Religious priests in Sumerian society
Priests are clergy
The priests had an influence on Sumerian society by exploiting people at that time - whoever wanted to learn to read and write had to go to the temples and offer money and offerings because education was confined to the temples and schools were linked to the priests - but the Sumerians felt exploited by the priests, so they worked to break the connection. Educational within the temples of the priests. This suggests that a conflict existed within the temples of the priests between the priestly ideas that worked for their personal interests and some civil figures in Syrian society who exposed the priestly falsehood by exploiting simple women. The priests collected wealth from this money and offerings until they became the wealthiest and most powerful classes in the Sumerian cities - until these priests turned into rulers who disposed of all affairs. They were priests and rulers at the same time, because the government that the priests established at that time saw that religion had benefits. Political and through it you can control the minds of society. Therefore, the number of gods doubled until every city and state had a guiding god. And when the priests went to extremes in extorting people’s money, the king of the Sumerian dynasty - Lagash, King - Orkagena - 2365-2357 BC, rose, who is considered the first reformer in history. He began to denounce the greed of the priests and accused them of bribery in distributing justice and of blackmailing people for the fruits of their toil. This Sumerian king succeeded in purging the courts of these corrupt officials - priests - bribes, enacting laws to regulate taxes and fees that lead to the temples, protecting the weak from extortion, and establishing the first laws in history that prevent the extortion of people’s property and money by the priests - after the death of the reformer - Orcagina - The priests regained their authority and imposed the highest taxes and prices. These priests represented the clergy at that time, and in order to return to their jobs, they worked to return to the reforms - Orcagina - which they took as a way to teach the people what they wanted and to rule and control them. The schools remained attached to the temples, where he studied and taught. Priests, boys and girls, calligraphy and arithmetic, and they prepare each other for the higher profession, which is the profession of scribes. Today, school tablets and clay numbers remain for us from their days, scattered in museums, bearing multiplication and division tables, square and cube roots, and applied geometry problems.
The priests, as the cuneiform sources indicated, represented the clergy of that time. They controlled Sumerian society by entrenching myths in the minds and thus made this society an obedient tool in the hands of the priests. This connection between the priests and society extended until today in Iraq and neighboring countries. Only Europe was able to break this linkage in the modern era. With huge efforts that resulted in the loss of many thinkers - the Sumerian temples, which were controlled by priests and clerics, contained many women servants in those temples, and the girl did not see anything bad in serving inside those temples, and the father celebrated his daughter’s entry into this sacred service and offered Offerings in this celebration Some of these ancient customs extended to some Arab societies
Some communities in the villages and countryside still marry their daughters to the sheikhs and clerics, and they feel a lot of pride when they marry these sheikhs and clerics because in the future they will become a khawal, this honorable man or cleric who remains surrounded by the same sanctity as the ancient priests.
................................................
Sources
The book “The End of the World and Cultural Superiority among the Sumerian Priests” - pp. 149 - 150 - 151 - Dr. Ahmed Gouda
The Story of Civilization Book - Part 2 - Page 29 - Will Durant