<P> In the sacrifices offered at the biblical Tabernacle and later on at the temple in Jerusalem, the priests were instructed to remove the kidneys and the adrenal gland covering the kidneys of the sheep, goat and cattle offerings, and to burn them on the altar, as the holy part of the "offering for God" never to be eaten . </P> <P> In ancient India, according to the Ayurvedic medical systems, the kidneys were considered the beginning of the excursion channels system, the' head' of the Mutra Srotas, receiving from all other systems, and therefore important in determining a person's health balance and temperament by the balance and mixture of the three' Dosha's--the three health elements: Vatha (or Vata)--air, Pitta--bile, and Kapha--mucus . The temperament and health of a person can then be seen in the resulting color of the urine . </P> <P> Modern Ayurveda practitioners, a practice which is characterized as pseudoscience, have attempted to revive these methods in medical procedures as part of Ayurveda Urine therapy . These procedures have been called "nonsensical" by skeptics . </P> <P> The Latin term renes is related to the English word "reins", a synonym for the kidneys in Shakespearean English (e.g. Merry Wives of Windsor 3.5), which was also the time when the King James Version of the Bible was translated . Kidneys were once popularly regarded as the seat of the conscience and reflection, and a number of verses in the Bible (e.g. Ps. 7: 9, Rev. 2: 23) state that God searches out and inspects the kidneys, or "reins", of humans, together with the heart . </P>

The functional units of the kidney are called the renal pyramids