Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Listen
Email

Topic Pages contain an overview, definitions, biographies, related topics, images, plus links to relevant articles and other content provided by your library. Topic Page: Maat (Egyptian deity)

Definition: Maat from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Egyptian goddess of truth and justice. The souls of the dead were weighed against the feather of truth (her symbol), or against her statue. The Egyptians believed that all things were governed by Maat; her father, the sun god Ra, ruled the universe by her principles and she was frequently depicted in the prow of his boat. Her headdress was an ostrich feather.

Image from: Painted relief from a Nineteenth... in World Mythology: Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
Summary Article: Maat
from The Encyclopedia of Ancient History

Maat was the goddess of cosmic order or balance, as well as truth. She was the foundation of Egyptian religion (see Religion, Pharaonic Egypt), society, and worldview. Maat was depicted either as an ostrich feather or as a goddess wearing a feather in a fillet. The feather of Maat played a key role in the Judgment of the Dead (see Afterlife, Pharaonic Egypt), as it was weighed against the heart of the deceased in order to see if s/he had lived an ethical life and not violated the laws of Maat or social order.

The major role of the king (see Kingship, Pharaonic Egypt) was to maintain Maat so that Egypt remained safe, fruitful, and peaceful.

References and Suggested Readings
  • Lichtheim, M. (1992) Maat in Egyptian autobiographies and related studies. Göttingen.
  • Teeter, E. (1997) The presentation of Maat: ritual and legitimacy in ancient Egypt. Chicago.
  • Wilkinson, R. H. (2003) The complete gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. London.
    • Salima Ikram
    Ikram, Salima. "Maat." In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Wiley, 2012. https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/maat_egyptian_deity
    Ikram, S. (2012). Maat. In R.S. Bagnall, K. Brodersen, C.B. Champion, A. Erskine & S.R. Huebner, The encyclopedia of ancient history. [Online]. Hoboken: Wiley. Available from: https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/maat_egyptian_deity [Accessed 16 February 2019].
    Ikram, Salima. "Maat." The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Roger S. Bagnall, et al., Wiley, 1st edition, 2012. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/maat_egyptian_deity. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
    Wiley ©2012

    Related Articles

    Full text Article Maat
    Encyclopedia of African Religion

    Maat represents the personification of a cluster of concepts that introduce the world to abstract ideas of philosophy, such as order, truth,...

    Full text Article Maat
    Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth

    Maat ('truth'; 'balance'), goddess of truth in Egyptian myth, was the daughter of Ra from whom nothing was hidden. She wore a single...

    Full text Article Maat (Ma’et)
    World Mythology: Handbook of Egyptian Mythology

    The central concept of Egyptian cosmology and ethics was personified as the goddess Maat wearing an ostrich feather on her head. The word maat ...

    See more from Credo