New Short Course on Priests and Priestesses in Ancient Egypt

Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Egypt Centre has organised a whole host of online activities for both children and adults. One of the most successful has been our courses, which have attracted an international audience and helped raise the profile of the museum. So far, ten courses have taken place, with topics ranging from the funerary artefacts of the ancient Egyptians to the Amarna Period. In mid-January, the latest Egypt Centre short course (five weeks) will commence, which is called In the Service of the Gods: Priests and Priestesses in Ancient Egypt (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Procession of Priests at Abydos

Priests, priestesses, and other temple personnel played an important role in ancient Egypt. While the King was seen as the High Priest and the intermediary between the sacred and profane worlds, it was the priesthood who were ultimately the ones who ensured the earth and heavens remained as the gods created them. This was achieved through a series of rituals, such as the Daily Temple Ritual, in which the priesthood performed ceremonies in the name of the King. This course will examine the role of the priesthood, from the high priests to the doorkeepers. Additionally, the office of the God’s Wife of Amun and related titles will be explored.

Fig. 2: Stela of Pasherienimhotep

Particular focus will be given to the objects in the Egypt Centre collection that belonged to temple personnel, such as coffins, shabtis, statues, and stelae. At the end of each session, we will have a case-study of some of the individuals represented at the Egypt Centre. Pasherienimhotep, who is attested on a wooden stela (W1041), was a priest at Edfu Temple around 150 BC. The stela provides a long list of his titles, including Servant of Horus, Elder of the Portal of Horus of Edfu, God’s Servant of Harpakhered, God’s Servant of Amun of the Storehouse, Overseer of the Wab-priests of Sekhmet, Overseer of Magicians of Serqet, Chief Lector Priest, Scribe of the Divine Book, Overseer of the Priests of Horus of Edfu, and many more (fig. 2).

Fig. 3: Plaster cast of the Djedhor statue base

Djedhor the Saviour was a well-known priest and “Guardian of the gates of the Temple of Athribis”. He was even deified during his lifetime. Djedhor is represented in the Egypt Centre through a plaster cast (W302) of a statue base, the original of which is now one of the treasures of the Cairo Museum (fig. 3). We will also look at the Chief Lector Priest Padiamenope, the owner of the largest private tomb (TT 33) ever constructed in Egypt. Padiamenope, is known for his stone shabtis, a fragment of which is now in the Egypt Centre (W161).

Fig. 4: Coffin of Iwesenhesetmut

Iwesenhesetmut was a Chantress of Amun who lived around 1000 BC. Her burial was evidently discovered over 200 years ago, with her burial equipment now scattered in museums and private collections. The Egypt Centre possesses her inner anthropoid coffin (W1982), which is brightly decorated with a series of scenes depicting Iwesenhesetmut before the gods (fig. 4). While the God’s Wives of Amun and Divine Adoratrices are some of the most well-known female clergy, perhaps the most obscure holders of the latter title is Qedmerut. She is only known from her shabti figures, which were excavated at the Ramesseum during the 1890s. One of these shabtis (W1315) is now in the Egypt Centre collection (fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Faience shabti of Qedmerut

In order to be as accessible as possible, this 5-week course will be run twice a week, with sessions taking place via Zoom:

- Sunday evenings 6–8pm (UK time) - Starting Sunday 16th January

- Wednesday mornings 10am–noon (UK time) - Starting Wednesday 19th January

A week before the course starts, you will be emailed the Zoom link, which can be used for both sessions. Therefore, participants will have the option of attending either day, or both! This course costs £40, with fees going directly to supporting the Egypt Centre. In particular, the funds will be used to purchase a new writing case for the House of Life gallery. Registration is now open and can been be booked via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-service-of-the-gods-priests-and-priestesses-in-ancient-egypt-tickets-220912494217?aff=ebdsoporgprofile