Ma'at

Ma'at was the Egyptian goddess of justice. She embodied the ideals of truth and justice, and wise leadership and rule.http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/maat.htm Pharaohs identified themselves with Ma'at, claiming the title "Beloved of Ma'at".http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/africa/egyptian/articles.html Pharaohs also had to swear to follow Ma'at and rule justly.http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/maat.htm In the New Kingdom of Egypt, many pharaohs adopted her name as part of their name and claimed to live according to Ma'at's rules.http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/index.htm

Ma'at was a member of the court of Osiris, along with Thoth and Ammit the Destroyer. It was Ma'at's job to use her ostrich feather to weigh against the hearts of the deceased.http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/index.htm She was depicted as a woman wearing the ostrich feather in her hair. In some depictions, she is shown kneeling with outstretched arms. In these cases her arms are feathered, like wings.http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/index.htm Ma'at was also depicted with the ostrich feather in her hair and a sword in her hand. This imagery has been included in the modern depiction of justice as a blindfolded woman holding a sword in one hand and a balance scale in the other. The blindfold and the scale were contributed to the representation by the ancient Greeks and the Romans. The name of Ma'at is also the root word of "magistrate", another term for justice of the peace.http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/themis.html

Ma'at's main role in the mythology of ancient Egypt was to oversee the weighing of the hearts of the dead in the court of Osiris. The ostrich feather that she kept in her hair was placed on one side of the scale, the dead person's heart on the other.http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/anubis.htm If the dead person's heart was lighter than the feather, it meant that they had lived a just life, and they were allowed to live happily for the rest of eternity. If the dead person's heart was heavier than the feather of Ma'at, then it meant that they had lived a wicked life. The heart was then given to the demon Ammit the Destroyer, who devoured it. A person whose heart had been devoured by Ammit spent their afterlife in a restless state.http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/index.htm