THE PRIESTESS ON DUTY
The morals of a ritual.
The priestess preparing on the altar.
The inscription was found in a sanctuary in Ancient Pylos, Messinia, Greece. It dates back to 1400 B.C..
We have neither a depiction of the original, nor any elements about when and by whom it was found, until now.
In the text we can find details on how and what the priestess should do, in order to prepare for the ritual.
The text is a document of the rite of the worship, which includes 2 phases, the preparation and the implementation of the ritual .
The phonetic values, as they were identified and phonetically transcribed by Ventris and Chadwick, are the following:
I JE RE JA E KE GE EU KE TO GE E TO NI JO E KE E TE O KO TO NO O KO DE KO TA NA OKE KE ME NA O O NA TA E KE E
We studied the phonetic values in the actual text. We understood it, we read and rendered it into Modern Greek, but we also approached it philosophically.
Figuration of the phonetic values of the text.
In our own view, the phonetic values are formed as follows:
IJEREJA-EKEGE-EU KETOGE-ETO-NIJO-EKEE-TEO-KOTONO-OKODE-KOTANAO-KEKEME-NAO-ONATA-EKEE
The language of the text is Greek, Archaic, typical of any Minoan text. The grammatical structure of the text is mixed.
One can identify Pontic, Macedonian and Doric words, as well as Classical Greek Language.
The utterance of the words and of the verbal types, follows the grammatical rules of the Pontic and Doric Dialects, as well as those of the Classical Greek Language.
Rendition of the text:
Η ιέρεια έκαιγεν έως κοιτόγην. Έτον νηγάτεος, έκαιεν σον θεόν τον κότον.
Οκόντι κοτάνα κυκοίμ ναού όνατα έκαιεν.
The Τext in Modern Greek:
The priestess was burning the altar until bedtime. The altar was newly built, and she was making sacrifices to God.
The Maiden (priestess), as a servant, was always boiling the water in the copper pot on the altar of the church.
(Η Ιέρεια έκαιγε τον βωμό έως την ώρα του ύπνου. Ήταν νεοφτιαγμένος, έκαιγε ( θυσίαζε) στο θεό τοναγαθό. Πάντοτε η Παρθένος ( ιέρεια) την χάλκινη υδρία του ναού ως υπηρέτριά αυτού έβραζε επί τηςεστίας (του βωμού) για ζέον ύδωρ).
A Philosophical Approach:
The priestess is the main person for the preparations of the rituals on the altar of the church.
Her basic duty is to always switch on the altar and to prepare the cinder, before the sacrifices.
She keeps the altar switched on from morning until bedtime.
She makes sacrifices to God, either pouring sacred liquids (choes/χοές), or through libations.
She burns aromatic plants and incense in the church until bedtime.
The church where she officiates has been recently constructed.
For God’s sake, she was always boiling water in copper pots for the sacrifices.
Mellifluous wine (“μελίρρυτος οίνος”) was a mix of boiled water, honey and wine for the divine communion of the female pilgrims, after pouring sacred liquids (choes/χοές).
The same rite is followed nowadays, the priest mixes boiled water with wine in the sanctuary.
The priestess is always a virgin.
She is a woman who has not yet had a personal relationship with a man.
But if she does so, the right to officiate is being removed.
She gets married and she leaves the church.
Virginity and purity are the main elements for a priestess.
When the Religious leaders choose priestesses, they thoroughly examine the young candidates’ bodies. Even a small wound on the body was enough to make a Religious leader reject a candidate for this position, because she bled and she was contaminated.
Thus, the method of choice was very strict.
The chosen girl came to Church after purification. She started participating in rituals, and from time to time she became a communicant of mystification procedures.
She was devoted to the church and the God she decided to serve. She was a kind of nun.
From morning until night, the priestess was present to sacrifices, pouring of sacred liquids (choes/χοές), libations, praise, (αινιτινά, δοξαστικά), and anything necessary for the rite.