Students were required to write a creative "autobiography" in which they assumed the role of an ancient Egyptian and discussed the role of art in ancient Egyptian society.

Student 6

Life of an Egyptian Priest

My name is Habeos, a high priest in the city of Thebes. I am the loyal follower of our Great Pharaoh Snefuru, who not long ago joined with the sun to govern Egypt eternally. He was laid in his great palace for eternity. After ten weeks of preparing his ba or body so that his ka would have a place to survive and dwell forever, he was ready to begin his very dangerous journey into the underworld where he would soon reach paradise and attain everlasting life.

Now that our great pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops) has taken his place as ruler of Egypt, we have begun preparation of his burial chamber, which he intended to call the great pyramid of Khufu. This will not only be a place to protect his body for all eternity, but pharaoh intended this pyramid to be a symbol of the great power of our country and the absolute power of our pharaoh.

The great pyramid will also include what pharaoh Khufu calls a grand gallery. This will be a place where we can chart the movement of the heavens and in doing so even more accurately tell when the great Nile will spread her gift across our lands. This will be a place in which we priests can perform the ceremonial opening of the pharaoh's mouth, and annual ceremony where the pharaoh's mouth is open so that he can refertilize the constellation of Isis and assure Egypt a good harvest.

As a priest, I must keep myself as pure as possible. It is we priests who play a great role and keep this society in order. We must strive to keep ourselves clean in the eyes of the gods and in the eyes of our pharaoh.

There are numerous traditions that I must follow because of my position as a priest. As I work to keep myself pure for the gods it is not uncommon of me to bathe three or four times a day in the sacred purification pools. I must also shave all hair from my body. This is mostly to keep the filthy lice out of the temples. The gods become very angry if lice enter into their temples. For this same reason I am not allowed to wear animal skins. There are also certain foods that I am not allowed to ear, fish being one of them because fish is considered the food of a peasant.

I am what most call an oracle priest, which is one of the most sacred positions. Being a priest certainly has its privileges. I am referred to by special names like, "see gods," "pure one," servant of gods," or even "divine father." As a priest, I am quite rich and powerful. My father's position as a semi-priest, also known as "First Prophet of the God," allowed me to rise up through the priest "caste system" and take my place as an oracle priest of the gods. My father was a very respected man; he, like me, made his way up through the ranks and was appointed pharaoh. He served not only as a political advisor to the pharaoh but he also served as a political leader in the temples as well. Hopefully before too much time has passed the pharaoh Khufu will see my great dedication to the gods and Egypt and he will allow me to continue to move up as a priest.

My wife and children are very important to me but my position as a priest is more important. I must continue to climb into the high ranks of the priesthood. With such an important position as I now hold, much is expected. I carry out many daily tasks in order to keep our gods satisfied. I give food to the statues of the gods, I clothe the statues, I play a large role during the festival days, and seal the temple chamber in the evening, just to name a few. As a priest I strive to keep the gods satisfied. The gods must be honored for our great civilization to prosper.