Ma'at
Well, what IS Ma'at, and what was it?
I have some ideas of my own, and some I canvassed a couple of Kemets for, so, here goes.
Ma'at is the natural order of things. It is how things should be, it is the rightness of things, it is order and unquestioned balance. That at least is its concept, within Egyptian society and culture. She can also be defined as a focal point for random thoughts, embodying justice.
Ma'at was also a goddess, but seemed to be more elusive in definition than Isis, Hathor, Sekhmet or any of the others. She was the daughter of Amon-Ra and gave the breath of life to the gods. She personified the yardstick whereby the deceased's heart was weighed against his lack of misdeeds (as represented by the negative confession of what he had NOT done), and was sometimes represented by a red feather.
Her consort is Djehuty (traditionally, although he is also associated with other goddesses), a god of wisdom. The linking of Ma’at and Wisdom is significant. To the average Kemet, this represented the rightness of things: if he was a peasant farmer, he was the ruler of his wife and family, the tenant villein of his lord, he respected the priests in the temple, he paid his dues, he haggled with dealers in the marketplace, he despised criminals and wrongdoers, the god Pharoah was in his palace and all was right with the world. He did not question, as Ma’at was unquestioned order. There was no NEED to question, as it was simply RIGHT.
This refusal to step outside of their roles made for a very stable society, one which lasted more or less 4000 years. If you think of how our lives in Britain or the US have changed in just 400, that should give you a good idea of what I mean.
Ma’at as the concept of balance meant what we have come to regard as good and evil all being part of the scheme of things. It is the standard by which all is judged, and highlights the consequence factor if Ma’at is ignored. This does not mean that wrongdoing was accepted, but that it was an inevitable part of life and could, with impunity, be looked down on, and punished.
Ma’at’s followers drank a drink, which granted a kind of purity to the good and just after death, but was said to bring death and condemnation to the evil (evil being anything that was not Ma'at).
And how does this affect our lives today?
What was acceptable in Egypt is not acceptable today. Ma’at has moved on. We do not cut off the hands of thieves (some may say, unfortunately), and we do not have the same rigid class structure. I am not sure how reconstructionists can reconcile this, as the “rightness” of things changes all the time. We no longer have the same respect for traditional social structures and classes and what is “right” has changed.
The same basic morals have not. It is still wrong to steal (except in absolute emergency), to kill (ditto), to commit adultery (I can’t think of an emergency which would cover this), and the general consensus rules stay the same.
So, is Ma’at a core concept rather than a social/structural one? Personally I go for the core concept, as anything else makes nonsense of Ma’at. And yet… what would the ancient Kemets have made of that?
*With grateful thanks to Amy and Knightincrimson*