| Maat |
| Goddess of truth and justice |
Maat was both the goddess and the personification of truth and justice. Her ostrich feather represents truth.
|
| Major cult center |
All ancient Egyptian cities |
| Symbol |
the ostrich feather |
| Consort |
Thoth (in some accounts) |
| Parents |
Ra |
Maat or
ma'at (thought to have been pronounced *
[muʔ.ʕat]),
[1] also spelled
māt or
mayet, was the
ancient Egyptian concept of
truth, balance, order,
law,
morality, and
justice. Maat was also personified as a
goddess regulating the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and the deities, who set the order of the universe from
chaos at the moment of creation. Her (ideological) counterpart was
Isfet.
The earliest surviving records indicating Maat is the norm for nature
and society, in this world and the next, were recorded during the
Old Kingdom, the earliest substantial surviving examples being found in the
Pyramid Texts of
Unas (ca. 2375 BCE and 2345 BCE).
[2]
Later, as a goddess in other traditions of the
Egyptian pantheon, where most goddesses were paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was
Thoth and their attributes are the same. After the rise of
Ra they were depicted together in the
Solar Barque.
After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos, her primary role in
Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld,
Duat.
[3]
Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls
(considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the
paradise of afterlife successfully.
Pharaohs are often depicted with the emblems of Maat to emphasise their role in upholding the laws of the Creator.
[4]
Maat as a principle
Maat as a principle was formed to meet the complex needs of the
emergent Egyptian state that embraced diverse peoples with conflicting
interests.
[5] The development of such rules sought to avert
chaos
and it became the basis of Egyptian law. From an early period the King
would describe himself as the "Lord of Maat" who decreed with his mouth
the Maat he conceived in his heart.
The significance of Maat developed to the point that it embraced all
aspects of existence, including the basic equilibrium of the universe,
the relationship between constituent parts, the cycle of the seasons,
heavenly movements, religious observations and fair dealings, honesty
and truthfulness in social interactions.
[6]
The ancient Egyptians had a deep conviction of an underlying holiness
and unity within the universe. Cosmic harmony was achieved by correct
public and ritual life. Any disturbance in cosmic harmony could have
consequences for the individual as well as the state. An impious King
could bring about famine or blasphemy blindness to an individual.
[7] In opposition to the right order expressed in the concept of Maat is the concept of
Isfet: chaos, lies and violence.
[8]
In addition to the importance of the Maat, several other principles
within ancient Egyptian law were essential, including an adherence to
tradition as opposed to change, the importance of rhetorical skill, and
the significance of achieving impartiality, and social justice. In one
Middle Kingdom (2062 to c. 1664 BCE) text the Creator declares "
I made every man like his fellow". Maat called the rich to help the less fortunate rather than exploit them, echoed in tomb declarations: "
I have given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked" and "
I was a husband to the widow and father to the orphan".
[9]
To the Egyptian mind, Maat bound all things together in an
indestructible unity: the universe, the natural world, the state, and
the individual were all seen as parts of the wider order generated by
Maat.
The underlying concepts of
Taoism and
Confucianism resemble Maat at times.
[10]
Maat and the law
Maat wearing feather of truth
There is little surviving literature that describes the practice of
ancient Egyptian law. Maat was the spirit in which justice was applied
rather than the detailed legalistic exposition of rules (as found in
Mosaic law
of the 1st millennium BCE). Maat was the norm and basic values that
formed the backdrop for the application of justice that had to be
carried out in the spirit of truth and fairness. From the 5th dynasty
(c. 2510-2370 BCE) onwards the
Vizier responsible for justice was called the
Priest of Maat and in later periods judges wore images of Maat.
[11]
Later scholars and philosophers also would embody concepts from the
wisdom literature, or
Sebayt.
[citation needed]
These spiritual texts dealt with common social or professional
situations and how each was best to be resolved or addressed in the
spirit of Maat. It was very practical advice, and highly case-based, so
that few specific and general rules could be derived from them.
During the Greek period in Egyptian history, Greek law existed
alongside Egyptian law. The Egyptian law preserved the rights of women
who were allowed to act independently of men and own substantial
personal property and in time this influenced the more restrictive
conventions of the Greeks and Romans.
[12] When the Romans took control of Egypt, the Roman legal system which existed throughout the Roman Empire was imposed in Egypt.
Maat and scribes
Scribes held prestigious positions in ancient Egyptian society in
view of their importance in the transmission of religious, political and
commercial information.
[13]
Thoth was the patron of scribes who is described as the one "who
reveals Maat and reckons Maat; who loves Maat and gives Maat to the doer
of Maat".
[14] In texts such as the
Instruction of Amenemope the scribe is urged to follow the precepts of Maat in his private life as well as his work.
[15]
The exhortations to live according to Maat are such that these kinds of
instructional texts have been described as "Maat Literature".
[16] Maat was humble as well.
Maat as a goddess
Maat was the goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman,
[19] sitting or standing, holding a
was scepter, the symbol of power, in one hand and an
ankh,
the symbol of eternal life, in the other. Sometimes she is depicted
with wings on each arm or as a woman with an ostrich feather on her
head.
[20] Depictions of Maat as a goddess are recorded from as early as the middle of the
Old Kingdom (c. 2680 to 2190 BCE).
[21]
The sun-god
Ra
came from the primaeval mound of creation only after he set his
daughter Maat in place of Isfet (chaos). Kings inherited the duty to
ensure Maat remained in place and they with Ra are said to "live on
Maat", with
Akhenaten (r. 1372-1355 BCE) in particular emphasising the concept to a degree that,
John D. Ray asserts, the kings contemporaries viewed as intolerance and fanaticism.
[22] Some kings incorporated Maat into their names, being referred to as
Lords of Maat,
[23] or
Meri-Maat (
Beloved of Maat). When beliefs about Thoth arose in the
Egyptian pantheon and started to consume the earlier beliefs at
Hermopolis about the
Ogdoad, it was said that she was the mother of the Ogdoad and Thoth the father.
In the
Duat, the Egyptian
underworld,
the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against her single
"Feather of Ma'at", symbolically representing the concept of Maat, in
the
Hall of Two Truths. A heart which was unworthy was devoured by the goddess
Ammit
and its owner condemned to remain in the Duat. The heart was considered
the location of the soul by ancient Egyptians. Those people with good
and pure hearts were sent on to
Aaru.
Osiris came to be seen as the guardian of the gates of Aaru after he became part of the Egyptian pantheon and displaced
Anubis in the Ogdoad tradition.
The weighing of the heart, pictured on
papyrus in the
Book of the Dead typically, or in tomb scenes, shows
Anubis overseeing the weighing and the lioness
Ammit
seated awaiting the results so she could consume those who failed. The
image would be the vertical heart on one flat surface of the
balance scale and the vertical Shu-feather standing on the other balance scale surface. Other traditions hold that
Anubis brought the soul before the posthumous
Osiris who performed the weighing.
Temples of Maat
The earliest evidence for a dedicated temple is in the
New Kingdom (c. 1569 to 1081 BCE) era, despite the great importance placed on Maat.
Amenhotep III commissioned a temple in the
Karnak complex, whilst textual evidence indicates that other temples of Maat were located in
Memphis and at
Deir el-Medina.
[24]
Maat themes found in the The Book of Going Forth by Day and on tomb inscriptions
A section of the Egyptian
Book of the Dead written on papyrus showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the
Duat using the feather of Maat as the measure in balance
One aspect of ancient Egyptian funerary literature which often is
mistaken for a codified ethic of Maat is Spell (Chapter) 125 of the
Book of the Dead or
Papyrus of Ani (known to the ancient Egyptians as
The Book of Going Forth by Day).
The lines of these texts are often collectively called the "Forty-Two
Declarations of Purity". These declarations varied somewhat from tomb to
tomb and so cannot be considered a canonical definition of Maat.
Rather, they appear to express each tomb owner's individual practices in
life to please Maat, as well as words of absolution from misdeeds or
mistakes, made by the tomb owner in life could be declared as not having
been done, and through the power of the written word, wipe particular
misdeed from the afterlife record of the deceased.
Many of the lines are similar, however, and they can help to give the
student a "flavor" for the sorts of things which Maat governed —
essentially everything, from the most formal to the most mundane aspects
of life.
The doctrine of Maat is represented in the declarations to
Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Maat and the 42 Negative Confessions listed in the
Papyrus of Ani. The following are taken from public domain translations
made by
E. A. Wallis Budge in the early part of the 20th century; more recent translations may differ in the light of modern scholarship.
42 Positive Confessions (Papyrus of Ani)
- I have not committed sin.
- I have not committed robbery with violence.
- I have not stolen.
- I have not slain men and women.
- I have not stolen grain.
- I have not purloined offerings.
- I have not stolen the property of the god.
- I have not uttered lies.
- I have not carried away food.
- I have not uttered curses.
- I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men.
- I have made none to weep.
- I have not eaten the heart [i.e, I have not grieved uselessly, or felt remorse].
- I have not attacked any man.
- I am not a man of deceit.
- I have not stolen cultivated land.
- I have not been an eavesdropper.
- I have slandered [no man].
- I have not been angry without just cause.
- I have not debauched the wife of any man.
- I have not debauched the wife of [any] man. (repeats the previous affirmation but addressed to a different god).
- I have not polluted myself.
- I have terrorised none.
- I have not transgressed [the Law].
- I have not been wroth.
- I have not shut my ears to the words of truth.
- I have not blasphemed.
- I am not a man of violence.
- I am not a stirrer up of strife (or a disturber of the peace).
- I have not acted (or judged) with undue haste.
- I have not pried into matters.
- I have not multiplied my words in speaking.
- I have wronged none, I have done no evil.
- I have not worked witchcraft against the King (or blasphemed against the King).
- I have never stopped [the flow of] water.
- I have never raised my voice (spoken arrogantly, or in anger).
- I have not cursed (or blasphemed) God.
- I have not acted with evil rage.
- I have not stolen the bread of the gods.
- I have not carried away the khenfu cakes from the spirits of the dead.
- I have not snatched away the bread of the child, nor treated with contempt the god of my city.
- I have not slain the cattle belonging to the god.[25]
Assessors of Maat
"The Assessors of Maat" are the 42 deities listed in the
Papyrus of Nebseni, to whom the deceased make the Positive Confession in the
Papyrus of Ani.
[26]
See also
Notes
- Jump up ^ Information
taken from phonetic symbols for Maat, and explanations on how to
pronounce based upon modern reals, revealed in (Collier and Manley pp.
2–4, 154)
- Jump up ^ Siegfried Morenz (1973). Egyptian Religion: Siegried Morenz. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-8014-8029-4.
- Jump up ^ Budge. The Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 1 p. 418.
- Jump up ^ Henrietta McCall (1990-01). Mesopotamian myths. University of Texas Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-292-72076-9.
- Jump up ^ Norman Rufus Colin Cohn (1993). Cosmos, Caos and the World to Come: The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-300-05598-6.
- Jump up ^ Norman Rufus Colin Cohn (1993). Cosmos, Caos and the World to Come: The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-300-05598-6.
- Jump up ^ John Romer, "Testament", pp. 41-42, Guild Publishing, 1988.
- Jump up ^ "Religion and Cultural Memory: Ten Studies", Jan Assmann, Translated by Rodney Livingstone, p. 34, Stanford University Press, 2006, ISBN 080474523.
- Jump up ^ James P. Allen (2000). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-521-77483-3.
- Jump up ^ Edwin Oliver James (1970). Creation and Cosmology: A Historical and Comparative Study. Brill Academic Pub. p. 50. ISBN 978-90-04-01617-0.
- Jump up ^ Siegfried Morenz (1973). Egyptian Religion: Siegried Morenz. pp. 117–125. ISBN 978-0-8014-8029-4.
- Jump up ^ Anton Powell (1995). The Greek World. Psychology Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-415-17042-0.
- Jump up ^ Black, p. 130
- Jump up ^ Black, p. 131
- Jump up ^ Black, p. 132
- Jump up ^ Black, p. 157
- Jump up ^ Hieroglyphs can be found in (Collier and Manley pp. 27, 29, 154)
- Jump up ^ (Budge The Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 1 p. 416)
- Jump up ^ robert a armour (2001). gods and myths of ancient egypt. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-669-2.
- Jump up ^ Budge The Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 1 p. 416)
- Jump up ^ "The Oxford Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology", Edited by Donald B. Redford, p. 190, Berkeley, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- Jump up ^ "Reflections on Osiris", John D. Ray, p. 64, Profile books,2002, ISBN 186197 490 6
- Jump up ^ Barry J. Kemp (2005). 100 hieroglyphs: think like an Egyptian. ISBN 1-86207-658-8.
- Jump up ^ "The Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology:The Oxford Guide", p190, Berkeley Reference, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- Jump up ^ The Book of the Dead. Gramercy. 1995-01-23. pp. 576–582. ISBN 978-0-517-12283-9.
- Jump up ^ (Budge The Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 1 pp. 418-20)
References
- Black, James Roger. "The Instruction of Amenemope: A Critical Edition and Commentary--Prolegomenon and Prologue", Dissertation University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002 [1]
- Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation. New York: Dover Publications, 1967. Originally published in 1895.
- Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Gods of the Egyptians: Studies in Egyptian Mythology — Volume 1. New York: Dover Publications, 1969. Originally published in 1904.
- Collier, Mark and Manly, Bill. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Revised Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
- Faulkner, Raymond. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994. ISBN 0-8118-6489-8
- Mancini, Anna. Maat Revealed: Philosophy of Justice in Ancient Egypt. New York: Buenos Books America, 2004.
- Strudwick, Helen. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Singapore: De Agostini UK, 2006.
- Journey through the afterlife, Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead edited by John H. Taylor ( the British Museum Press 2010. London ISBN 0-7141-1989-X)
