Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!
Priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 and the Priesthood 𓃹𓈖𓏌𓏏𓏭𓇼𓀀 were important roles in Egyptian society because religion was so central to life 𓋹𓈖𓐍 and death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 in ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. However, priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 did not preach to the public – their main role was to care for the gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 in the temples. The priesthood 𓃹𓈖𓏌𓏏𓏭𓇼𓀀 was established during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-2613 B.C.E.) and became more developed during the Old Kingdom (c. 2613-2181 B.C.E.). The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 ceased to exist in the New Kingdom forward.
Throughout inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥, we are used to seeing the word for priest/high priest as “𓊹𓍛” which literally translates to “God’s Servant.” However, in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, there were special priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 who were referred to as “Sem” 𓋴𓅓 priests.
The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 were the priests who were responsible for the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony 𓄋𓏏𓂋𓏺. The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 performed this while dressed in leopard 𓍋𓃀𓇌𓃮 skin robes, and this ceremony is what allowed the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 to be able to speak, see, hear, eat and drink in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 were also responsible for mummification 𓋴𓂧𓐍𓅱𓐎; so they embalmed the corpse and recited all of the spells 𓎛𓂓𓏛𓏦 while wrapping the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾.
The word we see here in the inscription, 𓋴𓅓𓎡, is a title that the Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 had, and can even be a variant way to write just Sem Priest 𓋴𓅓.
Sem Priest 𓋴𓅓 can also be written with a determinative, and can be spelled as: 𓋴𓅓𓀀, 𓋴𓅓𓀙, 𓋴𓅓𓀼.