Maat or
ma'at (thought to have been pronounced *[muʔ.ʕat]),
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).
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. 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.
¡Descubra la agenda de los coleccionistas!
Descubra la agenda
