In the modern world, such qualities as disorganization, irrationality, chaos, illogicality are attributed to the female nature, the whole world laughs at female logic. Meanwhile, in the ancient world, a woman was associated with harmony.
and wisdom, so in Greece the goddess Athena personified the highest degree of prudence and wisdom, and in ancient Egypt the goddess Maat patronized order and harmony in life.
Father Maat is the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon, the radiant sun god Ra. He was the creator of the world, and, therefore, was responsible for the harmonious structure and existence of the whole world. His daughter, the goddess Maat, combined several concepts. The fact that the life of the Egyptians was subject to the principle of rationality, and every event always had causes and consequences, is undoubtedly the merit of Maat, because she was responsible for harmony in the world system.
Also, Maat is the goddess of justice, she was responsible for ensuring that each person is rewarded according to his actions, so that relations between people are fair. In addition, while pronouncing the oath, the Egyptians called the goddess Maat as a witness, so that she would testify to the sincerity and honesty of the words spoken. Thus, Maat was also the goddess of truth. The Egyptians believed wisdom and honesty were closely related to each other. Not surprisingly, Maat's husband was the god of wisdom Thoth.
Maat was portrayed as a woman sitting on a throne, sometimes she stood in the picture, but there was always an ostrich feather in her head. Often, next to the goddess, a sandy hill sloped on one side was also depicted. It was believed that this is an eternal hill, and it was from it that the god Ra created the whole world. Thus, the Egyptians emphasized the role of Maat in life as a goddess who maintains harmony and order.
Maat was revered throughout Egypt, by all segments of the population, be it a pharaoh or a poor man. But despite this, the more surprising is that there were no temples built in her honor. Those shrines of Maat, which were found by researchers and historians, are in many ways inferior to the luxurious temples and grandiose temple complexes that were erected in honor of other gods of the Egyptian pantheon. On the basis of this, one might feel that even the evil god Seth was revered more than the goddess Maat.
But this is not so, the fact is that images of Maat and references to her could be found in every temple of Ancient Egypt, even if they were dedicated to other gods. It was believed that Maat, as the goddess of world order, is related to all Egyptian gods, and accordingly, the worship of any of them is at the same time the worship of Maat. Also, the goddess patronized justice and the judicial system, the judges asked her blessings. All parties to the trial and members of the legal system appealed to her. So, for example, the highest official in Egypt (chati), among other things, bore the title of "priest of Maas", which also spoke of his status as the supreme judge. And amulets with the name of the goddess contributed to the better performance of his official duties.
In addition, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, the existence of man in the afterlife depended on the goddess Maat. After death, the soul of each person fell on trial to the father of the god of the sky and the sun Horus, the resurrected Osiris - the ruler of the Kingdom of the dead. At the trial, it was assessed what a person was like during his lifetime, what actions he did, whether he followed the orders of the gods. The trial took place with the obligatory participation of the goddess of truth, justice and justice. On one side of the scales of Osiris was placed the heart of a deceased person, and on the other the ostrich feather of the goddess Maat. If the scales were in equilibrium, this indicated that the person lived in accordance with the commandments of Maat and did a sufficient amount of good in his life. Such a person in the afterlife was honored with a happy life filled with pleasures. Otherwise, when balance was not achieved on the scales,man was sent to hell for eternal torment.
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