Alice C. Linsley
The priests of ancient Egypt who maintained shrines along the Nile regarded ritual purity as essential to their ministry. Many of these priests were devotees of Horus and are called "Horites" in the Bible. The Horites were a caste of ruler-priests who maintained high standards of moral behavior. Before their time of service in the temples they shaved their bodies and did not comsume wine. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”
Horite priests enjoyed married life but they abstained from sexual relations before serving in the temples. Ritual sex was discussed because it represented a departure from the ways of the Horim. We have no evidence that Horite priests followed the practices condemned by the prophets in Canaan. In the ancient world Horite priests were known for their purity and devotion to the High God.
Related reading: Wine Use in Antiquity; 2,400 B.C. Tomb of Purification Priest; Purity Seal From Herod's Temple
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6 comments:
Herodotus said that these priests didn't enter temples when they had had affairs with their wives until they got bath( they washed themselves). like it is stated in the Quran, So also for the wine or beer.
The mnotheist religions convey the same message But many of these messages were perverted.
Herodotus (B.C. 485-425) is the source of a great deal of information about ancient Egypt and the Nilotic peoples. He tells us about circumcision, saying: "Egyptians and the Ethiopians have practiced circumcision since time immemorial. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine themselves admit that they learnt the practice from the Egyptians, while the Syrians in the river Thermodon and the Pathenoise region and their neighbours the Macrons say they learnt it recently from the Colchidians. These are the only races which practice circumcision, and it is observable that they do it in the same way with the Egyptians."
He tells about how sedge was prepared as a food source, saying: "... they pull up from the fens the papyrus which grows every year, and the upper parts of it they cut off and turn to other uses, but that which is left below for about a cubit in length they eat or sell: and those who desire to have the papyrus at its very best bake it in an oven heated red-hot, and then eat it." (Herodotus, Histories, Vol. 2)
Herodotus' water people were Nilotes and Afro-Arabians. He uses the Greek term for the Red Sea to encompass the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. He referred to the Sudanese are Sudra and to the Dravidians of the Indian Ocean as the “eastern Ethiopians.” This is how he described them: "The Eastern Ethiopians differed in nothing from the other Ethiopians, save in their language, and the character of their hair. For the Eastern Ethiopians have straight hair, while they of Libya are more woolly-haired…” (Herodotus VI.70, Histories, trans. George Rawlinson, Dutton)
What sexual practices did Canaanite prophets condemn?
Thanks
Homosex and ritual sex at asherah poles. Asherah poles were erected to mark shrines dedicated to the Ugaritic fertility goddess Asherah. This development arrived in Canaan long after the time of the Patriarchs.
But, first let's back up and clarify who we are speaking about.
The Bible passages that speak about “the Canaanites” reflect authors who lived well after the time of the Patriarchs. In Genesis 10 the peoples who descend from Noah through his grandsons Sidon and Het (Heth) are said to be the original inhabitants of Canaan (Palestine). This is supported by evidence from many disciples, including linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and genetics.
In II Chronciles 8:7 and I Kings 9:20 the term “Canaanite” is used to distinguish the Israelites from the other clans living in Canaan. However, it is clear from Genesis 10 that the Israelites and the Canaanite rulers were related by blood. The Canaanites were Afro-Arabian peoples. The Nilotic and Proto-Saharan ancestry of their rulers is traced using the Genesis King Lists. Genesis 10 acknowledges that the rulers of Israel and the rulers of Canaan are blood related as descendants of Noah. We are not talking about different ethnic groups, or races, but of related ruling houses who were responsible for preservation of the ancient ways of the Horim (Fathers).
Genesis 10: 15-19 traces the Canaanite rulers to an otherwise unknown descendant of Noah named Canaan.
"Canaan fathered the Sidon his first-born, then Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later Canaanite clans spread out. The Canaanite frontier stretched from Sidon all the way to Gerar near Gaza and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim near Lehsa."
Homosex was practiced in Sodom. The Biblical writers regarded this as a violation of the order of creation and an affront to the Creator.
Genesis 9:22 gives the identity of Canaan. He is the son of Ham, who is the son of Noah.
Anon,
Since Canaan's name does not appear in the Genesis king lists, he is likely an apical ancestor of the two lines Heth and Sidon. Where there are two lines, we usually have two first-born sons whose descendants intermarry. Very likely the name Canaan is linguistically related to Kenan (listed in the Gen. 5 king list). Kenan was the grandson of Cain by one of his un-named daughters. The royal lines of Cain and Seth intermarried.
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