Professional Priesthood List
A viewset for viewing and editing Professional Priesthoods.
GET /api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=7
{ "count": 464, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=8", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=6", "results": [ { "id": 301, "polity": { "id": 165, "name": "tr_neo_hittite_k", "long_name": "Neo-Hittite Kingdoms", "start_year": -1180, "end_year": -900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " In temples. E.g. temple of the Storm God in Carchemish. §REF§(Bryce 2012, 88)§REF§" }, { "id": 302, "polity": { "id": 173, "name": "tr_ottoman_emirate", "long_name": "Ottoman Emirate", "start_year": 1299, "end_year": 1402 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Ulema means \"scholars\" - they are scholars of the Quran and the holy law, but not priests in the sense of rituals etc. But one should discuss this categorisation with an expert on Islam.§REF§Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.§REF§ \"Religious employees included the imams, the hatibs and the muezzin, who led daily prayers and served in local mosques. Some state employees, such as the muftis, the kadıs and the muderris, had both a legal and religious identity. The Ulema, scholars of the Quran and the holy law, were not priests in the sense of rituals etc. These scholars were trained in medreses, which first appear during the reign of Orhan.\"§REF§(Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 303, "polity": { "id": 174, "name": "tr_ottoman_emp_1", "long_name": "Ottoman Empire I", "start_year": 1402, "end_year": 1517 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Ulema means \"scholars\" - they are scholars of the Quran and the holy law, but not priests in the sense of rituals etc. But one should discuss this categorisation with an expert on Islam.§REF§Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.§REF§ \"Religious employees included the imams , the hatibs and the muezzin, who led daily prayers and served in local mosques. Some state employees, such as the muftis, the kadıs and the muderris, had both a legal and religious identity. The Ulema, scholars of the Quran and the holy law, are not priests in the sense of rituals etc.\"§REF§(Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 304, "polity": { "id": 175, "name": "tr_ottoman_emp_2", "long_name": "Ottoman Empire II", "start_year": 1517, "end_year": 1683 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Religious employees included the imams , the hatibs and the muezzin, who led daily prayers and served in local mosques. Some state employees, such as the muftis, the kadıs and the muderris, had both a legal and religious identity. The Ulema, scholars of the Quran and the holy law, are not priests in the sense of rituals etc.\"§REF§(Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 305, "polity": { "id": 176, "name": "tr_ottoman_emp_3", "long_name": "Ottoman Empire III", "start_year": 1683, "end_year": 1839 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Religious employees included the imams , the hatibs and the muezzin, who led daily prayers and served in local mosques. Some state employees, such as the muftis, the kadıs and the muderris, had both a legal and religious identity. The Ulema, scholars of the Quran and the holy law, were not priests in the sense of rituals.\"§REF§(Cosgel, Metin. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. April 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 306, "polity": { "id": 166, "name": "tr_phrygian_k", "long_name": "Phrygian Kingdom", "start_year": -900, "end_year": -695 }, "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": 307, "polity": { "id": 71, "name": "tr_roman_dominate", "long_name": "Roman Empire - Dominate", "start_year": 285, "end_year": 394 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Early Roman cults were funded by regular public offerings, large individual donations, and payment for services. The hierarchy could also profit from land ownership. Professionalism of the priesthood likely pre-dates the Roman era as similar patterns are evident in Greek and Egyptian civilization. When the state provided gifts, it was often in the form of a lavish construction, such as a new temple. Examples: priests of Isis were \"full-time religious professionals\" §REF§(Grant and Kitzinger, 1988, 938)§REF§; Vestals were \"supported by the state and were full-time professional clergy, along with the Priestess of Ceres and Proserpina.\" §REF§(Flower ed. 2004, 143)§REF§ The Flamen Dialis (the chief priest of Jupiter) was also a professional. He had to follow so many restrictive rules that he was effectively restricted to priestly duties. He could for example not touch horses, iron, etc, and he was not allowed to stand for election. Some priests, however, were not professional. These included the pontifices." }, { "id": 308, "polity": { "id": 171, "name": "tr_rum_sultanate", "long_name": "Rum Sultanate", "start_year": 1077, "end_year": 1307 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " e.g. Imans. A full time Islamic priesthood worked in the mosques.<br>" }, { "id": 309, "polity": { "id": 32, "name": "us_cahokia_1", "long_name": "Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling", "start_year": 1050, "end_year": 1199 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Those who planned and organized the construction of the Cahokian cosmographical landscape can be interpreted as being religious specialists.\"§REF§(Pauketat 2014, 28)§REF§" }, { "id": 310, "polity": { "id": 33, "name": "us_cahokia_2", "long_name": "Cahokia - Moorehead", "start_year": 1200, "end_year": 1275 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Those who planned and organized the construction of the Cahokian cosmographical landscape can be interpreted as being religious specialists.\"§REF§(Pauketat 2014, 28)§REF§" }, { "id": 311, "polity": { "id": 101, "name": "us_haudenosaunee_1", "long_name": "Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Early", "start_year": 1566, "end_year": 1713 }, "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 Village-based specialists were not full-time professionals: 'Full time religious specialists were absent, however, there were part-time male and female specialists known as Keepers of the Faith whose primary responsibilities were to arrange and conduct the main religious ceremonies. Keepers of the Faith were appointed by matrisib elders and were accorded considerable prestige.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ 'Part time religious specialists known as Keepers of the Faith served in part to censure anti-social behavior. Unconfessed witches detected through council proceedings were punished with death, while those who confessed might be allowed to reform.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ 'Illness and disease were attributed to supernatural causes. Curing ceremonies consisted of group shamanistic practices directed towards propitiating the responsible supernatural agents. One of the curing groups was the False Face Society. False Face Societies were found in each village and, except for a female Keeper of the False Faces who protected the ritual paraphernalia, consisted only of male members who had dreamed of participation in False Face ceremonies.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ Christian attempts at proselytization were not successful on a large scale: 'The Iroquoian confederacy was organized sometime between 1400 and A.D. 1600 for the purpose of maintaining peaceful relations between the 5 constituent tribes. Subsequent to European contact relations within the confederacy were sometimes strained as each of the 5 tribes sought to expand and maintain its own interests in the developing fur trade. For the most part, however, the fur trade served to strengthen the confederacy because tribal interests often complemented one another and all gained from acting in concert. The League was skillful at playing French and English interests off against one another to its advantage and thereby was able to play a major role in the economic and political events of northeastern North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Iroquois aggressively maintained and expanded their role in the fur trade and as a result periodically found themselves at war with their neighbors, such as the Huron, Petun, and the Neutral to the West and the Susquehannock to the south. Much of the fighting was done by the Seneca, the most powerful of the Iroquoian tribes. From 1667 to the 1680s the Iroquois maintained friendly relations with the French and during this time Jesuit missions were established among each of the 5 tribes. However, Iroquois aggression and expansion eventually brought them into conflict with the French and, at the same time, into closer alliance with the English. In 1687, 1693 and 1696 French military expeditions raided and burned Iroquois villages and fields. During Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) the Iroquois allied with the English and at the War's end were acknowledged to be British subjects, though they continued to aggressively maintain and extend their middleman role between English traders at Fort Orange (Albany) and native groups farther west.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§" }, { "id": 312, "polity": { "id": 102, "name": "us_haudenosaunee_2", "long_name": "Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Late", "start_year": 1714, "end_year": 1848 }, "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 Village-based specialists were not full-time professionals: 'Full time religious specialists were absent, however, there were part-time male and female specialists known as Keepers of the Faith whose primary responsibilities were to arrange and conduct the main religious ceremonies. Keepers of the Faith were appointed by matrisib elders and were accorded considerable prestige.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ 'Part time religious specialists known as Keepers of the Faith served in part to censure anti-social behavior. Unconfessed witches detected through council proceedings were punished with death, while those who confessed might be allowed to reform.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ 'Illness and disease were attributed to supernatural causes. Curing ceremonies consisted of group shamanistic practices directed towards propitiating the responsible supernatural agents. One of the curing groups was the False Face Society. False Face Societies were found in each village and, except for a female Keeper of the False Faces who protected the ritual paraphernalia, consisted only of male members who had dreamed of participation in False Face ceremonies.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ During the early 19th century, new religious movements under supra-local leadership emerged: 'Around 1800 a Seneca sachem named Handsome Lake received a series of visions which he believed showed the way for the Iroquois to regain their lost cultural integrity and promised supernatural aid to all those who followed him. The Handsome Lake religion emphasized many traditional elements of Iroquoian culture, but also incorporated Quaker beliefs and aspects of White culture.' §REF§Reid, Gerald: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Iroquois§REF§ 'About the time Christian missions were being established among the Senecas, there was developing among them what later came to be called the “new religion of Handsome Lake.” In June 1799 the Seneca chief known by the chiefly name of Handsome Lake, who had been born at Canawaugas on the Genesee River 64 years before but was then living at the settlement of his half brother, Cornplanter on the Allegheny River, had the first of a series of visions. In this and subsequent visions, the messengers from the Creator (there were four such messengers) appeared to Handsome Lake. They told him what the Creator wished the Iroquois to do, and these messages Handsome Lake duly communicated to his people.' §REF§Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 510§REF§ 'Handsome Lake preached on Cornplanter's Grant until a quarrel with his half-brother led him and his followers to move to Coldspring on the Allegany Reservation in 1803. A worsening political position at Coldspring induced Handsome Lake to move to Tonawanda where he continued to preach. He died in 1815 on a visit to Onondaga.' §REF§Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 510§REF§ 'The Code of Handsome Lake, called káiwi[unknown] yo[unknown] h ‘the good message’, touched on many aspects of life and included the admonitions that the Iroquois should not drink, that witchcraft should stop, that abortion and adultery should cease, that children and old people should be treated kindly and taken care of, and that the Four Sacred Rituals (the Four Sacred Ceremonies)--Feather Dance, Thanksgiving Dance, Personal Chant,and Bowl Game--should continue to be given (see also“Origins of the Longhouse Religion,” this vol.).' §REF§Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 511§REF§ 'After his death, the various teachings of Handsome Lake were codified and the preaching of them became an annual event. The Tonawanda Seneca were designated as the “firekeepers” of the new religion, and each year the Tonawanda Longhouse still sends out invitations to the other Longhouses requesting them to come to Tonawanda to hear the Code of Handsome Lake preached there. It is subsequently preached in a biennial circuit that includes the Coldspring Longhouse on the Allegany Reservation one year and the Newtown Longhouse onthe Cattaraugus Reservation the other (see “IroquoisSince 1820,” this vol.).' §REF§Abler, Thomas S., and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Seneca”, 511§REF§ It remains unclear whether the early movement provided for full-time preachers other than the prophet, although this does not seem likely. Christian attempts at proselytization were not successful until mid-century: 'In the early decades of the nineteenth century, variousministers visited the Onondaga and other efforts weremade to convert them, with only limited success. In 1816 Eleazar Williams, an adopted Mohawk catechist and layreader (see “Oneida,” this vol.), visited the Onondagas. Inthat and the following year, a few Onondagas were [Page 497] baptized by Episcopalian clergymen, and subsequentlysome attended the church at Onondaga Hill (Clark 1849,1:238-240). About the same time, a local Presbyterian minister also proselytized among the Onondagas, and in1821 there were said to be 34 who professed Christianityin the Presbyterian form of worship. In 1820 a schooltaught by a Stockbridge woman opened, but the teacherdied a few years later (J. Morse 1822:323-324, 394; Clark1849, 1:240-241). About 1828 a Quaker opened anindustrial school and stayed for six or seven years(Fletcher 1888:551). Nevertheless, there remained considerableopposition to Christian missionaries, and aftera Methodist church was established at Oneida in 1829, Indian exhorters rather than ministers were appointed tovisit Onondaga as the Onondagas remained hostile toChristianity (Clark 1849, 1:241).' §REF§Blau, Harold, Jack Campisi, and Elisabeth Tooker 1978. “Onondaga”, 496§REF§ 'Most Iroqueis were non-Christian in 1820; however, by 1860 most had become Christian. The spread of Christianity was accsnpanied by a number of intorrolated eausal facters.' §REF§Foley, Denis 1994. “Ethnohistoric And Ethnographic Analysis Of The Iroquois From The Aboriginal Era To The Present Suburban Era”, 182§REF§ 'During the transformation peried from 1785-1850, when the Six Nations became an agrarian society, two criteria of economical prestige developed. First, missionaries extolled the rural homestead farmer as the ideal. However, the Protestant Ethic required a material accumulation not a redistribution of goods.' §REF§Foley, Denis 1994. “Ethnohistoric And Ethnographic Analysis Of The Iroquois From The Aboriginal Era To The Present Suburban Era”, 153§REF§ While Christian communities certainly relied on preachers, no significant body of full-time specialists should be presumed for the early phase of Iroquois Christianity." }, { "id": 313, "polity": { "id": 20, "name": "us_kamehameha_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Hawaii - Kamehameha Period", "start_year": 1778, "end_year": 1819 }, "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": 314, "polity": { "id": 22, "name": "us_woodland_1", "long_name": "Cahokia - Early Woodland", "start_year": -600, "end_year": -150 }, "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": 315, "polity": { "id": 34, "name": "us_emergent_mississippian_2", "long_name": "Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian II", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Those who planned and organized the construction of the Cahokian cosmographical landscape can be interpreted as being religious specialists.\"§REF§(Pauketat 2014, 28)§REF§" }, { "id": 316, "polity": { "id": 25, "name": "us_woodland_4", "long_name": "Cahokia - Late Woodland II", "start_year": 450, "end_year": 600 }, "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": 317, "polity": { "id": 23, "name": "us_woodland_2", "long_name": "Cahokia - Middle Woodland", "start_year": -150, "end_year": 300 }, "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": 318, "polity": { "id": 26, "name": "us_woodland_5", "long_name": "Cahokia - Late Woodland III", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 750 }, "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": 319, "polity": { "id": 24, "name": "us_woodland_3", "long_name": "Cahokia - Late Woodland I", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 450 }, "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": 320, "polity": { "id": 28, "name": "us_cahokia_3", "long_name": "Cahokia - Sand Prairie", "start_year": 1275, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Those who planned and organized the construction of the Cahokian cosmographical landscape can be interpreted as being religious specialists.\"§REF§(Pauketat 2014, 28)§REF§" }, { "id": 321, "polity": { "id": 27, "name": "us_emergent_mississippian_1", "long_name": "Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian I", "start_year": 750, "end_year": 900 }, "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": 322, "polity": { "id": 29, "name": "us_oneota", "long_name": "Oneota", "start_year": 1400, "end_year": 1650 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Like other tribal-level horticulturalists, the Oneota probably had part-time shamans rather than full-time priests\" §REF§G. Gibbon, Oneota, in P. Peregrine, M. Ember and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 6: North America (2001), pp. 389-407§REF§." }, { "id": 323, "polity": { "id": 296, "name": "uz_chagatai_khanate", "long_name": "Chagatai Khanate", "start_year": 1227, "end_year": 1402 }, "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. Coexistence of various religions including Islam, Catholicism, Buddhism and shamanism. The presence of Catholic missionaries is attested §REF§(Grousset 1970, 341)§REF§ and several Khans followed Islam. Hence the presence of full-time religious specialists can be inferred." }, { "id": 324, "polity": { "id": 469, "name": "uz_janid_dyn", "long_name": "Khanate of Bukhara", "start_year": 1599, "end_year": 1747 }, "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": 325, "polity": { "id": 464, "name": "uz_koktepe_1", "long_name": "Koktepe I", "start_year": -1400, "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": null }, { "id": 326, "polity": { "id": 466, "name": "uz_koktepe_2", "long_name": "Koktepe II", "start_year": -750, "end_year": -550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Reflecting the major social and political development of the region, this monumental architecture is evidence of a strong local state organization. The inner buildings of these courtyards are at present difficult to reconstruct. Although this question has still to be resolved, it would seem that the courtyards of Koktepe housed earlier religious and administrative institutions.\"§REF§(Rapin 2007, 35) Rapin, Claude. \"Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan Period.\" in Cribb, Joe. Herrmann, Georgina. 2007. After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam. British Academy.§REF§" }, { "id": 327, "polity": { "id": 287, "name": "uz_samanid_emp", "long_name": "Samanid Empire", "start_year": 819, "end_year": 999 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 328, "polity": { "id": 468, "name": "uz_sogdiana_city_states", "long_name": "Sogdiana - City-States Period", "start_year": 604, "end_year": 711 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Zoroastrian temples at Merv. Christian and Manichean missionaries based at Merv.§REF§(Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.§REF§" }, { "id": 329, "polity": { "id": 370, "name": "uz_timurid_emp", "long_name": "Timurid Empire", "start_year": 1370, "end_year": 1526 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The office of s.adr seems to have originated with the Kartid dynasty, and involved supervision of ranks and offices within the religious classes; officially at least, Timurid s.adrs oversaw salaries, appointments, and ranks of all religious offices...\"§REF§(Manz 2007, 213) Manz, Beatrice Forbes. 2007. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 330, "polity": { "id": 353, "name": "ye_himyar_1", "long_name": "Himyar I", "start_year": 270, "end_year": 340 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Priests and other religious professionals, like diviners, existed.<br>There were \"specialists in divination, who were likely to be self-made, that is their authority derived not from a hereditary office, but from their success in giving accurate information. This meant that they were as often women as men. Many of them were itinerant, offering their services at pilgrim fairs, perennial markets and tribal gatherings; a few were attached to such courts, as existed; others had fixed abodes to which their customers would come, often from far away.\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 157) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 331, "polity": { "id": 354, "name": "ye_himyar_2", "long_name": "Himyar II", "start_year": 378, "end_year": 525 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Priests and other religious professionals, like diviners, existed.<br>There were \"specialists in divination, who were likely to be self-made, that is their authority derived not from a hereditary office, but from their success in giving accurate information. This meant that they were as often women as men. Many of them were itinerant, offering their services at pilgrim fairs, perennial markets and tribal gatherings; a few were attached to such courts, as existed; others had fixed abodes to which their customers would come, often from far away.\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 157) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London.§REF§" }, { "id": 332, "polity": { "id": 541, "name": "ye_qasimid_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty", "start_year": 1637, "end_year": 1805 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Most Yemenis were Muslims." }, { "id": 333, "polity": { "id": 368, "name": "ye_rasulid_dyn", "long_name": "Rasulid Dynasty", "start_year": 1229, "end_year": 1453 }, "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": 334, "polity": { "id": 372, "name": "ye_tahirid_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen - Tahirid Dynasty", "start_year": 1454, "end_year": 1517 }, "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": 335, "polity": { "id": 365, "name": "ye_warlords", "long_name": "Yemen - Era of Warlords", "start_year": 1038, "end_year": 1174 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"a specialized professional class, the ulama, grew up to preserve, perfect, and administer\" Islamic jurisprudence.§REF§(Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.§REF§" }, { "id": 336, "polity": { "id": 359, "name": "ye_ziyad_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen Ziyadid Dynasty", "start_year": 822, "end_year": 1037 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Ziyad state in the Tihama was a \"stronghold of Sunnism\".§REF§(Stookey 1978, 57) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 337, "polity": { "id": 425, "name": "cn_northern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Northern Song", "start_year": 960, "end_year": 1127 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants.\"§REF§(Lorge 2005, 7)§REF§<br>Buddhism. \"The great temples of the capital and other major cities, often patronized by the rulers, housed in some cases thousands of monks. But even a small county such as Yinxian (Ningpo) in Chekiang had over 100 Buddhist temples, some of which had several hundred monks and drew annual incomes from their temple lands, from donations, and from their pawnshops, temple fairs, and other businesses that made them the richest institutions in the locality.\"§REF§(Mote 2003, 161) Mote, Frederick W. 2003. Imperial China: 900-1800. Harvard University Press.§REF§" }, { "id": 338, "polity": { "id": 261, "name": "cn_tang_dyn_1", "long_name": "Tang Dynasty I", "start_year": 617, "end_year": 763 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " e.g. Buddhist, Manichean, Nestorian. \"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants.\"§REF§(Lorge 2005, 7)§REF§ -- need to check in which period of the Tang the \"rise of religious professionals\" occurred.<br>Professional priesthood was present in the pre-Tang era as well as the Tang era. §REF§(Mostern, Ruth. Personal Correspondance. September 2016)§REF§" }, { "id": 339, "polity": { "id": 364, "name": "ir_seljuk_sultanate", "long_name": "Seljuk Sultanate", "start_year": 1037, "end_year": 1157 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Imans in the mosques." }, { "id": 340, "polity": { "id": 306, "name": "fr_merovingian_emp_2", "long_name": "Middle Merovingian", "start_year": 543, "end_year": 687 }, "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": 341, "polity": { "id": 461, "name": "fr_bourbon_k_2", "long_name": "French Kingdom - Late Bourbon", "start_year": 1660, "end_year": 1815 }, "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": 342, "polity": { "id": 184, "name": "it_roman_rep_3", "long_name": "Late Roman Republic", "start_year": -133, "end_year": -31 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Early Roman cults were funded by regular public offerings, large individual donations, and payment for services. The hierarchy could also profit from land ownership. Professionalism of the priesthood likely pre-dates the Roman era as similar patterns are evident in Greek and Egyptian civilization. When the state provided gifts, it was often in the form of a lavish construction, such as a new temple. Examples: priests of Isis were \"full-time religious professionals\" §REF§(Grant and Kitzinger, 1988, 938)§REF§; Vestals were \"supported by the state and were full-time professional clergy, along with the Priestess of Ceres and Proserpina.\" §REF§(Flower ed. 2004, 143)§REF§" }, { "id": 343, "polity": { "id": 182, "name": "it_roman_rep_1", "long_name": "Early Roman Republic", "start_year": -509, "end_year": -264 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"Rome had no full-time male priests, but the Vestals were supported by the state and were full-time professional clergy, along with the priestess of Ceres and Proserpina.\" §REF§(Culham 2014, 131) Culham, Phyllis. Women in the Roman Republic. Flower, Harriet I. 2004. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic. Cambridge University Press.§REF§<br>Early Roman cults were funded by regular public offerings, large individual donations, and payment for services. The hierarchy could also profit from land ownership. Professionalism of the priesthood likely pre-dates the Roman era as similar patterns are evident in Greek and Egyptian civilization. When the state provided gifts, it was often in the form of a lavish construction, such as a new temple. Examples: priests of Isis were \"full-time religious professionals\" §REF§(Grant and Kitzinger, 1988, 938)§REF§; Vestals were \"supported by the state and were full-time professional clergy, along with the Priestess of Ceres and Proserpina.\" §REF§(Flower ed. 2004, 143)§REF§<br>Priests \"who interpreted the rules surrounding the auspices\" were called augurs.§REF§(Brennan 2004, 37) Brennan, Corey T. Power and Process Under The Republican 'Constitution'. Flower, Harriet I ed. 2004. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic. Cambridge University Press.§REF§ The augurs worked within two defined areas: a \"sacral boundary formed by the circuit of the old city wall (pomerium)\" referred to as public auspices and \"Outside the city (militae, 'in the field'), another set obtained the 'military' auspices.\"§REF§(Brennan 2004, 37) Brennan, Corey T. Power and Process Under The Republican 'Constitution'. Flower, Harriet I ed. 2004. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic. Cambridge University Press.§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 344, "polity": { "id": 625, "name": "zi_torwa_rozvi", "long_name": "Torwa-Rozvi", "start_year": 1494, "end_year": 1850 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " A priesthood at the very least composed of spirit mediums was present in this society throughout its known duration. “…the Changamires adopted the Torwa institution, Mwari, used for rainmaking. Mwari was the guardian spirit of the Torwa kingdom and was propitiated through a well-developed priestly organization....” §REF§ (Waite 1987, 202) Gloria Waite, “Public Health in Pre-Colonial East-Central Africa,” in Social Science & Medicine Vol. 24, No. 3 (1987): 197-208. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4Z9DU9S/item-list §REF§. “A consideration of religion in the Mutapa and Torwa–Changamire states shows the clear separation of religious and political powers (Mudenge 1988). The two roles were essential for the functioning of the state, with spirit mediums (possessed by the spirit of deceased kings) providing spiritual guidance to the incumbent chiefs. These mediums were thus ‘senior’ to ruling chiefs (Lan 1985). They played an important role in prayers for healing, rain, success in battle, and the overall success of the state. Their role extended to virtually all the areas of Shona divinity and spirituality. Often spirit mediums were drawn from the same houses of power (dzimba dzoushe) as the chiefs.” §REF§ (Chirikure & Moffett 2018, 26) Abigail Moffett & Shadreck Chirikure, “Exotica in Context: Reconfiguring Prestige, Power and Wealth in the Southern African Iron Age,” in Journal of World Prehistory Vol. 29 No. 3 (2016). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z29GV5VQ/item-list §REF§. “Traditions recall the strong link between the Rozvi and the Mwari religion because Rozvi chiefs exploited and elaborated the cults for political purposes. Kuper… highlighted that rainmaking enhanced the political influence of chiefs; as such the ritual position of Rozvi Mambos (Chiefs) therefore became more advanced than any other. Bourdillion… also observed that chiefs political power often arises from the religious power of their ancestors because even those members not related to the chief also speak of spirit guardians of the chiefdom as their ancestors who had the duty of providing rain and caring for the crops.” §REF§ (Machiridza 2012, 94) Lesley Machiridza, Material Culture and Dialectics of Identity and Power: Towards a Historical Archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe, MA Archaeology Dissertation, University of Pretoria 2012. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/RT3ZFDBC/item-list §REF§. " }, { "id": 345, "polity": { "id": 626, "name": "zi_mutapa", "long_name": "Mutapa", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1880 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Appears to be present in this society, by the work of Chirikure, and appear to be sufficiently distinct from the state’s rulers. “Furthermore, spirit mediums associated with deceased kings or chiefs (mhondoro) played an important role in royal inauguration, national prayer, dethroning a cruel leader and, among others, communicating with Mwari [God] via ancestors (Lan 1987). The power of chiefs or kings was counterpoised by that of spirit mediums… // …Lan’s study of the spirit mediums in the Mutapa state demonstrated that they resided in their own homes and not at the centres of power. Furthermore, they played an intercessory role between the living and God via royal ancestors. Mediums led prayers for rain, they installed chiefs and were instrumental in dethroning incompetent chiefs. This separation of powers between religious leaders and chiefs was an important balancing act.” §REF§ (Chirikure et al. 2017, 48-62) Shadreck Chirikure et al. “No Big Brother Here: Heterarchy, Shona Political Succession and the Relationship between Great Zimbabwe and Khami, Southern Africa,” in Cambridge Archaeological Journal Vol. 28 No. 1 (2017): 45-66. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3A53J92/item-details §REF§ " }, { "id": 346, "polity": { "id": 632, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_1", "long_name": "Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1648, "end_year": 1795 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "" }, { "id": 347, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The most multilayered and central signs accreted in the Oyo-Yoruba religions of spirit possession are the signs of wifeliness and of horsemanship, which the Oyo royal empire in the 16th to the early 19th century appears to have made into important signs and means of political delegation. The possession priesthood of Sango is not only the preeminent priesthood of the Oyo kingdom but also the priesthood richest in the symbolism of wifeliness and horsemanship. By contrast, the symbolism of guns, iron and men’s hunting and warfare predominates in the non-possession priesthood of Ogun, at the expense of wifely and equestrian symbolist. Despite the politically central contrast between them, or perhaps because of it, Sango and Ogun are the two most popular orisa in all of circum-Atlantic Yoruba religion.” §REF§ Matory, J. L. (2005). Sex and the Empire That Is No More: Gender and the Politics of Metaphor in Oyo Yoruba Religion. Berghahn Books: xviii. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C6VWWF8Q/collection§REF§ There were priestly roles which also served administrative purposes. “Outsiders without any natal claim to the throne, the ayaba – wives of the reigning king and his predecessors – were entrusted somewhat more safely with administrative functions and prerogatives. They served as the heads of empire-wide priesthoods, as royal advisors, as intermediaries between the king and subject chiefs, and as provincial representatives of the palace. Some of the ayaba were “wives” of the apotheosized king Sango as well (Alaafin Adeyẹmi III, personal communication, 17 October 1988; see also Morton-Williams 1964a:255) Other wifelike palace delegates, known as ilari, served as diplomatic observers, toll collectors, messengers, cavaliers, royal guards, and priests (Biobaku 1952:40).” §REF§Matory, J. L. (2005). Sex and the Empire That Is No More: Gender and the Politics of Metaphor in Oyo Yoruba Religion. Berghahn Books: 9. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C6VWWF8Q/collection§REF§ “[T]he organization of the Sango cult in the provincial towns was controlled from the capital, and Sango priests in the provinces had to travel to Oyo to receive instruction and initiation from the Mogba, the Sango priests of the royal shrine at Koso.” §REF§Law, R. (1977). The Oyo Empire c. 1600 – c. 1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Oxford University Press: 103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB32ZPCF/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 348, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Probably the more enduring contacts and interactions between the two predated the rise of Bini to imperial greatness, going back to those quieter days when Nri priests moved from one corner of the globe to the other (eluwa dum) spreading the gospel that they came down from the sky and that Chukwu had empowered them to crown kings, make yam medicine, remove nso, control the agricultural calendar and make peace in return for giving yam and other food crops to all peoples.” §REF§Afigbo, A. E. (1996). The Anthropology and Historiography of Central-South Nigeria before and since Igbo-Ukwu. History in Africa, 23, 1–15: 11.§REF§" }, { "id": 349, "polity": { "id": 672, "name": "ni_benin_emp", "long_name": "Benin Empire", "start_year": 1140, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Can’t find details in the scholarship of what the priestly roles mentioned actually encompassed, but they do seem to be distinct positions with their own titles. “These attitudes were deliberately fostered by the Oba’s retainers and priests”. §REF§Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 8. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection§REF§ “In its relation to the capital, the village had the quality of a peasant culture. Except for the heirs to enigie and hereditary priests of community cults, the ultimate pinnacles of ambition lay outside the village.” §REF§Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 20. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection§REF§Fetish priests were present from at least the reign of Ewuare. “The Eghaevbo n'Ore, which seems to have replaced the Uzama Nihinron as the most effective check on the Oba's political power, was created by Ewuare, before the coming of the Europeans. Since the senior members of the Eghaevbo n'Ore transacted \"most of the day-to-day administration of the kingdom\", these men were probably the \"fetish priests\" or the \"ju-ju men\" which so impressed European visitors from the time of Pereira to that of Gallwey. In other words, both human sacrifices and \"fetish priests\" existed in Benin prior to the beginnings of the European slave trade, and prior to the great military victories of Ozolua and Esigie”. §REF§Graham, J. D. (1965). The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History: The General Approach. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 5(18), 317–334: 327. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4AS9CVZH/collection§REF§ “Therefore, from about 1428 to 1455, Benin began to develop and exploit productive capacity and direct economic development toward control of trade, trade goods, and trade routes. One method utilised successfully to expand Beni domination of the east-west trading system was the founding of the Olokun cult. Olokun, as the god of wealth, provided a religious sanction for the pursuit of commercial profit and established a mechanism through which trade and commerce could be organised, licensed, administered, and taxed. The Olokun priests, usually relatives of the Oba, were charged with the responsibility for maintaining an orderly flow of trade, and establishing viable market controls. The domination by the palace and the expansion of commercial enterprise through palace-controlled religious institutions established trade as an important source for elite wealth.” §REF§Sargent, R. A. (1986). From A Redistribution to an Imperial Social Formation: Benin c.1293-1536. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, 20(3), 402–427: 411. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/AUEZSTBR/collection§REF§ Nineteenth century: “The use of magical protection, albeit pre-scientific in Benin world view, was considered part of the preparations for war. Its psychological potency for the warriors explains why they had to seek the services of ‘traditional doctors’ before any campaign. The priest of Okhuahie was responsible for the state army. The Ewaise, a guild of ‘traditional doctors’ who controlled the shrine of Osun-okuo (war medicine) also played a prominent role.” §REF§Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 201. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§ “The Iwebo palace association is in charge of the regalia and belongings of the king. Many craft guilds are affiliated with this society and throughout Benin's history they have worked primarily for the king. They have been allowed to execute commissions for other clients only with his approval. Benin's bronze casters, ivory carvers, weavers, costume makers, and leather workers are some of the guilds controlled by the Iwebo. Leopard hunters (Fig. 13), royal drummers, hornblowers, executioners, astrologers, and high priests accorded with important ritual functions also belong to this palace association. The second palace soci ety of the Iweguae is responsible for personal duties for the king. It comprises all the personal attendants to the Oba, such as his sword bearers and guards, but also diviners, healers, priests caring for his ancestor shrines, and other ritual specialists.” §REF§Plankensteiner, B. (2007). Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. African Arts, 40(4), 74–87: 83. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7AR425BC/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 350, "polity": { "id": 656, "name": "ni_yoruba_classic", "long_name": "Classical Ife", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Suggested, in the following quote, both by the fact that one needed much training to become a babaláwo, and by the fact that a babaláwo \"transacted exclusively in the life of the mind\". \"The master ifá diviner, the babaláwo, was the fountain of knowledge in the Yorùbá community of practice. The babaláwo was (and still is) a learned man who sought to solve material, social, spiritual, and ailing problems through processes of diagnosis and prescription that came out of learning and knowledge. An authority on metaphysics, everyday riddles, and religion, he was required to have an in-depth understanding of the history, sociology, and philosophy associated with each of the deities and the other forces that inhabited the Yorùbá world. Through his divination, he prescribed the sacrifices that were appropriate for the òrìsà, the ajogun (malevolent forces), and the ancestors in order to solve his clients’ problems. His position required many years of training and a lifelong search for knowledge. He transacted exclusively in the life of the mind, not only to seek causal relationships but also to understand the deep meanings of those relationships. The babaláwo was the focal point of civic and religious life and was accessible to everyone in private or public spaces for consultation “on every undertaking” or whenever there was any doubt about the future.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 132)§REF§" } ] }