Ma’at

Ma’at


 * Other Names:**[[image:maat2.jpg width="169" height="299" align="right"]]

Maae’t, Mayet


 * Meaning of Name:**

“That Which is Straight.” It implies anything that is true, ordered, or balanced.


 * Hieroglyphics:**




 * Titles:**

“Lady of the Judgment Hall”

“She Who Guides”

“The All-Seeing Eye”

“Presider Over the Palace”

“She Who is Truth”

“Law Giver and Dispenser of Justice.”


 * Family:**

Ma’at was thought to be the daughter of Ra, the wife of Thoth, and the mother of Amun.

Ma’at was the personification of the most basic laws of existence - she represented truth, justice, and natural order. It was believed that without her all of creation would perish, as Ma’at represented the order and stability of the universe. She was one of the two deities (the other being Thoth) who stood on either side of the sun-god Ra's barque. Ma'at was credited with giving mankind a code of ethics. Indeed, the 42 Egyptian Commandments of Ma’at were written over 1,500 years before Moses. Far more than a simple abstraction of justice, Ma’at was considered a full goddess, and had her own temples and herds of sacred cattle.

Ma’at was the patroness of judges, magistrates, and all court officials – “Prophet of Ma’at” was another term for judge. Judges commonly wore small golden images of the goddess as a sign of their judicial authority, and strived to achieve fairness and balance in settling all disputes. Courts were called the “Halls of Ma’at.” Priests drew the Feather of Ma’at on their tongues with green dye, so that the words they spoke were truth.

In many New Kingdom tombs the pharaoh was pictured as offering the gods a small statue of Ma’at in his uplifted hands – the greatest treasure he possesses, that of cosmic truth and law. Ma’at was offered in the temples to all the gods and goddesses on a daily basis throughout Egypt - as the final day’s ritual ended, the high priest/ess offered a small image of Ma’at to each god and goddess. It was said that the gods "lived on" Ma'at, as if partaking of her as their food.

The Egyptian pharaohs portrayed themselves constantly as “Beloved of Ma’at,” upholders of the universal order. It was thought that all the daily rituals and sacrifices to the gods would be deemed meaningless unless the pharaoh and his people were living righteous lives.

The ancient Egyptians had a strong sense of morality and justice - each person was duty bound to preserve and defend Ma'at. They felt that the good should prosper, and that the guilty would be punished. They praised those who defended the weak and the poor and placed a high value on loyalty, especially to one's family. Certain actions were clearly against Ma'at, as they increased the effect of chaos and had a purely negative effect on the world.

In one myth Ma'at was the ruler of earth and withdrew to the heavens because she was grieved by the wicked behavior of humanity. Personal amulets of Ma'at afforded their wearers protection from worldly injustice. In periods of anarchy and turmoil priests prayed: "Ma'at will return to her throne; evil will be driven away."

The ancient Egyptians thought that everything lived “by Ma’at, in Ma’at, and through Ma’at.” The gods themselves were constrained to “live by Ma’at.” Her law governed all three worlds ruled by her trinity as Lady of Heaven, Queen of the Earth, and Mistress of the Underworld. The gods themselves, acting as the judges of the divine tribunal, called themselves the “Council of Ma’at.”

The Egyptians believed that on the Day of Judgment the deceased’s heart would be weighed on the scales of justice in //Maaty// ("The Hall of Two Truths,") balanced by the feather of Ma’at. The sacred ostrich feather of Ma’at was the symbol of truth. The Feast Day of Ma’at marked the appearance of the early morning rise of the constellation of Libra, with its emblem of the scales of judgment. Amulets of Ma'at, made of gold, faience, glass, and lapis lazuli, were popular.

Another symbol of Ma’at was a stone platform, the primeval mound upon which the creator god stood at the beginning of time, representing stability. Honey was thought of as the “taste of Ma’at,” or of truth itself. At Ma’at’s festivals, worshipers were said to eat honey and eggs and say to each other, “How sweet a thing is truth!” (Eggs represented eternal life.) “Joining Ma’at” became a euphemism for dying.

Ma’at was depicted as a woman, often sitting or kneeling, with her symbol, an ostrich feather, as her headdress. Occasionally she was pictured as a woman with falcon wings, or as a cow. In a judgment scene in the Book of the Dead two Ma’at goddesses appear; one probably is the personification of physical law, and the other of moral righteousness.

A similarity between the word for a female cat (//miit//) and the name of Ma’at may explain an interesting feature found on bronze statues of cats. Some of them display a figure of the goddess as an element of a necklace around the animal’s neck, or the Feather of Ma’at is used to imitate the pattern of the fine hairs inside the cat’s ears.


 * [[image:6006294926_d570cfe0f4_b.jpg width="308" height="295" align="left" caption="Two Ma'ats protecting a pharaoh"]]Feast and Holy Days:**

October 7th (Feast Day of Ma'at

November 28 (Day of Prolonging Life and the Goodness of Ma'at)

April 4th (Ma'at Judges the Souls Before the Gods)

May 30 (Ma'at Goes to Ra)

June 1st (Ma'at and Ra Go Forth in Secret)

June 15th (Ma'at Unites As One With All the Gods of the Heavens)


 * Quotes from the Book of the Dead and other sources:**

“Speak Ma’at, do Ma’at, for she is mighty. She is great and endures. Her value rests in the hands of those who use her. Ma’at leads one to sacredness.”

 The 42 Egyptian Commandments of Ma'at


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Maatnemti, Perenmaat, Heremmaat, Nebmaat ("My Lady is Ma'at"), Nefermaat ("Beautiful of Ma'at"), Maatka ("The Living Ka of Ma'at"), Mery-Maat ("Beloved of Ma'at"), Padimaat ("He Whom Ma'at Gave").


 * Modern Influence****:**

Ma’at in a pyramid shape, in the form of the “All-Seeing Eye,” is pictured on the American one-dollar bill.

Egyptian Deities - M