Priests and priestesses

To operate efficiently, ancient Mesopotamian temples required large staffs, including not only people who handled divine statues and other sacred objects but also those who interpreted omens, performed purification rites, ritually slaughtered sacrificial animals, advised kings on religious matters, and administered the temples and their rich estates. Any and all of these persons could be classified as priests, or priestesses in the case of women who performed such tasks. The most common word for high priest was en and for high priestess, entu. In most places and times in ancient Mesopotamia, high priests were the men who had seniority and political power in the temples and who performed the most sacred and delicate rites. They and most other priests had to fulfill certain strict requirements before they could attain their coveted positions within the temple compounds. First and foremost, they had to be literate; and indeed, some priests began as scribes. They also had to be well educated, specially trained, and their bodies had to be free of physical deformities. In addition, once in the job a priest was required to maintain ritual purity by reciting special incantations on a regular basis.

For the most part in the priestly profession, males attended male gods, and females attended goddesses. However, there were some exceptions, notably the high priestess of the moon god, Nanna (or Sin). Whatever the status of women in general society, Mesopotamian priestesses commanded a high level of respect, as in the case of the famous Vestal Virgins in Rome. In some temples, notably those of the goddess Ishtar (Inanna), some of the priestesses may have taken part in a fertility ritual that featured sexual intercourse, usually referred to as sacred prostitution, although this remains controversial. In the Old Babylonian period (early second millennium B. C.), there were also female temple personnel, possibly priestesses, called naditu. Their religious duties are unclear, though some evidence suggests that they may have performed daily sacrifices and prayers. These women lived secluded lives in a cloisterlike structure called a gagum (“locked house”) and were expected to remain chaste and childless. A group of naditu was prominent in the temple of the sun god, Shamash, at Sippar.

See Also: religion; sacred prostitution; temples