Ma'at

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Goddess Ma'at[1][2] in hieroglyphs

or or or or or or or

In Egyptian mythology, Ma'at, pronounced as *Muʔʕat (Muh-aht), is goddess of law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was seen as being charged with controlling the stars, seasons, and the actions of both people and gods. Her first role in Egyptian mythology was the weighing of words that took place in the underworld, Duat.

Contents 1 Ma'at as a principle 1.1 Declarations to Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Ma'at 1.2 42 Negative Confessions 2 Notes 3 References 4 Other websites

[change] Ma'at as a principle

Ma'at as a principle was at least partially codified into a set of laws, and expressed a ubiquitous concept of right from wrong characterized by concepts of truth and a respect for and adherence to a divine order believed to be set forth at the time of the world's creation.

The doctrine of Ma'at is represented in the declarations to Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Ma'at and the 42 negative affirmations listed in the Papyrus of Ani:

[change] Declarations to Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Ma'at

Verily I have come to thee, I have brought to thee Ma'at.

1. I have driven away for thee wickedness.

2. I have not done iniquity to mankind.

3. Not have I done harm unto animals.

4. Not have I done wickedness in the place of Ma'at.

5. Not have I known evil.

6. Not have I acted wickedly.

7. Not have I done each day and every works above what I should do.

8. Not hath come forth my name to the boat of the Prince.

9. Not have I despised God.

10. Not have I caused misery.

11. Not have I caused affliction.

12. Not have I done what is abominable to God.

13. Not have I caused harm to be done to the servant by his chief.

14. Not have I caused pain.

15. Not have I made to weep.

16. Not have I killed.

17. Not have I made the order for killing for me.

18. Not have I done harm to mankind.

19. Not have I taken aught of the oblations in the temples.

20. Not have I purloined the cakes of the gods.

21. Not have I carried off the offerings of the blessed dead.

22. Not have I fornicated.

23. Not have I defiled myself.

24. Not have I added to, not have I diminished the offerings.

25. Not have I stolen from the orchard.

26. Not have I trampled down the fields.

27. I have not added to the weight of the balance.

28. Not have I diminished from the weight of the balance.

29. Not have I carried off the milk from the mouth of the babe.

30. Not have I driven away the cattle which were upon their pastures.

31. Not have I captured the birds of the preserves of the gods.

32. Not have I taken the fishes [with bait] of their own bodies.

33. Not have I turned back water at its season.

34. Not have I cut a cutting in water running.

35. Not have I extinguished a flame at its hour.

36. Not have I violated the times for the chosen offerings.

37. Not have I driven back the cattle of divine things.

38. I have not repulsed God in his manifestations.

I, even I, am pure. Times four.^[3]

[change] 42 Negative Confessions

1. Not have I done wrong.

2. Not have I despoiled.

3. Not have I robbed.

4. Not have I slain men: twice.

5. Not have I defrauded the offerings.

6. Not have I diminished [oblations].

7. Not have I despoiled the things of the god.

8. Not have I spoken lies.

9. Not have I carried off food.

10. Not have I afflicted [any]

11. Not have I committed fornication.

12. Not have I made to weep.

13. Not have I eaten my heart.

14. Not have I transgressed.

15. Not have I acted deceitfully.

16. Not have I desolated ploughed lands.

17. Not have I been an eavesdropper.

18. Not have I set my mouth in motion [against any man].

19. Not have I raged except with a cause.

20. Not have I defiled the wife of a man.

21. Not have I defiled the wife of a man.

22. Not have I polluted myself.

23. Not have I caused terror.

24. Not have I committed offense

25. Not have I inflamed myself with rage.

26. Not have I made deaf myself to the words of right and truth.

27. Not have I caused grief.

28. Not have I acted insolently.

29. Not have I stirred up strife.

30. Not have I judged hastily.

31. Not have I been an eavesdropper.

32. Not have I multiplied my words upon words.

33. Not have I harmed, not have I done evil.

34. Not have I made curses of the king.

35. Not have I fouled water.

36. Not have I made haughty my voice.

37. Not have I have I cursed God.

38. Not have I committed theft.

39. Not have I defrauded the offerings of the gods.

40. Not have I carried away offerings from the beatified ones.

41. Not have I carried off the food of the infant, not have I sinned against the god of the town.

42. Not have I slaughtered the cattle divine.^[4]

[change] Notes

[change] References

• 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.
• Mancini, Anna. Ma'at 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.

[change] Other websites

• Principles of Ma'at (negative confessions)
• Egypt: Law and the Legal System in Ancient Egypt by Mark Andrews
• A list of the 42 Principles of Ma'at
• A series of discussions on the meanings of the 42