Aaron. Aaron was a prophet, high priest, and the brother of Moses in the Abrahamic religions. Knowledge of Aaron, along with his brother Moses, comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Bible and Quran. The Hebrew Bible relates that, unlike Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal court, Aaron and his elder sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt. When Moses first confronted the Egyptian king about the Israelites, Aaron served as his brother's spokesman to the Pharaoh. Part of the Law that Moses received from God at Sinai granted Aaron the priesthood for himself and his male descendants, and he became the first High Priest of the Israelites. Aaron died before the Israelites crossed the North Jordan river and he was buried on Mount Hor. Aaron is also mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible. According to the Book of Exodus, Aaron first functioned as Moses' assistant. Because Moses complained that he could not speak well, God appointed Aaron as Moses' prophet. At the command of Moses, he let his rod turn into a snake. Then he stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first three plagues. After that, Moses tended to act and speak for himself. During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron was not always prominent or active. At the battle with Amalek, he was chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the rod of God. When the revelation was given to Moses at biblical Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit. While Joshua went with Moses to the top, however, Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people. From here on in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Joshua appears in the role of Moses' assistant while Aaron functions instead as the first high priest. The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers maintain that Aaron received from God a monopoly over the priesthood for himself and his male descendants. The family of Aaron had the exclusive right and responsibility to make offerings on the altar to Yahweh. The rest of his tribe, the Levites, were given subordinate responsibilities within the sanctuary. Moses anointed and consecrated Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and arrayed them in the robes of office. He also related to them God's detailed instructions for performing their duties while the rest of the Israelites listened. Aaron and his successors as high priest were given control over the Urim and Thummim by which the will of God could be determined. God commissioned the Aaronide priests to distinguish the holy from the common and the clean from the unclean, and to teach the divine laws to the Israelites. The priests were also commissioned to bless the people. When Aaron completed the altar offerings for the first time and, with Moses, blessed the people: and the glory of the L appeared unto all the people: And there came a fire out from before the L, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. In this way, the institution of the Aaronide priesthood was established. In later books of the Hebrew Bible, Aaron and his kin are not mentioned very often except in literature dating to the Babylonian captivity and later. The books of Judges, Samuel and Kings mention priests and Levites, but do not mention the Aaronides in particular. The Book of Ezekiel, which devotes much attention to priestly matters, calls the priestly upper class the Zadokites after one of King David's priests. It does reflect a two-tier priesthood with the Levites in subordinate position. A two-tier hierarchy of Aaronides and Levites appears in Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles. As a result, many historians think that Aaronide families did not control the priesthood in pre-exilic Israel. What is clear is that high priests claiming Aaronide descent dominated the Second Temple period. Most scholars think the Torah reached its final form early in this period, which may account for Aaron's prominence in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Aaron plays a leading role in several stories of conflicts during Israel's wilderness wanderings. During the prolonged absence of Moses on Mount Sinai, the people provoked Aaron to make a golden calf. This incident nearly caused God to destroy the Israelites. Moses successfully intervened, but then led the loyal Levites in executing many of the culprits; a plague afflicted those who were left. Aaron, however, escaped punishment for his role in the affair, because of the intercession of Moses according to Deuteronomy 9:20.