Professional Priesthood List
A viewset for viewing and editing Professional Priesthoods.
GET /api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=2
{ "count": 464, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=3", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api", "results": [ { "id": 51, "polity": { "id": 520, "name": "eg_thebes_hyksos", "long_name": "Egypt - Thebes-Hyksos Period", "start_year": -1720, "end_year": -1567 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Official religion modelled on Egyptian. State god Seth of Avaris. §REF§(Hayes 1990, 4)§REF§<br>Reference to Horemkhauef, a chief inspector of priests (late 13th Dynasty?). Lector priests. Scribes. §REF§(Bourriau 2003, 186)§REF§<br>Temple overseers, temple scribes, scribes, cultivators of divine offerings, scribes of the divine seal, masters of foodbearers, high priests, overseer of singers, w'b priests, and hm-ntr, hry-hbt, wnwt, and sm3. §REF§(Shirley 2013, 562)§REF§" }, { "id": 52, "polity": { "id": 200, "name": "eg_thebes_libyan", "long_name": "Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period", "start_year": -1069, "end_year": -747 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 53, "polity": { "id": 361, "name": "eg_thulunid_ikhshidid", "long_name": "Egypt - Tulunid-Ikhshidid Period", "start_year": 868, "end_year": 969 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists. §REF§Lapidus, A History of Islamic society pp. 133-192§REF§ Islam did not have a professional priesthood." }, { "id": 54, "polity": { "id": 84, "name": "es_spanish_emp_1", "long_name": "Spanish Empire I", "start_year": 1516, "end_year": 1715 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Parish priests, missionaries, friars. §REF§(Cunningham 1919, 92) Cunningham, Charles Henry. 1919. The Audiencia in the Spanish Colonies As illustrated by the Audiencia of Manila (1583-1800). Berkeley, California: University of California Press. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CM5NJJRR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CM5NJJRR</a>§REF§" }, { "id": 55, "polity": { "id": 208, "name": "et_aksum_emp_1", "long_name": "Axum I", "start_year": -149, "end_year": 349 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"high-quality grave goods, have been interpreted as those of 'middle-class' Aksumites ... It might be expected that such a class would include ... priests of temple or church ...\"§REF§(Connah 2016, 141) Graham Connah. 2016. African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective. Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.§REF§<br>Temple or church officials.§REF§(Connah 2016, 141) Graham Connah. 2016. African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective. Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.§REF§<br>\"Although information on the religion of the Aksumites is still extremely fragmentary, it may be considered a relatively developed religion, linked to a complicated ritual and a professional priesthood. During the early Aksumite period religious ideas from countries near and far penetrated into Ethiopia.\"§REF§(Kobishanov 1981) Y M. Kobishanov. Aksum: political system, economics and culture, first to fourth century. Muḥammad Jamal al-Din Mokhtar. ed. 1981. UNESCO General History of Africa. Volume II. Heinemann. UNESCO. California.§REF§" }, { "id": 56, "polity": { "id": 57, "name": "fm_truk_1", "long_name": "Chuuk - Early Truk", "start_year": 1775, "end_year": 1886 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " 'Ritual practices were conducted by their own specialists. They included spirit mediums, breadfruit summoners, fish summoners, healers, masters of spells, masters of sorcery, builders, navigators, diviners, and most importantly the masters of magic and ritual relating to war and politics. Their knowledge was private property passed down to their children and junior lineage mates.' §REF§Goodenough, Ward and Skoggard 1999) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E</a>.§REF§ S'All religious practitioners as well as craftsmen and magicians are owners of the knowledge necessary to exercise their specialties. The Trukese make no distinction between them and other skilled personnel. There is one important exception to this rule, the spirit medium ( wäättwa or wään ëny). His (or her) position is not based on knowledge so much as on having been possessed by a spirit. This spirit is in no way classed as the medium’s property, nor can it be inherited automatically by a son or lineage mate. The position of a spirit medium, therefore, is different from that of a property holder, except as he uses his abilities to diagnose illness.' §REF§Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 55§REF§" }, { "id": 57, "polity": { "id": 58, "name": "fm_truk_2", "long_name": "Chuuk - Late Truk", "start_year": 1886, "end_year": 1948 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " 'Ritual practices were conducted by their own specialists. They included spirit mediums, breadfruit summoners, fish summoners, healers, masters of spells, masters of sorcery, builders, navigators, diviners, and most importantly the masters of magic and ritual relating to war and politics. Their knowledge was private property passed down to their children and junior lineage mates.' §REF§Goodenough, Ward and Skoggard 1999) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E</a>.§REF§ S'All religious practitioners as well as craftsmen and magicians are owners of the knowledge necessary to exercise their specialties. The Trukese make no distinction between them and other skilled personnel. There is one important exception to this rule, the spirit medium ( wäättwa or wään ëny). His (or her) position is not based on knowledge so much as on having been possessed by a spirit. This spirit is in no way classed as the medium’s property, nor can it be inherited automatically by a son or lineage mate. The position of a spirit medium, therefore, is different from that of a property holder, except as he uses his abilities to diagnose illness.' §REF§Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 55§REF§" }, { "id": 58, "polity": { "id": 448, "name": "fr_atlantic_complex", "long_name": "Atlantic Complex", "start_year": -2200, "end_year": -1000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " No information found in sources so far." }, { "id": 59, "polity": { "id": 447, "name": "fr_beaker_eba", "long_name": "Beaker Culture", "start_year": -3200, "end_year": -2000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 60, "polity": { "id": 460, "name": "fr_bourbon_k_1", "long_name": "French Kingdom - Early Bourbon", "start_year": 1589, "end_year": 1660 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " 1620s were a turning point in terms of ecclesiastic growth, reaching a peak in the 1630s with nine out of every ten bishops being ordained priests, “and thereby fully committed to ecclesiastical careers.” Bergin also notes that the decision to be ordained a priest could never really be divorced from career prospects, especially that of the episcopate itself. §REF§(Bergin 1996, 253-254)§REF§§REF§(de Franceschi 2001, 41)§REF§ Essentially, the transformation of parish priests into liturgical performers was also part of this larger effort to professionalize the secular clergy during the second half of the seventeenth century. In addition, by 1640 a new professional identity for priesthood was being forged through seminary education. §REF§(Palacios 2012, 14-16, 81)§REF§" }, { "id": 61, "polity": { "id": 457, "name": "fr_capetian_k_1", "long_name": "Proto-French Kingdom", "start_year": 987, "end_year": 1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Christianity<br>" }, { "id": 62, "polity": { "id": 458, "name": "fr_capetian_k_2", "long_name": "French Kingdom - Late Capetian", "start_year": 1150, "end_year": 1328 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Christianity" }, { "id": 63, "polity": { "id": 309, "name": "fr_carolingian_emp_1", "long_name": "Carolingian Empire I", "start_year": 752, "end_year": 840 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "<br>" }, { "id": 64, "polity": { "id": 311, "name": "fr_carolingian_emp_2", "long_name": "Carolingian Empire II", "start_year": 840, "end_year": 987 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 65, "polity": { "id": 449, "name": "fr_hallstatt_a_b1", "long_name": "Hallstatt A-B1", "start_year": -1000, "end_year": -900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists<br>" }, { "id": 66, "polity": { "id": 450, "name": "fr_hallstatt_b2_3", "long_name": "Hallstatt B2-3", "start_year": -900, "end_year": -700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists" }, { "id": 67, "polity": { "id": 451, "name": "fr_hallstatt_c", "long_name": "Hallstatt C", "start_year": -700, "end_year": -600 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists<br>" }, { "id": 68, "polity": { "id": 452, "name": "fr_hallstatt_d", "long_name": "Hallstatt D", "start_year": -600, "end_year": -475 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " When did druids appear?" }, { "id": 69, "polity": { "id": 304, "name": "fr_merovingian_emp_1", "long_name": "Early Merovingian", "start_year": 481, "end_year": 543 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " inferred continuity with earlier/later periods, with no clear evidence of discontinuity<br>" }, { "id": 70, "polity": { "id": 456, "name": "fr_merovingian_emp_3", "long_name": "Proto-Carolingian", "start_year": 687, "end_year": 751 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Christianity.<br>" }, { "id": 71, "polity": { "id": 453, "name": "fr_la_tene_a_b1", "long_name": "La Tene A-B1", "start_year": -475, "end_year": -325 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " Druids." }, { "id": 72, "polity": { "id": 454, "name": "fr_la_tene_b2_c1", "long_name": "La Tene B2-C1", "start_year": -325, "end_year": -175 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Druids." }, { "id": 73, "polity": { "id": 455, "name": "fr_la_tene_c2_d", "long_name": "La Tene C2-D", "start_year": -175, "end_year": -27 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Druids." }, { "id": 74, "polity": { "id": 333, "name": "fr_valois_k_1", "long_name": "French Kingdom - Early Valois", "start_year": 1328, "end_year": 1450 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Christianity<br>" }, { "id": 75, "polity": { "id": 459, "name": "fr_valois_k_2", "long_name": "French Kingdom - Late Valois", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1589 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Christianity.<br>" }, { "id": 76, "polity": null, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 77, "polity": { "id": 113, "name": "gh_akan", "long_name": "Akan - Pre-Ashanti", "start_year": 1501, "end_year": 1701 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists Priests and spirit mediums communicated with deities and other spirits: 'Indigenous Akan religion is based upon the worship of a High God, various spirits or deities, and ancestors. The High God-known as Onyame, Onyankopon, and by other names-is the Creator, now otiose; Asase Yaa, the goddess of the earth, accompanies him. The ancestors live in the land of the dead and may demand offerings, in the past including those of slaves.' §REF§Gilbert, Michelle, Lagacé, Robert O. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Akan§REF§ 'Spirits or deities are many, and the living can communicate with them through prayer, sacrifice, and possession. Each has its own OSOFO, or priest; an OKOMFO is a living spirit medium who interprets the words of a spirit who is consulted to remove sickness and human disasters.' §REF§Gilbert, Michelle, Lagacé, Robert O. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Akan§REF§ Rulers and royal lineages were closely connected to the cult: 'The royal ancestors are at the heart of the ritual protection of a kingdom. They are \"fed\" at shrines in the form of blackened stools of wood and kept in the \"stool rooms\" in palaces and houses. Traditionally, the stools were anointed with human blood, gunpowder, and spider webs, and given alcoholic drink; human sacrifices are no longer made. Each kingdom and town has, or had in past years, an annual purification ritual, known as ODWIRA, in which the king, the office of kingship, the kingdom, and the town are purified of the pollution of the preceding year; this is often known in the literature as a \"yam festival.\"'§REF§Gilbert, Michelle, Lagacé, Robert O. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Akan§REF§ In Fante communities, high-ranking priests played a prominent role in the polity: 'The object, however, of this work is not to deal with religious theories, deities, or matters of belief. In the Fanti districts, with their numerous free and independent communities, the priests who officiated at the shrine of Nanaam (that is ancestors), the national deities, situate at Mankesim, exercised large powers and wielded great [Page 52] influence, so much so that the opinion has been expressed that the high priest, a Braffo, was the sovereign ruler of the Fanti people. The physician was so often a priest that it is not surprising to discover him possessed of much influence; but this much may be said, the priests did not rule the people. The general name for God is Nyankupon (Nyankrupon according to the Akanfu), meaning the Only One, than who none is greater, or, as others say, the Great Friend. Nyankupon is invisible. He lives above the heavens, and the winds are His messengers. The common saying is, “Speak to the winds, and God will hear thee.” This word has different pronunciations, and the difficulty of finding its root may be through this cause. Rain is called Nyankum; rainbow is nyankunton. Nyan is to awaken, and it has been suggested that probably Onyan (the awakener) was an old name for the sky. One is rather inclined to form the opinion that Nyankupon is not derived from ye, meaning to do, act, create, as some say. This subject is certainly interesting, and requires further study and much thinking over.' §REF§Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 51p§REF§ This seems to suggest a degree of professionalization." }, { "id": 78, "polity": { "id": 114, "name": "gh_ashanti_emp", "long_name": "Ashanti Empire", "start_year": 1701, "end_year": 1895 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists Priests occasionally left their homes and travelled to visit patients in other places, and formed a guild: 'When a priest is called in from a distance to attend a case, he will generally tell the friends of the patient much about the family history, and indicate that a deceased relative is troubling the patient for some act of disobedience. The deceased relative must accordingly be propitiated. How does he come to know the history of the family to which he is a stranger? There is a Guild of Priests in the country to which all Priests belong, whose members are absolutely faithful to one another.' §REF§Hayford, J. E. Casely (Joseph Ephraim Casely) 1970. “Gold Coast Native Institutions With Thoughts Upon A Healthy Imperial Policy For The Gold Coast And Ashanti”, 106§REF§ They received specialist training: 'A Priest's training begins early in his life. He is generally sent away to another district to a seminary, where he serves out his apprenticeship, which may cover a period of three years. During that time he learns the use of herbs and their application to the cure of disease, at which he becomes very proficient in the course of after practice.' §REF§Hayford, J. E. Casely (Joseph Ephraim Casely) 1970. “Gold Coast Native Institutions With Thoughts Upon A Healthy Imperial Policy For The Gold Coast And Ashanti”, 107§REF§ The period of initiation was concluded by a possession ritual and examination of sorts: 'After training, [he] was tested at a ritual attended by his teacher and all local priests. At this he was expected to become possessed, with the god's help to answer riddles or questions set by the other priests, and to divine successfully' §REF§McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 60§REF§ The long duration of apprenticeship, the existence of professional bodies and the involvement of priests in organized ceremonial indicate a degree of specialization. While the full-time status of lower-ranking local priests may be questionable, the head-priests employed in the centres of executive power should be defined as such." }, { "id": 79, "polity": { "id": 67, "name": "gr_crete_archaic", "long_name": "Archaic Crete", "start_year": -710, "end_year": -500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Cult was performed by priests annually elected by the <i>Ecclesia</i>. §REF§Willetts, R. F. 1965. <i>Ancient Crete. A Social History</i>, London and Toronto, 56-75.§REF§" }, { "id": 80, "polity": { "id": 68, "name": "gr_crete_classical", "long_name": "Classical Crete", "start_year": -500, "end_year": -323 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Cult was performed by priests annually elected by the <i>Ecclesia</i> (<i>Εκκλησία</i>). §REF§Willetts, R. F. 1965. <i>Ancient Crete. A Social History</i>, London and Toronto, 56-75§REF§ §REF§Chaniotis, A. 1897. \"Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη,\" in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), <i>Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός</i>, Heraklion, 199.§REF§" }, { "id": 81, "polity": { "id": 74, "name": "gr_crete_emirate", "long_name": "The Emirate of Crete", "start_year": 824, "end_year": 961 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists" }, { "id": 82, "polity": { "id": 66, "name": "gr_crete_geometric", "long_name": "Geometric Crete", "start_year": -1000, "end_year": -710 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 83, "polity": { "id": 69, "name": "gr_crete_hellenistic", "long_name": "Hellenistic Crete", "start_year": -323, "end_year": -69 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Cult was performed by priests annually elected by the Ecclesia (<i>Εκκλησία</i>). §REF§Chaniotis, A. 1897. \"Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη,\" in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), <i>Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός</i>, Heraklion, 236-46.§REF§" }, { "id": 84, "polity": { "id": 63, "name": "gr_crete_mono_palace", "long_name": "Monopalatial Crete", "start_year": -1450, "end_year": -1300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The <i>wanax</i> is the head of the religious hierarchy. §REF§Shelmerdine, C. W. and Bennet, J. 2008. \"12: Mycenaean states. 12A: Economy and administration,\" in Shelmerdine, C. W. (ed.), <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age</i>, Cambridge, 293.§REF§ Like the gods themselves he received offerings (e.g. perfumed oil) but he had not a divine status. He was assisted by a considerable priesthood. §REF§Ventris, M. and Chadwick, J. 1973. <i>Documents in Mycenaean Greek</i>, London,128-29.§REF§" }, { "id": 85, "polity": { "id": 59, "name": "gr_crete_nl", "long_name": "Neolithic Crete", "start_year": -7000, "end_year": -3000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 86, "polity": { "id": 62, "name": "gr_crete_new_palace", "long_name": "New Palace Crete", "start_year": -1700, "end_year": -1450 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Male and female figures depicted in various iconographic media were often identified as priests and priestesses. §REF§See the discussion in Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 127-46.§REF§ The frequency of such depictions during the New Palace period has been interpreted as \" a need for a more pronounced identity arose as a result of the greater consolidation of the ruling class.\" §REF§Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 127.§REF§ The sacerdotal figures were dressed with sumptuary adorned robes and dresses, have special hairstyles and hold insignia of their authority (curved axes, double-axes, stone maces, and ritual objects). They were also often accompanied by certain symbolic images: animal heads (scarified victims), winged creatures, and animals attacker/predators. All evidence points to a division between priest and priestess: priest were associated with hunting and perhaps in the daily administration while priestess to pouring of libations, processions, bringing offerings and performing dances. The most important ritual performed by priestesses was the impersonation of the goddess. According Marinatos \"Minoan priesthood was a permeant profession and not a stage in the \"career\" of the nobility\" and \"I would think that the priesthood in palatial Crete formed a strong corporation from the ranks of which the priest-king and the goddess impersonator were chosen.\" §REF§See the discussion in Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 145-46.§REF§ It should be noted, however, that because of the absence of sound information all these are speculations." }, { "id": 87, "polity": { "id": 61, "name": "gr_crete_old_palace", "long_name": "Old Palace Crete", "start_year": -1900, "end_year": -1700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 88, "polity": { "id": 64, "name": "gr_crete_post_palace_1", "long_name": "Postpalatial Crete", "start_year": -1300, "end_year": -1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " In Mycenaean states the <i>wanax</i> is the head of the religious hierarchy. §REF§Shelmerdine, C. W. and Bennet, J. 2008. \"12: Mycenaean states. 12A: Economy and administration,\" in Shelmerdine, C. W. (ed.), <i>The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age</i>, Cambridge, 293.§REF§ Like the gods themselves he received offerings (e.g. perfumed oil) but he had not a divine status. He was assisted by a considerable priesthood. §REF§Ventris, M. and Chadwick, J. 1973. <i>Documents in Mycenaean Greek</i>, London,128-29.§REF§" }, { "id": 89, "polity": { "id": 17, "name": "us_hawaii_1", "long_name": "Hawaii I", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following refers to Ancient Hawaiki, not Hawaii. The former is the ancestral Polynesian homeland, in the first millennium BCE. It's not entirely clear how much of their ancestral heritage the earliest Hawaiians might have retained. Expert guidance needed. \"As best we can infer, in ancient Hawaiki the *<i>ariki</i> played a role that was part secular leader, part priest. He had the responsibility for conducting most if not all of the sacred rituals of the group, including supplications to the ancestors.\" §REF§(Kirch 2012, 45)§REF§" }, { "id": 90, "polity": { "id": 18, "name": "us_hawaii_2", "long_name": "Hawaii II", "start_year": 1200, "end_year": 1580 }, "year_from": 1200, "year_to": 1500, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The development of protohistorical priestly categories appears to have begun in the sixteenth century §REF§(Kirch 2010, 174-175)§REF§." }, { "id": 91, "polity": { "id": 18, "name": "us_hawaii_2", "long_name": "Hawaii II", "start_year": 1200, "end_year": 1580 }, "year_from": 1500, "year_to": 1580, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The development of protohistorical priestly categories appears to have begun in the sixteenth century §REF§(Kirch 2010, 174-175)§REF§." }, { "id": 92, "polity": { "id": 19, "name": "us_hawaii_3", "long_name": "Hawaii III", "start_year": 1580, "end_year": 1778 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were full-time priests§REF§Sahlins, Marshall 1958. Social Stratification in Polynesia. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. Pg. 14.§REF§§REF§Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 57.§REF§" }, { "id": 93, "polity": { "id": 153, "name": "id_iban_1", "long_name": "Iban - Pre-Brooke", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1841 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists 'There are three religious practitioners: the bard (LEMAMBANG), the augur (TUAI BURONG), and the shaman (MANANG). Individually or in teams, bards are invited to chant at all major rituals. They are highly respected men, capable of recalling and adapting as appropriate, chants that go on for hours. The augur is employed for critical activities, such as farming or travelling. The shaman is a psychotherapist, who is consulted for unusual or persistent ailments.' §REF§Vinson H. Sutlive, Jr. and John Beierle: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iban§REF§ 'Ritual is essential to preserve the spiritual well-being of the whole longhouse, as well as its families separately, and in the middle sections of this study Mr.Sandin outlines the major ritual festivals, or gawai , performed by the longhouse and describes the adat gawai , or rules of ritual procedure, that govern the performance of each of these festivals. More generally yet, observance of adat and ritual well-being are closely interrelated, a point I shall return to presently. As the author stresses at the outset of this study, the longhouse is a religious congregation, whose members are bound together by ties of ritual interdependence. For this reason, adat is of special importance to the Iban, for not only does it preserve social harmony among longhouse members, but, in doing so, it makes possible ritual cooperation upon which their collective prosperity and well-being is thought to depend.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, xxip§REF§ Augurs act as experts in the interpretation of omens, with village leaders often doubling as augurs: 'For deliberate auguries the knowledge of an expert augur is usually sought. If the undertaking involves the efforts of the whole community, as, for example, house-building, responsibility for seeking omens generally falls on the tuai burong , or community augur. The latter is a man generally recognized for his experience and skill as an augur. In practice, beburong ordinarily precedes a great many lesser occasions, aside from the major ones mentioned, and responsibility for taking auguries normally rests with tuai burong or with the person who leads the undertaking. Because of the importance of augury, any man traditionally aspiring to leadership within the community, as a longhouse headman or senior family head, or within the wider region, as a war chief, migrational leader, or the head of a trading venture, was expected to possess a proficient knowledge of augury. The position of the tuai burong was traditionally one of considerable influence in Iban society and a knowledge of practical augury was an important requirement of leadership more generally.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, xxxviiip§REF§ Shamans officiate at communal rituals: 'A month or two after the opening of the ulit mourning period, the deceased's family will now sever the bonds of affection between the deceased and the members of his or her family remaining in this world in a final rite of farewell. To accomplish this a manang , or shaman, is invited by the bereaved family to recite the incantations of the besarara bunga ceremony, meaning, literally, “the severing of the flowers”.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, 38§REF§ Augurs are not full-time specialists, but farmers like their co-villagers: 'The office of tuai burong is not inherited, although there is no reason why a son should not inherit from his father the same propensity, skill, and good fortune which would enable him to qualify. The essential qualification is success, success in rice farming. Consequently, when the community seeks a new tuai burong to lead the community, it is customary to seek among those who are regularly successful ( ni orang ti sebak bulih dia nanya ). When a tuai burong has been provisionally selected by the community as a whole, it is expected that his appointement will be confirmed to him in a dream. Should the spirits fail to give their approval in this way, the provisional tuai burong does not qualify to take office and it becomes necessary to consider an alternative candidate.' §REF§Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 60§REF§ The same is true for shamans: 'The manang , as someone capable of intercourse with the spirit world may be a person of some power in the locality where he operates. Usually his influence is confined to a limited area, though the reputation of certain exceptional manang may extend more widely. But although known for his achievements when effective, the manang is not otherwise a man of consequence or status in the community. Nor did I come across an instance of a manang who was also an augur ( tuai burong ) or headman ( tuai rumah ). On the contrary, the expression ‘to be like a manang’ ( baka manang ) is derogatory since it implies that a man grows insufficient rice for his bilek. [...] In the terms of normal Iban values, the manang is not a success. Success is measured largely in plentiful harvests, and the manang , who has frequently to be absent from his farm, is rarely a successful farmer, although his own farm-work may be supplemented by the labour of others given in lieu of payment for his services. Since a good name among men is also associated with physical prowess and skill in felling, hunting, and on expeditions, the manang is seldom a man of standing. The majority of manang suffer or have suffered from a physical handicap of which blindness or poor sight is by far the commonest, and a characteristic associated with the manang . While the manang may not enjoy the prestige of a respected position in Iban society, he is nevertheless likely to be widely known and feared by many. This is partly because the Iban acknowledge their need for a manang in certain circumstances, and partly because a human being at times so intimately associated with the spirits carries some of the attributes of spirit power or has the aura of it.' §REF§Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 142p§REF§" }, { "id": 94, "polity": { "id": 154, "name": "id_iban_2", "long_name": "Iban - Brooke Raj and Colonial", "start_year": 1841, "end_year": 1987 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists 'There are three religious practitioners: the bard (LEMAMBANG), the augur (TUAI BURONG), and the shaman (MANANG). Individually or in teams, bards are invited to chant at all major rituals. They are highly respected men, capable of recalling and adapting as appropriate, chants that go on for hours. The augur is employed for critical activities, such as farming or travelling. The shaman is a psychotherapist, who is consulted for unusual or persistent ailments.' §REF§Vinson H. Sutlive, Jr. and John Beierle: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iban§REF§ 'Ritual is essential to preserve the spiritual well-being of the whole longhouse, as well as its families separately, and in the middle sections of this study Mr.Sandin outlines the major ritual festivals, or gawai , performed by the longhouse and describes the adat gawai , or rules of ritual procedure, that govern the performance of each of these festivals. More generally yet, observance of adat and ritual well-being are closely interrelated, a point I shall return to presently. As the author stresses at the outset of this study, the longhouse is a religious congregation, whose members are bound together by ties of ritual interdependence. For this reason, adat is of special importance to the Iban, for not only does it preserve social harmony among longhouse members, but, in doing so, it makes possible ritual cooperation upon which their collective prosperity and well-being is thought to depend.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, xxip§REF§ Augurs act as experts in the interpretation of omens, with village leaders often doubling as augurs: 'For deliberate auguries the knowledge of an expert augur is usually sought. If the undertaking involves the efforts of the whole community, as, for example, house-building, responsibility for seeking omens generally falls on the tuai burong , or community augur. The latter is a man generally recognized for his experience and skill as an augur. In practice, beburong ordinarily precedes a great many lesser occasions, aside from the major ones mentioned, and responsibility for taking auguries normally rests with tuai burong or with the person who leads the undertaking. Because of the importance of augury, any man traditionally aspiring to leadership within the community, as a longhouse headman or senior family head, or within the wider region, as a war chief, migrational leader, or the head of a trading venture, was expected to possess a proficient knowledge of augury. The position of the tuai burong was traditionally one of considerable influence in Iban society and a knowledge of practical augury was an important requirement of leadership more generally.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, xxxviiip§REF§ Shamans officiate at communal rituals: 'A month or two after the opening of the ulit mourning period, the deceased's family will now sever the bonds of affection between the deceased and the members of his or her family remaining in this world in a final rite of farewell. To accomplish this a manang , or shaman, is invited by the bereaved family to recite the incantations of the besarara bunga ceremony, meaning, literally, “the severing of the flowers”.' §REF§Sandin, Benedict, and Clifford Sather 1980. “Iban Adat And Augury”, 38§REF§ Augurs are not full-time specialists, but farmers like their co-villagers: 'The office of tuai burong is not inherited, although there is no reason why a son should not inherit from his father the same propensity, skill, and good fortune which would enable him to qualify. The essential qualification is success, success in rice farming. Consequently, when the community seeks a new tuai burong to lead the community, it is customary to seek among those who are regularly successful ( ni orang ti sebak bulih dia nanya ). When a tuai burong has been provisionally selected by the community as a whole, it is expected that his appointement will be confirmed to him in a dream. Should the spirits fail to give their approval in this way, the provisional tuai burong does not qualify to take office and it becomes necessary to consider an alternative candidate.' §REF§Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 60§REF§ The same is true for shamans: 'The manang , as someone capable of intercourse with the spirit world may be a person of some power in the locality where he operates. Usually his influence is confined to a limited area, though the reputation of certain exceptional manang may extend more widely. But although known for his achievements when effective, the manang is not otherwise a man of consequence or status in the community. Nor did I come across an instance of a manang who was also an augur ( tuai burong ) or headman ( tuai rumah ). On the contrary, the expression ‘to be like a manang’ ( baka manang ) is derogatory since it implies that a man grows insufficient rice for his bilek. [...] In the terms of normal Iban values, the manang is not a success. Success is measured largely in plentiful harvests, and the manang , who has frequently to be absent from his farm, is rarely a successful farmer, although his own farm-work may be supplemented by the labour of others given in lieu of payment for his services. Since a good name among men is also associated with physical prowess and skill in felling, hunting, and on expeditions, the manang is seldom a man of standing. The majority of manang suffer or have suffered from a physical handicap of which blindness or poor sight is by far the commonest, and a characteristic associated with the manang . While the manang may not enjoy the prestige of a respected position in Iban society, he is nevertheless likely to be widely known and feared by many. This is partly because the Iban acknowledge their need for a manang in certain circumstances, and partly because a human being at times so intimately associated with the spirits carries some of the attributes of spirit power or has the aura of it.' §REF§Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 142p§REF§" }, { "id": 95, "polity": { "id": 47, "name": "id_kalingga_k", "long_name": "Kalingga Kingdom", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 732 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists \"The circa 1500-1600 B.P. inscriptions at Kutai, East Borneo, and Taruma, Jakarta bay, refer to the kings' gifts to their newly arrived Brahmans. Given the lack of wider direct archaeological evidence on religious specialization, we must revert to generalized Austronesian ethnographic analogy to imagine the late prehistoric situation. In that case, the single required qualification in egalitarian communities, of enhanced mystical prowess, would have increasingly been overshadowed by the religious authority of the head of the extended family in ranked societies, and the chief in kinship-centralized societies. Specialist priesthoods no doubt emerged along with other occupational specialists in the largest societies and so paved the way for the ready incorporation of Buddhist and Brahmanic concepts in the historical Indianized states.\" §REF§(Bulbeck in Peregrine and Ember 2000, 88)§REF§ \" Purnavarman's Brahmans, or the Indian Buddhist pilgrim Gunavarman who preached Buddhism in Ho-ling (Central Java) in 1538 B.P. (Hall 1985: 104-107), presumably had to content themselves with limited headway, as the earliest Indic religious architecture (at least, as preserved) post- dates 1300 B.P. (Van Bemme11994: 5). It can be assumed that specialist religious practicioners attached to the courts, and distributed through the countryside in various capacities, would have resisted the incursion of any Indian ideas that might have challenged the priests' authority or conflicted with traditional beliefs.\" §REF§(Bulbeck in Peregrine and Ember 2000, 106)§REF§" }, { "id": 96, "polity": { "id": 49, "name": "id_kediri_k", "long_name": "Kediri Kingdom", "start_year": 1049, "end_year": 1222 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists specialists in religious affairs were elevated. §REF§(Kinney 2003, 49)§REF§" }, { "id": 97, "polity": { "id": 50, "name": "id_majapahit_k", "long_name": "Majapahit Kingdom", "start_year": 1292, "end_year": 1518 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists - royal abbots, priests and brahmins. §REF§(Hall in Tarling 1993, 225)§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 98, "polity": { "id": 51, "name": "id_mataram_k", "long_name": "Mataram Sultanate", "start_year": 1568, "end_year": 1755 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists" }, { "id": 99, "polity": { "id": 48, "name": "id_medang_k", "long_name": "Medang Kingdom", "start_year": 732, "end_year": 1019 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Sailendra court attracted Buddhist scholars from afar and was a major international centre of Buddhist pilgrimage and learning. §REF§(Miksic 1993-1994 cited in Hall 2011, 123)§REF§" }, { "id": 100, "polity": { "id": 103, "name": "il_canaan", "long_name": "Canaan", "start_year": -2000, "end_year": -1175 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"A text from Late Bronze Age Ugarit that is of particular interest on the issue of priest residences mentions that the animals referred to earlier in the text are to be sacrificed at the house of the priest (Pardee and Lewis 2002: 52). This text, and the idea that priests were responsible for the temple, in addition to performing various duties and receiving tributes at the temple, suggests that it would have been logical for the priest to reside at the temple or in a room adjacent to it.\"§REF§Kennedy (2013:58).§REF§ (Ugarit is not part of Canaan, but practices there were similar and there were certainly many Canaanite temples.)" } ] }