ctivity. The national development turned,
however, from sacerdotalism to legalism--the later religious leaders
were not priests but doctors of law (Scribes and Pharisees).

+1070+. In India the priests formed the highest caste, were the authors
of the sacred books (which they alone had the right to expound),
conducted the most elaborate sacrificial ceremonies that man has
invented, and by ascetic observances, as was believed, sometimes became
more powerful than the gods.[1967] Ritual propriety was a dominant idea
in India, and the influence of the priesthood on the religious life of
the people was correspondingly great. Priests did not attempt to
interfere in the civil government, but their religious instruction may
sometimes have affected the policy of civil rulers. On the other hand,
the Hindu priesthood, by its poetical productions and its metaphysical
constructions, has become a permanent influence in the world.

+1071+. The early (pre-Zoroastrian) history of the Mazdean priesthood is
obscure. In the Avestan system, however, a great role is assigned the
priests, as is evident from the vast number of regulations concerning
ceremonial purity, of which they had charge.[1968] It does not appear
that the early sacerdotal organization was elaborate or strict. There
were various classes of ministrants at every shrine, but they differed
apparently rather in the nature of their functions than in rank.

+1072+. The Greek priestly class had the democratic tone of the Greek
people.[1969] There was little general organization: every priest was
attached to a particular deity except the Athenian King Archon, who had
charge of certain public religious ceremonies. The mutual independence
of the Greek States made the creation of a Hellenic sacerdotal head
impossible. In Sparta the priestly prerogatives of the king were long
maintained; usually, however, there was a separation of civil and
religious functions. Generally in Greece priests were chosen by lot, or
were elected by the priestly bodies or by the people, or were appointed
by kings or generals. They were usually taken from good families, were
held in honor, and were housed and fed at the public expense (their food
came largely from sacrificial offerings). It was required that they
should be citizens of the place where they officiated, and should be
pure in body and of good conduct. They seem to have been simply citizens
set apart to conduct religious ceremonies, and their inf