Ryan Reeder
NeLg 345
Stephen D. Ricks
April 21, 1999
In this paper, as the title suggests, I will analyze and compare the roles that the priests, ministers, and other officers played in ancient temples. I expect to describe the justification for the need for ministers in temples, and the duties they performed. What were the differences and similarities in modes of sacrifice among cultures, for example? As the roles of the priests in ancient Israel are well documented, they will receive particular emphasis in this paper. Other Ancient Near Eastern priestly cultures will also be examined, such as the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Caananites, Hittites, and Egyptians. Other parts of the world, such as the Far East, India, Africa, and Europe, will be largely ignored in this paper, although I do plan to describe some of what is known of the priestal society in ancient America, from archaeological discoveries in Mesoamerica and modern revealed scripture in The Book of Mormon. Finally, through this research and analysis of these ancient temple workers, I hope to gain a further understanding of the common underlying threads in these cultures, so that a greater comprehension can be had of our own temples and society.
ISRAEL In this section, I will discuss the various functions and duties of the priests of Israel concerning the temple and provide a brief narrative of the history of Israel's priests and temples with the reasons why they were deemed necessary.
Descendants of the patriarchs and enslaved in Egypt for four centuries, Israel became a people as Moses led them out of bondage through the Red Sea. After three months of wandering in the wilderness, they arrived at Sinai. Here, the Lord revealed to his people his law, and they covenanted to obey it. Then Moses was commanded to go up into the mount to receive "tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written" (Exodus 24:12). So Moses went up and stayed for forty days, during which time the Lord instructed him concerning the pattern of his tabernacle and the consecration of his priests. The book of Exodus concludes with the actual rearing of the tabernacle and the anointing of Aaron and his sons in the priest's office (Exodus 40). Thus, a sanctuary and priests were established as hallmarks in ancient Israel.
Why were these things so necessary in ancient Israel? Why were they some of the first things given to Israel, and why does their fulfillment finally mark the closure of the book of Exodus? The Exodus was not just the departure of Israel from Egypt. There's no reason to leave unless you're going somewhere. Through the establishment of the law, the priesthood, and the temple, Israel became a people, arriving at the spiritual destination the Lord wished for them, or at least a portion of it. The entrance into Caanan marked a land fulfillment of the exodus, but symbolically and spiritually, the exodus was achieved with the authorized rearing of the tabernacle. Priesthood and temples were crucial to their spiritual salvation.
The priest in ancient Israel was seen as "a mediator between his people and God by representing them officially in worship and sacrifice" (Bible Dictionary p. 753). However, Menahem Haran, a renowned scholar at Hebrew University, explained that priests' role was not seen as representing the people; rather they were representatives of God. "The priests, being the servants of God, are thus not regarded at all as representatives of the community. Their obligation to fulfil their role in the service of God, that is, to perform the cultic acts, is bestowed on them from birth by divine will and is taken to be their exclusive privilege. This privilege does not stem from the community's authority but is based on the notion that a special "eternal covenant of priesthood" was granted by God to the ancestor of priests, Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron, "to him and his descendants after him" (Num. 25:13). . . .the priests' function was conceived of as a matter of high-ranking nobility in the service of God. . .the notion that the temple is constitutionally a house of God and the priest is his servant was virtually a cornerstone in the ancient Israelite and the ancient Near Eastern conception of the world," (Fox 18-20). Elder Russell M. Nelson recently explained how this concept still applies in modern Israel. He said, "Though these Brethren come from many nations and speak several tongues, not one of them was called to represent his native country. Presiding quorums of the Church are not representative assemblies. Each leader has been called to face the people as a representative of the Lord, not the other way around" (Ensign May 1996, p. 14).
We left off in the narrative with newly anointed priests and a newly reared tabernacle. We know from modern revelation that the Melchizedek priesthood and the fulness of the ordinances of the House of the Lord were withheld from Israel at this time, yet "the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:18). This authority was confirmed to be with the Levites with the sign of Aaron's budding rod (Numbers 17). The priests were divided into the Aaronite high priests, of which there was only one at a time, and the Levites, who were the rest of the priests of Israel, but their basic duties were the same, stemming from Moses' last blessing to the tribes of Israel. To Levi he said, "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one. . .they shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar" (Deut. 33:8,10). Based on these verses, Leopold Sabourin divides these duties into the three parts of dispensing oracles, instructing in the law, and offering of sacrifices at the altar. (Sabourin 150-157). The priests would consult the Urim and Thummim in the ephod as a means of finding out the mind of God. They had the responsibility of teaching the people in the laws of the Torah. They had the obligation to perform the sacrifices for Israel at the temple. These included a bullock for a sin offering, a ram for a burnt offering, and another ram for a peace or consecration offering (Bible Dictionary p. 753). Other ceremonial functions performed at the temple included washing, anointing, and clothing in the holy sacerdotal garments. In addition, the priests would go up by courses to the temple and recite the creation account (Mishnah: Taanith 4:2-3). In the temple, certain priests were called as officers. In the Shekalim tract of the Mishnah, fifteen officers are designated to serve in particular duties, such as Ahijah over the drink offerings, Ben Ahijah over the bowel sickness, and the House of Garmu over the preparation of the Shewbread. (Mishnah: Shekalim 5:1). However, the greatest authority in Israel was with the high priest. It was he that wore the breastplate and consulted the Urim and Thummim. It was he that offered up the sacrifices on Sabbaths, new moons and yearly festivals, as well as a meat offering twice daily for himself. It was he that was privileged to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Bible Dictionary 702-703). And it was he that was the prefigure of Christ, who is "come an high priest of good things to come,. . .[who] by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:11-12), "an infinite and eternal sacrifice" (Alma 34:10).
The tabernacle itself was built in the wilderness. Frank Moore Cross, Jr., Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at Harvard University, discusses five interesting points that recent research have brought forth, confirming the existence of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was "more elaborate than a simple nomad's tent or a booth housing a portable palladium of battle" (Madsen, 93). The tabernacle was more of "an old tent shrine" than "a temple in sheep's clothing" (Madsen, 94). Israel's tent traditions point to a connection with the dynastic temple of Caananite kingship. The tabernacle's highest point was reached with the Davidic tent, and other sources, such as the Samaritan shrine on Mount Gerizim, can give further evidence for the tabernacle. (Madsen 91-105). The tabernacle also served as a prototype for future temples, such as the Temples of Solomon, Zerubabbel, and Herod.
The priesthood which Aaron held was confirmed upon his seed. First Eleazar and then Phinehas succeeded him. For a time, however, the house of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son, officiated in the office of the high priest. This began with Eli at the time of Samuel, and continued until Solomon chose Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, over Abiathar, a descendant of Ithamar. Solomon, in about 1012 B.C. began the construction of his famous temple. This was completed about twenty years later. From time to time, its treasures were given or stolen for political reasons, and in 587 B.C. it was burned to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years later, Cyrus the Great permitted the return of Israel to Jerusalem and commissioned the rebuilding of the temple, called the Temple of Zerubbabel. This temple was defiled about 170 B.C. by Antiochus IV while Israel was under Seleucid rule, and provoked the rebellion of Judas Maccabees, who founded the Hasmonean dynasty of high-priest kings after cleansing the temple. This era was marked by civil unrest, however, and Pompey took Jerusalem in 64 B.C. for Rome. Herod was given control of Judea as an ethnarch under Rome, and about 17 B.C. he commissioned the rebuilding of the temple at great expense. This rebuilding was not concluded until 64 A. D., six years before Jerusalem and her temple were destroyed in the Diaspora. Although a Jewish state was finally reestablished in 1948 A. D., the Jews have never regained their temple.
SUMERIA Much is known about Sumerian temples and priests, both through archaeology and textual analysis. Perhaps one of the major Sumerian contributions was their Ziggurat, "a massive staged tower supporting the shrine of the god on its top stage" (Dunstan 65). In addition, major temples of Sumeria include the Eninnu at Girsu for Ningirsu, the Ekur at Nippur for Enlil, the E'engurra at Eridu for Enki, and the Eanna at Erech for Inanna.(Fox 2). According to Sumerian mythology, the Gods had created man solely to serve them. Herein lied the necessity for priests. Sabourin quotes T. Jacobsen as saying that a "staff of divine servants. . .guide and lend their divine efficacy to a corps of human servants, the priests. There are chamberlains, who make the divine bed, see to the bathing and anointing of the god, keep his rooms clean and swept. There are cooks who prepare his daily meals, carvers and cupbearers, who serve at table, singers and musicians, who entertain the god and his guests, and also singers of elegies who soothe his darker moods" (Sabourin 56-57). The gods were served meals twice daily. The high priest or priestess of a particular temple was of the opposite sex to the deity honored. Often, priests performed rituals without clothing. The Sumerians ritual sacrifices included offering food to the deities and the ritual slaughter of a bull "to make its consecrated life and its vitality and energy available to the deity." "Religion in Sumer centered around the temple" (Dunstan 60-61).
ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA These two cultures are very similar in their religious traditions and are often analyzed together. Both developed in large part out of the Sumerian traditions in their area. The temple was important to their cultures because "deities, though present everywhere, were most easily approached in the temples" (Dunstan 251). In fact, the main purpose for having a temple "was to shelter the image of the god." A priestly class formed from these cultures, largely consisted of the wise men, astrologers, sorcerers, soothsayers, magicians, and Chaldeans which the book of Daniel describes (Daniel 2:2,27). Their function in the temples were to clothe the images and provide them with food and drink. They also had other extra-temple duties in medical, social, scribal, and other fields. Eventually, the priesthood became hereditary in Babylonia. (Sabourin 64-65).
CAANAN Not much is known of the Caananite priesthood and temples. They did exist, the Bible often refers to the Caananites competing with the Yahwists. Fertility groves were set up to Ashtoreth where prostitutes would ritually copulate with worshipers. Hundreds of priests of Baal were slaughtered at one time by the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel. T.H. Gaster pieced together the officers of temple personnel as consisting of "priests, superintended by a 'high priest,' sacristans, choristers, doorkeepers, watchmen, barbers or branders, and such artisans as smiths, masons, builders, etc., charged with the maintenance of the sacred edifice. A 'man of the gods'-perhaps a generic term for a sacerdotal official-is also mentioned, as well as female votaries known as 'sacred women.'" There is also possible mention of makers of sacred vestments and sculptors of images (Sabourin 71-72).
HATTI The Hittite Temple played a large economic and religious role, and the king was intensely involved as the chief priest in the Caananite priesthood. (Dunstan 167-168). Although he usually delegated his sacerdotal functions, his priestly duties were many. (Sabourin 77). They included appeasing all the deities, offering the sacrificial blood, evocation of deity, ritual purification, and making annual pilgrimages to all of the Hittite great shrines. (Dunstan 168, Sabourin 77). Since the Hittite pantheon was huge, they required a large number of priests. Their duties were to wash, clothe, and feed the gods every day. Only the highest ranks of priests actually lived in the temple, most worked in open-air sanctuaries. (Sabourin 75-76). In addition, the priests were admonished to "be very reverent," to perform all their duties, and to have great respect for the temple. Those who desecrated the temples, including non-Hittites, could be punished by death.
EGYPT The Pharaohs built large, elaborate temples to express their devotion to the gods they worshiped. It was believed that a primordial mound had first risen from the waters of creation, and the Egyptian temples served to enforce this belief. The priests that labored in the Egyptian temples had important roles. In addition to the functions common in much of the rest of the Near East-those of anointing, feeding, and worshiping the gods, they achieved great prowess in other areas. The two classes of priests, the Wab or purists, and the lector priests, engaged in "fixing and preserving the divine words and sacred rituals in the traditional hieroglyphic language" (Sabourin 83,86). The Egyptian priests were not mediators and had very little to do with the personal religion of the common people. Their role was strictly to "maintain the integrity on earth of the divine presence in the sanctuary of the temples, where this presence has consented to dwell-and this is all" (Sabourin 86). The priests also helped preserve the hieroglyphs and increased their volume. They were some of the most erudite of Egyptians, becoming adept at astronomy, geometry, architecture, history, geography, oneirology, medicine and magic (Sabourin 89). Their traditions continued in one form or another until 384 A. D. when Theodosius, emperor of the Roman Empire, forced its inhabitants to adopt Christianity, and ordered the closing of all the temples.
MESOAMERICA The many large edifices in Mesoamerica show the importance of the temple to those societies. In all areas, the temple was associated with a specialized, hierarchal priesthood (Fox 73). The children of high-status families were frequently inducted into the priestly societies, as years of training were required to reach the highest positions. Priests were often involved in civic as well as ceremonial positions, often filling top ruling offices. The ceremonies and rituals that the priests ministered in often included blood sacrifice, including human sacrifice among the Aztecs and others, though birds and other animals were more common. Often an offering was included with gifts such as food, flowers, papers, clothing, and incense. However, many of the classic civilizations were not idol worshipers, this practice being introduced later from other cultures. In addition to their ceremonial duties, priestly functions included "the education of the young, divination, ancestor worship, and the keeping of the ritual calendar" (Fox 73-75).
It has not been proven conclusively that the civilizations of Mesoamerica were the peoples of The Book of Mormon; Hugh Nibley gives an excellent argument to the contrary (Parry 399-410). However, the peoples of the Book of Mormon did have strong priest and temple societies, approximating the Israelites more than any other group studied so far. Some of the first things Nephi did after arriving in America and separating from his brethren were to build a temple and consecrate priests and teachers (2 Nephi 5:16,26). This reminds us of the earlier discussion of the Israelites rearing the tabernacle and consecrating priests, thus concluding the exodus. Temples are also mentioned in Zarahemla and Bountiful, with intimation given that there were many more (Helaman 3:14). These temples were often the sites of great speeches by Nephite leaders such as Jacob (2 Nephi 6-10, Jacob 2-3), Benjamin (Mosiah 2-5), Limhi (Mosiah 7), and Jesus Christ himself (3 Nephi 11-26). The temple appeared to be the center of society, and was frequently the site of gatherings (Jacob 7, 3 Nephi 11). Unlike the Hittites, the temple appears to be freely accessible to the people and was the site of preaching, especially among the Lamanites (Alma 16:13, 23:2, 26:29). It's interesting to note the society of King Noah. He endowed the temple of Nephi with great riches and ordained priests as his counselors, yet he is portrayed as a wicked man (Mosiah 11:4-12). This is contrasted with the society of Benjamin and Mosiah, who also ordained priests and consulted with them (Mosiah 6:3, 27:1) but only endowed the temple with the word of God (Mosiah 2-6). It appears that civil and religious authority was vested in the person of the king, and from him the authority was given to priests. This is the case with Nephi (2 Nephi 5:26), Benjamin (Mosiah 6:3), Mosiah (Mosiah 25:19), and Noah (Mosiah 11:5). This tradition appears to continue for a time during the reign of the judges with Alma being the chief judge and high priest, but Alma voluntarily surrenders his civil authority to concentrate on his religious duties (Alma 4:15-20). And what were those religious duties? In Israel they were oracular consultation, the preaching of the law, and the administration of sacrifice. Although the Urim and Thummim are never mentioned by name in the Book of Mormon, people still looked to the prophets as oracles (e.g. Moroni and Alma; Alma 43:23-24). And, while detailed descriptions of sacrifice are very rare, there were no Levite priests. Those priests in The Book of Mormon were after the order of Melchizedek, and administered sacrifice in that way, according to the Law of Moses (Mosiah 2:3). The main function of priests and teachers in The Book of Mormon appears to be the preaching of the law. This included faith, repentance, and baptism (Moroni 3,6). Many of the priests took their calling extremely seriously, giving up other gains in the case of Alma and "answering the sins of the people upon [their] own heads if [they] did not teach them the word of God with all diligence" (Jacob 1:19). In fact, much of the Book of Mormon is the account of the priests and teachers of the Nephites teaching their people and their brethren. However, often the priesthood became corrupt, and priests would use their positions to more easily commit iniquity, and lead others to do so. The Jaredites also had a priesthood that became corrupt through secret combinations, as when the high priest killed the king (Ether 14:9).
So, there we go. We've just analyzed the roles of priests in the temples in Israel, Sumeria, Assyria and Babylon, Caanan, Haati, Egypt, Mesoamerica, and among The Book of Mormon peoples. So, what conclusions can we draw? One is that of all these civilizations, the one most resembling the Israelites would be the Nephites. The Mesopotamian cultures of Sumeria, Assyria, and Babylonia had much in common, while the Hittite and Egyptian cultures were more distinct. This probably is caused by geography-the more distant, the more diverse, generally. Despite the differences, there are also many similarities between these different cultures. This lends support to the idea that all of these traditions stemmed from a common origin. That that origin was restored to the Israelites and Nephites in later dispensations is left as a possibility. Finally, many similarities in sacerdotal functions have carried over to the present day, especially in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which claims to be yet another restoration of a new dispensation of the ancient order. The function of priests is still to "preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize, and administer the sacrament" (Doctrine and Covenants 20:46), with the sacrament having taken place of the ancient sacrifice. Modern day prophets and apostles are looked to as mouthpieces of the Lord, and any priesthood holder may be called upon to act as a spokesman with limited jurisdiction. While not discussed here, ancient and modern temple ceremonies are also very similar, where the fulness of the priesthood may be obtained.
Bibliography
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Anderson, Gary A. and Saul M. Olyan, eds. Priesthood and Cult in Ancient Israel. Sheffield Academic Press: Sheffield, England. 1991.
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