open. It was often taken care of by the community people, perhaps led by a priest currently not doing temple duty, so the services were performed and the gods attended to in due order.

In the homes there were small shrines and very commonly statues of local deities and of Bes and Tawaret, helpers and protectors of children and women, especially for pregnancy and childbirth. Amulets in the form of sacred symbols were in frequent use for a mutitude of purposes