Priest

===Ancient Egypt===
In [[ancient Egyptian religion]], the right and obligation to interact with the [[ancient Egyptian deities|gods]] belonged to the [[pharaoh]]. He delegated this duty to priests, who were effectively bureaucrats authorized to act on his behalf. Priests staffed [[Egyptian temple|temples]] throughout Egypt, giving offerings to the [[cult image]]s in which the gods were believed to take up residence and performing other rituals for their benefit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sauneron |first=Serge |author-link=Serge Sauneron |title=The Priests of Ancient Egypt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J9yureoueAEC |year=2000 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=0-8014-8654-8 |pages=32–36, 89–92}}</ref> Little is known about what training may have been required of priests, and the selection of personnel for positions was affected by a tangled set of traditions, although the pharaoh had the final say. In the [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], when temples owned great estates, the high priests of the most important cult—that of [[Amun]] at [[Karnak]]—were important political figures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sauneron |first=Serge |author-link=Serge Sauneron |title=The Priests of Ancient Egypt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J9yureoueAEC |year=2000 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=0-8014-8654-8 |pages=42–47, 52–53}}</ref>

High-ranking priestly roles were usually held by men. Women were generally relegated to lower positions in the temple hierarchy, although some held specialized and influential positions, especially that of the [[God's Wife of Amun]], whose religious importance overshadowed the [[High Priest of Amun|High Priests of Amun]] in the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]].<ref>Doxey, Denise M., "Priesthood", in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' (2001), vol. III, pp. 69–70</ref>