Gala are a special division of priests and priestesses who serve the goddess Queen of Heaven Inanna (Ishtar, Shaushka). Also called ukurrim or ēnû, the gala priests, not to be confused with galla demons, wield the power of the Goddess throughout the known lands.
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For centuries, Inanna holds the crown as most-worshipped deity in the Mesopotamian regions. A goddess of love, sex, fertility, wisdom, justice and war, she and her patronage are widely sought by cities of the ancient world.
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About 4000 BCE, desiring Inanna as tutelary goddess, the city of Uruk creates for her a magnificent house or palace (temple, mountain house). Building is accompanied by music and hymns of praise.
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During construction the deities Kulla, god of bricks, Mušdam, god of architecture are invoked. Isimud, the sukkal of Enki, related to foundations, will join them on building projects from the first millennium BCE on.
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The people furnish this beautiful palace with priests, servants and abundant luxuries. Inanna comes to visit, approves and moves in. Throughout her long reign in Mesopotamia her main center of worship remains at Uruk.
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The Gala (Akkadian: ēnû, kalû) are temple priests, palace personnel and administrators of the Sumerian city states. The kalû specialize in singing lamentations or laments, a common form of music. Gala priests appear in temple records back to c. 2500 BCE.
According to an Old Babylonian text, the primordial god Enki creates the Gala especially to sing "heart-soothing laments" to the goddess Inanna. Lamentation and wailing may have originally been female professions.
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Men who enter the discipline adopt the feminine forms of lament. Hymns are sung in eme-sal, a Sumerian dialect. Eme-sal or Emesal normally applies to the speech of women and female gods. Some male Gala priests take female names.
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The Gala of Inanna have privileges. In Mesopotamian society, priests and priestesses can hold power equal to the King. To keep the priesthood under control, in Mesopotamia and other cultures like the Hittites, the ruling King and Queen are High Priest and Priestess.
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In the early years of city-states, many of the regions are run and administrated by priest kings. The priests interpret the will of the god(s) to be carried out by people.
King-priests perform royal duties related to government and military protection. As well they undertake the priestly duties of maintaining the temple cult and serving as an intermediary between the gods and the people.
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Ordinary Mesopotamians depend on the priests to gain personal favor of the gods, including the city patron god or goddess. Priests control the type, number and frequency of sacrifices and offerings given to any deity. Divine palates can be picky.
The wrong offering will annoy a god to no end. For instance the Underworld Scribe Belet-Seri is given a chicken in sacrifice. However, in some areas she's offended by a chicken and must be given other offerings, deemed more worthy, instead.
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If a person falls out of favor with the gods, it's the job of the priests to determine which deities the supplicant has offended. If the divinity can't be identified, priests perform the Shurpu ritual.
Most of the priesthood can read or write, unlike most of the secular world. In the time of Hammurabi (c. 1792 - 1750 BCE) only about 10% of society is literate. Priests are active in political roles and especially policy administration.
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While ancient Mesopotamian writing occupies hundreds of thousands of clay tablets, many of which haven't even yet been excavated, knowledge of traditions, rites and rituals is given only to the elite few. The common person has to rely on the priest's interpretation.
One might go to a priest for a medical or spiritual problem. Mesopotamian doctors, including exorcists and snake bite specialists, are strongly connected to the temple milieu. Often the occupations of priest and spiritual doctor overlap.
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Ziggurats, domain of gods, are also the domain of priests. Members of the public aren't permitted in or on the temple. A high-ranking group, Gala priests occupy important positions in the rituals of every town Inanna is worshiped, which is every town.
To get in touch with the gods, Gala priests use various techniques. Trance work, music, dance and use of psychoactive materials are among them. Cannabis is known to be used in ritual and recreation both in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.
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Opium, henbane (Hyoscyamus muticus or H. niger), the ephedra plant or (in Egypt) blue lotus may be taken. Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) grows in the northern hemisphere, where it's used cross-culturally. Specialized purposes include attaining a trance or magic vision.
Prayers to the gods take the form of woodwind and percussion centered music, incantations, hymns, chants and songs. Instruments include flutes, pipes, balaĝ (lyre), voice and drums. The point is to attune the mind to a higher consciousness.
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Like the Greek Mysteries, activities within the cult and temples or mountain houses are known only by the priests. The grain harvest is stored within temples. Grain collection, maintenance of the stores and allotment fall into the priestly realm.
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