Truth, justice, balance and even Cosmic order were notions referred to as Ma’at, which primary was a concept highly valued by the ancient people of Kemet, and like many Egyptian deities with a human form, Ma’at was an abstract goddess of great symbolic importance. Ma’at symbolized order on a personal, social or Cosmic level and the price for maintaining such order. As a major concept of the Kemetic religion and that of a daily life, Ma’at also played an important role in the Egyptian understanding of kingship, and as such, all individuals especially the rulers of Egypt who were representatives of gods were expected to live in accordance with the principles of Ma’at, so their first duty was to follow her divine will and establish order. Defeated enemies slaughtered by the king were shown clutching a feather of the goddess, indicating their surrender to righteousness. Usually depicted either as a woman wearing an ostrich plume on her head, or just by an ostrich feather alone that conveys her presence, Ma’at is recognized from the middle of the third millennium and probably earlier than that as she is closely associated with creator deities, for she is known as the beloved daughter of the creator sun god Ra. From the 14th century BCE onward, Ma’at was often shown as a woman seated or standing with outstretched wings attached to both her arms. And just like the goddess Isis, she could revive the dead with the air generated by her wings. The feather of Ma’at has come to symbolize her being, as well as balance and order, subsequently becoming the hieroglyph sign for truth and justice. Another one of her emblem was a plinth sign that was used in the writing of her name, a visual depiction of her as the foundation of the universe. Such representation has been interpreted as a symbol of the goddess being the base on which the Egyptian society and order were built, this was often shown below the thrones of Egyptian deities who act as divine judges. The cult of the goddess Ma’at has been practically known since the beginning of the Egyptian religion. It was connected with the laws of the Egyptian society and regulated the relationship between the Pharaoh and his people. Starting from the early 15th century BCE around the time of Hatshepsut, a special ritual was performed in all temples to honor the deity. The people would ritually present a small figure of the goddess to the chief deity of a temple, so many gods stood as recipient of this offering, even Seth the god of Chaos. Through this ritual, the king demonstrated his legitimacy by literally upholding Ma’at, but all rituals and sacrifices would be deemed meaningless if the king and his people were not living righteous lives. Therefore, Judges and high court officials wore golden images of the goddess to signify that they were enforcing her laws, and as a symbol that their judgement would be balanced and fair. It was considered a crime against Ma’at if a person were to engage in jealousy, gluttony, laziness, injustice and ungratefulness. To make amend, the priest would rule on the Earthly punishment according to the nature of the law that had been broken. And whoever was deemed to have violated the Spirit of Ma’at would face a further judgment during the ceremony of justification in the Hall of Osiris. Given the fact that she represents divine order that came into being at the moment of creation, the daily rites that took place in Egyptian temples were repetitions of mythical acts that laid the foundations of Ma’at. This repetition done in the name of the Pharaoh secured those foundations, and therefore maintained the Cosmic balance. The central notion of Egyptian cosmology and ethics was personified as the goddess epitomizing the harmonious laws of Cosmic order. Even the gods of the Egyptian pantheon were said to live on Ma’at, because she was said to be responsible for balance between the gods and the people, and between opposite genders. Some account would then place her as being the reason why the women and men of Kemet should have the same rights, for the Ancient Egyptians perceiving the universe as a complete duality of male and female principles, a mutual relationship equally remained between both male and female divinities. The Egyptian culture was centered on order, everything had its due place in the world including religion, society and seasonal changes. The goddess Ma’at came to represent the concept of balance and order because many Egyptians needed to explain the world around them, so, she was the one that kept the stars in motion, the seasons to change and the maintaining of order in Heaven and on Earth. They considered the desert beyond the Nile River to be chaotic, whereas the area close to the Nile was considered orderly, and together, these two forces brought balance to the world in which they lived and was an important part of their daily life. According to some sources, the goddess Ma’at was often linked with the scribal god of wisdom Thoth, an impartial judge who was believed to have put her laws into writing. This gave a divine precedent for many works in the Egyptian literature that teach or debate on how to live in Ma’at in the real world. There is a few Egyptian myths of a golden age that includes a period when Ma’at was a ruler on Earth. The deity is said to have withdrawn to heavens because she was grieved by the wicked behavior of humanity, but she could still be thought of as living with an individual like one’s good angel until that same person goes into the afterlife. Although she was commonly identified with the basics of life such as the air to breathe, the bread to eat and the beer for quenching one’s thirst, when the dead received funerary offerings of bread and beer, they were said to have Ma’at placed before them. And Eventually, “Joining Ma’at” became an euphemistic expression for dying. During the 19th dynasty, the goddess became more closely associated with the afterlife than with the ethics of life, and throughout times, she acquired titles such as “Mistress of Heaven Who is in the West” and “She Who Satisfies the Necropolis. From the Old Kingdom onward, Ma’at’s presence was thought to be vital to the daily regeneration of the Sun. In the Underworld Books she is often shown standing close to Ra, and because of this or because of the duality in nature of Egypt as two kingdoms, Ma’at can also appear as two identical goddesses. According to the Religion of ancient Kemet, the goddess played an important role during the final judgment one would encounter in their afterlife. As mentioned in the Book of the Dead, which is a collection of funerary texts and spells from ancient Egypt, and designed to assist a person's journey through the afterlife, there is spell called the “42 Declarations of Purity” or the “Negative Confessions”. These make few allusions that any crimes committed against Ma’at should be written down as they could easily be forgiven. So in the court of Osiris where the souls would come to be judged upon their death, the heart of the deceased was placed on a scale balanced by Ma’at, represented here by an ostrich feather in order to determine whether or not the dead would be deemed worthy of meeting Osiris in paradise. Bear in mind that the feather's lightweight was used as a counterweight to the human’s heart which was believed to be the cornerstone of a soul. If the heart was heavier than the feather, the number of wrong deeds of this person was too big and it would be consumed by an entity to suffer a second death. However, if the heart was balanced or lighter than the feather, the weightlessness of the heart indicated that the soul was not burdened with sin nor evil and was declared “True of voice” or Justified. Thus, they were allowed to live on in the afterlife where they could either help in the judgment associated with other souls or just continue their journey towards the blissful field of Reeds. After the judgement was over, Ma’at was also important to the success of a soul passing through the Hall of the Two Truths to reach the Egyptian paradise. It’s unfortunate that in Greco-Roman Period, Ma’at seemed to have lost her central place in Egyptian religion and some of her functions were taken over by Isis. The Pharaoh had the greatest responsibility to guarantee order within the kingdom, to establish rights and to take care of the country and its people. In a certain way, the Pharaoh symbolized the maintenance of the Ma’at system which was seriously threatened. Based in some accounts, large parts of ancient Egypt have been invaded by a group of foreigners who called themselves Hyksos. These people established a powerful empire that lasted over 100 years, and seriously disturbed the Ma’at order. But after so many years, the Pharaoh at the time finally managed to liberate the country from these invaders, it was then publicly announced that the goddess Ma’at had returned and the kingdom was no longer in danger. It is worth mentioning that according to these ancient Egyptian beliefs, every wicked action could permanently corrupt the divine law, so some people believe that The Ma’at system is becoming weaker as the time goes by because of the wickedness of humanity, which could in consequence lead to the end of the world much sooner. Some people tend to believe that the 10 Commandments of the Bible are very similar to the 42 Principles of Ma'at that appeared at least 2,000 years earlier, and there is a reason to seriously consider that at least 8 of them were based on Ma’at, an ancient ethical and moral principle that every Egyptian citizen was expected to follow throughout their respective life. The ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods, and one of them was certainly Ma’at even though few Egyptian archaeologists now believe that maybe she was more of a concept than a divinity. It’s reasonable to assume however that her principles helped the people of Egypt to be better individuals and that she could be compared to the conscience of a person. Her role in the creation and her indefatigable struggle to preclude the universe from collapsing into Chaos was significant. In summary, through her laws Ma’at walked with one through life, she handled the weighing of the heart which was carried out in the Underworld, and her feather of truth was the key determiner of whether or not the souls would be deemed worthy enough to reach the Utopia of the next world. Ma’at was often viewed as a female divinity who was in reality seen as the personification of cultural ethics that every Egyptian should live by. They were to act honorably and sincerely when dealing with matters regarding life itself and the people around them. One would say that There is a time for every action of existence within Ma'at, but all must be recognized and acted upon at the appropriate times. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this video on Ma’at, and if you want more content on Egyptian religion, let me know in the comment section down below. And as always, stay curious