The course of daily service by the priests was of seven parts. 1st. _Fire-making_--rubbing the fire sticks, taking the censer, putting incense in it, and lighting it. 2nd. _Opening the Shrine_--going up to the shrine, loosening the fastening, and breaking the seal, opening the door, seeing the god. 3rd. _Praise_--various prostrations, and then singing a hymn to the god. 4th. _Supplying food and incense_--offering oil and honey and incense, retiring from the shrine for a prayer, approaching and looking on the god, various prostrations, again incense, and then prayers and hymns, a figure of Maat (goddess of truth) was then presented to the god, and, lastly, more incense for all the companions of the god. { 72} 5th. _Purifying_--cleansing the figure and its shrine, and pouring out pitchers of water, and fumigating with incense. 6th. _Clothing_--dressing the god with white, green, bright red, and dark red sashes, and supplying two kinds of ointment and black and green eye paint, and scattering clean sand before him. The priest then walked four times round the shrine. 7th. _Purifying_--with incense, natron of the south and north, and two other kinds of incense. Probably such a ritual was a gradual growth of successive ages. Where a living animal was maintained as sacred, the feeding of it was a considerable service. A court was built at Memphis for the sacred Apis bull to take his exercise, and special bundles of fodder were provided. A large tank was made for the sacred crocodile in the Fayum, and the priests used to follow the reptile around the tank with the offerings brought by devotees. Similarly at Epidauros is a deep circular trench cut in the rock, with a central niche; in this a sacred serpent could be visited and fed without its being able to escape.
The priesthood was elaborated in many different kinds, and varied grades in each. There were the 'servants of the god,' who had charge of the worship and ritual; the 'pure men,' who were { 73} occupied with the acts of offerings and service; the 'divine fathers,' who had charge of the property of a god and the providing for the services; the 'reciters'; the 'female singers'; and others; and there were four grades of most of the classes.