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Statuette of Maat 7th-1st centuries B.C. Egyptian faience Height: 11 cm The Egyptians, who very early on created a highly developed state, appreciated order and elevated it to the rank of primary principle by which the world functioned. The word maat, that has no real equivalent in modern languages (the best translation is perhaps "harmony", although the word "truth" is often emloyed), was used to describe both the proper organization of human society and the world order (in contrast to the primaeval chaos from which the world had been created). Maintaining maat was the chief task of the ruler. Applied to society this meant the development and observance of proper laws; applied to the cosmos it meant making offerings to the gods who would then carry out their functions properly and not permit chaos. Gods and ruler and people should "live by maat". Egyptians quite often personified abstract concepts, turning them into images of gods, and the principle of world harmony was embodied by the goddess Maat. Despite the fundamental significance of harmony in the Egyptian world view, Maat - like the majority of abstract deities - barely had her own cult. Maat was depicted as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head. The feather could also be used as her symbol.
Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum
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