Deshreti/Kahebi Pantheon
Structure
The pharaoh is the ultimate authority on all religious matters. He is treated as a god in mortal form, or the son of one of the gods. As such, particularly disastrous reigns are often meticulously stricken from the history of the nation so as to avoid the wrath of the gods.
Each Cult (sect specific to one deity) of a male deity has a high priestess known as the "God's Wife". Traditionally this position is held by a woman of royal heritage. The God's Wife of Amun had once been specifically the Wife or daughter of the Pharaoh, but now this position is a celebate close relation to the royal family. At points in history, when a Pharaoh had died without an heir the God's Wife of Amun would take over his place until the next dynasty took control.
Male priests were known as hem-netjer and females as hemet-netjer (servants of the god). There is a hierarchy in the priesthood from the high priest (hem-netjer-tepi, 'first servant of god') at the top to the "wab" priests at the bottom. The wab priests carry out the essential but fairly mundane tasks of taking care of the temple complex and performing whatever function they are called upon for, such as helping to prepare for festivals.
Culture
Besides the high priest, most of these positions are part-time. Priests and priestesses are divided into 'watches' and serve the temple one month in every four. When their month of service is up, they return to their regular jobs in the community which are usually those of mid-level bureaucrats. While they are in service, priests live in the temple complex. They are expected to be ritually pure, bathe a number of times a day, and be able to carry out the duties required of them.
Public Agenda
Tenets of Faith
Maat represents the ethical and moral principle that every Egyptian citizen was expected to follow throughout their daily lives. They were expected to act with honor and truth in matters that involve family, the community, the nation, the environment, and the gods. Maat binds all things together in an indestructible unity: the universe, the natural world, the state, and the individual are all seen as parts of the wider order generated by Maat.
Priesthood
The High Priest (Hem-Netjer-Tepi/Hemet-Netjer-Tepi) of each Cult is chosen by the Pharaoh when the position is left vacant. These were almost always a relative of the Pharaoh, in order to assure loyalty. There have been times in history when the crown was weak, and a High Priest would take control of some part of the royal responsibilities. Sometimes this will lead to civil war between the crown and the temple of that deity.
Just below the high priest is the lector priest (hery-heb or cheriheb) who writes down the religious texts, instructs other clergy, and recites the "authoritative utterance," the heka, in the temple and at festivals. Although women serve in all other positions in temple life, there is no record of a female lector priest. This is often because the position is usually passed from father to son.
There are also sem priests who preside over mortuary rituals and conduct funeral services. Sem priests are the embalmers who mummify the corpse and recite the incantations while wrapping the mummy. The sem priests are highly respected because they are responsible for the precise utterance of the spells which will guarantee eternal life to the deceased. An interesting exception is the sem priest who would make the actual incision in the body to remove the organs. However he is treated the rest of the time, after this procedure, he is ritually insulted by his peers and chased down the road, intended to ritually ward off evil spirits associated with causing injury to the body.
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