Maat - Keeping Peace and Order.





Maat did not have an easy job. If Amun had to shoulder some responsibility for being number one god, then this talented, hard working, goddess had the entire world on her shoulders.

She was seen to regulate the stars and the seasons. That would seem like enough work but being female and able to juggle more than one job at a time there was more to her job description.

She was also critical in the deceased passage into the afterlife. Like Anubis weighing the heart, she had the responsibility of weighing souls to determine if the departed would reach the afterworld successfully.

Her image was that of a woman with outstretched wings and a feather on her head. Depictions of her have been found on sarcophagi and they were used as protection for the souls of the dead.

And as if that wasn't enough to take care of, she had to be on call 24/7. Many Egyptians believed that without her, their world would slip into chaos and their world would end.

Whew! That would leave any god exhausted at the end of a shift.



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