From ArchaeoWiki
Maʿat was an ancient Egyptian goddess personifying the ancient Egyptian concept of maʿat—the abstract concepts of truth, justice and cosmic order were equally represented within this word.
Forms and Iconography
The goddess Maʿat was nearly always depicted in anthropomorphic form, as a divine female figure wearing a tall feather on her head.
Symbolic representations of Maʿat included the tall maʿat-feather standing alone [ Gardiner H6];
Alternatively, the hieroglyph resembling a statue plinth or builder's measure that was used to write the goddess' name [ Gardiner Aa11] might also be employed:
A frequent composition that featured the goddess was that of the king presenting maʿat in the form of the goddess placed on his outstretched hand. A gilded silver image of Seti I in the Louvre, offering Maʿat in this fashion, represents a prime example:
Bibliography
- Altenmüller, Brigitte [1975], Synkretismus in den Sargentexten, [Göttinger Orientforschungen IV.7], 1975.
- Assmann, Jan [1990], Ma'at - Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im alten Ägypten, München: C.H. Beck, 1990. ISBN 3406346677
- Brunner, H. [1958], "Gerechtigkeit als Fundament des Thrones", VT 8 (1958), pp.426-428.
- Faraone, Christopher A. and Teeter, Emily [2004], "Egyptian Maat and Hesiodic Metis", Mnemosyne 57 (2004), pp.177-208.
- Griffiths, J.G. [1994], "Isis as Maat, Dikaiousune, and Iustitia", in Berger, Catherine., Clerc, Gisèle & Grimal, Nicolas (eds) Homages à Jean Leclant, [Bibliothèque d'étude / Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire 106], Le Caire: Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, 1994, pp.255-264. ISBN 2724701348
- Jankuhn, D. [1973], "Maat die Herrin des Westens", GM 8 (1973), pp.19-22.
- Lichtheim, Miriam [1992], Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies, OBO 120, Fribourg University Press, 1992. ISBN 3727808462
- Teeter, Emily [1997], The Presentation of Maat - Ritual and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt, [ SAOC 57], Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1997. ISBN 1885923058
