Hebrew texts place the consecration of the priesthood in the arid Sinai wilderness during the late second millennium b.c. Heavy smoke from burning tallow rose over the sand. Moses stood before a nomadic tent structure and poured olive oil over the copper handles of a bronze basin to consecrate a washing station. The desert heat beat down on the assembly of Israel as Aaron and his sons stepped forward to strip off their garments and wash in cold water. Smells of raw sheep blood, scorched earth, and sweat filled the dry air during the slaughter of a ram.
Following the slaughter, Moses installed the priests according to the strict legal code of the ancient Israelites. He dressed Aaron in a heavy woven linen tunic, tied a sash around his waist, and set a golden plate upon his turban. Three beasts met the knife at the north side of the altar. Moses dipped his finger into a bronze bowl and smeared warm blood on the right earlobe, right thumb, and right big toe of Aaron and his sons. This ritual bound the hearing, labor, and walking of the priests to public service under the God of Israel. The remaining hide, dung, and entrails of a bull, weighing roughly 1,200 pounds, were hauled outside the camp and burned to prevent disease and decay in the desert sun.
Burning this sheer volume of organic material in the desert sun demonstrated a visible and heavy cost before a skeptical crowd. A prime sacrificial ram cost roughly three weeks of a common laborer's wage. Burning its fat on a bronze altar proved that this wealth now belonged to the priesthood and their God. The blood on the right thumb showed that a priest no longer worked for personal gain, and the blood on the toe directed where he must walk. Confinement at the doorway of the tabernacle for seven days stripped these men of private liberty and subjected them to the continuous scrutiny of the entire nation.
Authority is never granted by title alone but is forged under public scrutiny, strict obedience, and a willingness to handle the mess of blood and ash.
Handling the mess of blood and ash established a hereditary priesthood that managed national taxation, butchery, and public health in Judea for over fourteen centuries. Their bronze basins and stone altars eventually vanished under Roman fire in the year 70 a.d., leaving behind only a written legal code.