The Feather of Ma’at “Symbol of Justice & Truth”

The ancient Egyptians believed that the passage to the afterlife equaled the weight of a feather. One of the most recognized and famous ancient Egyptian symbols is the feather of Ma’at which was one of the forms of the goddess Ma’at who represented the ancient Egyptian’s concepts of order, harmony, law, balance, morality, truth, and justice. The Process of Judgment in the Afterlife was heavily dependent on the feather of Maat. When the body of the deceased was delivered by Anubis to the hall of Truth to stand in front of the ruler of the underworld Osiris then the judgment begins by weighing the feather of Ma’at against the heart of the deceased and the weightlessness of the heart. If the weight of the deceased heart is lighter than the feather, then the person enters the eternal land of the field of the reeds but if the heart of the deceased was heavier than the feather of Ma’at then he would be devoured by Ammit a soul-eating monster that makes you vanish from existence. Note: The feather of Ma’at is an ancient Egyptian symbol of justice, truth, order, balance, and the law. The symbol was seen as the motto of cosmic balance between the power of good and evil, life and death. The feather played a vital role in deciding the fate of each soul at the weighing of the heart in the hall of truth in Duat. The Egyptian Pharaohs were depicted with the symbol of Maat which emphasizes their job of upholding the laws of righteousness.

The earliest surviving records indicating that Maat is the norm for nature and society, in this world and the next, were recorded during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the earliest substantial surviving examples being found in the Pyramid Texts of Unas (ca. 2375 BCE and 2345 BCE). Later, when most goddesses were paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was Thoth, as their attributes are similar. In other accounts, Thoth was paired off with Seshat, goddess of writing and measure, who is a lesser-known deity. After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos, her primary role in ancient Egyptian religion dealt with the Weighing of the Heart that took place in the Duat. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of the afterlife successfully. In other versions, Maat was the feather as the personification of truth, justice, and harmony. Pharaohs are often depicted with the emblems of Maat to emphasise their roles in upholding the laws and righteousness. From the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550 – 1295 BC) Maat was described as the daughter of Ra, indicating that pharaohs were believed to rule through her authority.