temple-ministers

Updated: May 7, 2025

Astronomy and astrology, the interpretation of omens and portents, the science of magic and exorcisms, the direction of the religious life of kings and people were in the hands of the priests; the great temples were rich, there were various classes of temple-ministers, all well cared for, and the chief priest of an important shrine was a person of great dignity and power.

Crawford Howell Toy - Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV

In the numerous cases in which some person or some object was to be consecrated to the deity a sacrifice was necessary in order to secure his good will; the ordination of temple-ministers, or the initiation of the young into the tribe, demanded some consecrative sacrifice. +1034+. Sacrifices might be individual or communal, occasional or periodical.

Crawford Howell Toy - Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV