Editing Maat (section)

==Goddess==
Maat was the goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman.{{sfnp|Armour|2001|p={{pn|date=June 2024}}}} Sometimes she is depicted with wings on each arm or as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head.{{sfnp|Budge|1969|loc=vol. 1, p. 416}} The meaning of this emblem is uncertain, although the god [[Shu (Egyptian deity)|Shu]], who in some myths is Maat's brother, also wears it.{{sfnp|Redford|2001|p=320}} Depictions of Maat as a goddess are recorded from as early as the middle of the [[Old Kingdom]] (c. 2680 to 2190 BCE).{{sfnp|Redford|2003|p=190}}

The sun-god [[Ra]] came from the primaeval mound of creation only after he set his daughter Maat in place of ''isfet'' (chaos). Kings inherited the duty to ensure Maat remained in place, and they with Ra are said to "live on Maat", with [[Akhenaten]] (r. 1372–1355 BCE) in particular emphasising the concept to a degree that the king's contemporaries viewed as intolerance and fanaticism.{{sfnp|Ray|2002|p=64}}{{efn|{{harvp|Breasted|1906|p=123}}: An inscription of [[Hatshepsut]] reads: "I have made bright the truth which he [Amun-Re] loved, [I] know that he liveth by it the truth [Maat]; it is my bread, I eat of its brightness."}} Some kings incorporated Maat into their names, being referred to as ''Lords of Maat'',{{sfnp|Kemp|2005}} or ''Meri-Maat'' (''Beloved of Maat'').

Maat had a central role in the ceremony of the Weighing of the Heart, where the decedent's heart was weighed against her feather.{{sfnp|Martin|2008|p=960}}