PRIEST (AS. pffost, OF. prestre, Fr. pretre, priest, from Lat. presbyter, elder, presbyter). The title, in its most general signification, of a minister of public worship, but specially applied to the minister of sacrifice or other mediatorial offices. In the early history of mankind there is no priest. Such a state of affairs may he seen to-day in Central Australia. where, although there are many religious observances, there are no priests of any kind. A secondary stage is that of the Shamanistic Altaic tribes, whose religion is a rpirit-w•o•ship and whose priests are called Shamans. The Shaman may believe in the existence of a supreme god, hut he and his co-religionists pay attention only to the evil spirits whom alone they reckon with. The Shaman priest is a conjurer, an exorciser. and goes clad with amulets and charms of various sorts. He is called in to aid the afflicted as well as to rout devils, and so approaches the position of a medicine-man. The latter, however, as represented by the redskins, is a priest ill a community that recognizes higher divinities than evil spirits and pays worship to gods with out the help of the medicine-man. One step higher, and a patriarchal form of society in variably evolves the family priest, the head of the family, who represents them before the gods by performing sacrifice. From this to the clan chief priest and royal priest is but a series of steps in the same direction. Thus the Akkadian matriarchal state of society produced priests who were just such Shamans as to-day represent priesthood among the Finns and Samoyeds. while
the patriarchal Aryans had as far back as we can trace them the father-priest.
The chief formal priesthoods of antiquity, c•er tainl• those most elaborately developed. were those of the Hebrews, the Egyptians. and the Hindus. Compared with these, the priests of Greece and Rome formed a less compact social organization. (See GREEK RELIGION ; ROMAN RELIGION.) The early Babylonian priests were little more than exorcisers. They attained their greatest dignity when their office was amal gamated with that of the king. They presided over sacrifice and offered libations, but with the common people they were chiefly renowned as devil-tamers and sorcerers. In course of time a priestly caste was developed, but it lacked the homogeneity and power of the Hindu priestly caste. Another powerful priesthood was that of the sun-god of the Aztecs. but this was a hierarchic power assumed from the beginning by the king, who was the high priest of the nation, all his family being regarded as sacred to the sun, the women of the king-priest being vestal virgins sacred to the god and king. The development of the priest and different ideas associated with his office are illustrated by the following account of the priesthood among the Hebrews, ancient Egyptians. and Hindus.