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42 Laws of Maat Under Kemet Law

Maat was the rule of law and moral justice among the ancient Kemet people, and the divine cosmological order within their
mythology, astronomy, and astrophysical studies.

Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as Egypt called themselves in
their surviving writings. Many scholars refer to the people as "kmt" or Kemet. The surviving artifacts of
the Kemet viziers and scribes evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained at least in part in
observing the 42 Laws of Maat.

The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law

Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the beginning Atum emerged from
the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters). Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool
dryness) and goddess Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu. Shu is depicted in the Kemet
iconography as an ostrich feather.
Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain truth (Maat). The
symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess Maat. The iconography for Maat in the
hieroglyphs depict the single ostrich feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head.

During the reign of Pharaoh Menes, around 2925 B.C.E., after the unification of upper and lower Kemet,
archaeological finds evidence administration of the 42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as
deduced from Kemet coffin texts or funerary papyri dating from this period.

The Duat, the Hall of Two Truths, and the Weighing the Ka (Heart)

Photo: Plate 3 of the Papyrus of Ani. 42 Laws of Maat, or 42 Negative Confessions, or 42 Admonition to Goddess Maat

The duat (underworld as the place for judgment) is where the popular Kemet funerary scene of the Hall
of Two Truths is depicted in the various versions of the “Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of
Ani,” edited by E.A. Wallis Budge. A closer interpretation of the title from the Kemet language is said to
be “Book of Coming Forth by Day.” The Budge translation was a funerary text written for the "coming
forth" of Kemet scribe Ani.

In Chapter 30B of The Papyrus of Ani entitled “Chapter for Not Letting Ani’s Heart Create Opposition
Against Him, in the Gods’ Domain,” we see the deceased scribe standing before his own heart/soul (ka)
on the scale of Maat. On the opposite scale is the Goddess Maat’s feather of truth (Shu). The head of
the Goddess Maat is depicted atop the scales of justice. Thoth, also known by other names such as
Tehuti, stands holding a tablet and a writing tool to record the results from the scales. The ibis-headed
Thoth is the patron saint of Maat scribes and priests.

Petitioner Announces the 42 Divine Principles of the Maat

In Chapter 125 of The Papyrus of Ani, we find the petitioner led by Anubis into duat and pronouncing
his/her 42 affirmative declarations, listed below from Budge’s public domain translation of the 42
Divine Principles of Maat:

1. I have not committed sin.

2. I have not committed robbery with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have not slain men or women.
5. I have not stolen food.
 6. I have not swindled offerings.
7. I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
8. I have not told lies.
9. I have not carried away food.
10. I have not cursed.
11. I have not closed my ears to truth.
12. I have not committed adultery.
13. I have not made anyone cry.
14. I have not felt sorrow without reason.
15. I have not assaulted anyone.
16. I am not deceitful.
17. I have not stolen anyone’s land.
18. I have not been an eavesdropper.
19. I have not falsely accused anyone.
20. I have not been angry without reason.
21. I have not seduced anyone’s wife.
22. I have not polluted myself.
23. I have not terrorized anyone.
24. I have not disobeyed the Law.
25. I have not been exclusively angry.
26. I have not cursed God/Goddess.
27. I have not behaved with violence.
28. I have not caused disruption of peace.
29. I have not acted hastily or without thought.
30. I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.
31. I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.
32. I have not worked evil.
33. I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds.
34. I have not polluted the water.
35. I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.
36. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds.
37. I have not placed myself on a pedestal.
38. I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.
39. I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.
40. I have not taken food from a child.
41. I have not acted with insolence.
42. I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.

After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative declarations, the weighing of the ka for
truth, and the reading of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered Maat. If the
petitioner is deemed by the Goddess Maat to be in substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat
the petitioner passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits as the final gatekeeper.

- by Vanessa Cross
References:

"Maat the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt," by Maulana Karenga (Sankore Publisher, 2006).
"The Book of the Dead," edited by E.A. Wallis Budge (Gramercy Publisher, 1995).
“Maxims of Good Discourse” writings of the notable Kemet vizier and scribe Ptah-Hotep
(accounting of some procedural laws under Maat).

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123 comments:

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THE Light!
MAAT LAW has nothing to do God, Gods, AKA MALE Dog-Dogs. Goddess, Goddesses aka or Female Dog-
Dogs.
There is no God,Gods or Goddess, Goddesses. None.
Reply

Replies

Unknown April 30, 2015 at 8:40 PM

Please tell us why you feel there is no God?

Unknown December 23, 2015 at 1:16 PM

There us no one single entity known as God.. God is you. God is me. God is my brother. God is
my sister. God is every person and everything. Each and every living entity on this earth, in the
universe, in the cosmos, in existence is a part of a Universal force that creates the One-The all-
The everythingness.
You, as part of this everythingness, solely have the power and will to make things happen-to
manifest within your life. It is your will and yours alone that realize successes and failures. If
you say and believe that it will, then it will. If you say and believe that it won't then it won't. Only
you have the ultimate power to create the existence that is your life. There is no person sitting
up in the clouds pulling strings to make things happen for you.

STARF8CE December 29, 2015 at 12:06 AM