Famous Pharaohs

Among  the  best  preserved  evidence  for  the  organization  of  the  priesthood  during the Old Kingdom are  the  archives  of  the  royal  cult  temples  of  the fifth-dynasty king, Neferirkare Kakai, at Abusir. According  to the carefully recorded...

Many domestic cults, aimed  in large part on protecting the home and its inhabitants from harm,  required  literate  or  learned  individuals  to  perform  the  appropriate  rites. Hence, priests were often called upon to serve in this capacity.  Lector...

Although stelae and tomb scenes usually show burial offerings being brought by family  members, professional mortuary priests are documented serving in private memorial cults  as  early  as  the first dynasty. A class of specifically funerary priests...

Temple reliefs typically portray the king as the  sole practitioner of all divine cults, the quintessential high priest of every god's temple. Although the king presumably performed cultic activities on special occasions at major temples, a hierarchy...