Nisut Atemu

Seth

Orphné Achéron Art - Along the Nile

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.

The Stairs leading to the burial chamber of Queen Nefertari, (ca. 1300-1250 BC) was the wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, from her tomb in the Valley of the Queens Luxor, Egypt.

Ancient Egyptians believed the world was a chaotic place, filled with supernatural forces. They knew that art and words gave life and power to things. Carved with images from hieroglyphs or in the shapes of gods, amulets were highly personal objects that warded off dangers and disease while attracting success.

Some amulets were temporary, intended to solve a specific problem, while others were meant to be worn forever into the afterlife. Priests would infuse amulets with magical energy during religious ceremonies, imbuing them with protective magic to safeguard against supernatural powers. The wealthiest of Egyptians could obtain a divinely ordained pendant, in which was hidden a magic formula inscribed on a piece of papyrus.

It would act as a unique spell tailored to the owner. Religion was so important to ancient Egyptians that it permeated every aspect of their daily lives. Since water was the source of life and had the symbolism of purifying the body and the soul, all daily routines began with ablutions.

Personal prayers to the gods were sometimes written or spoken, with family prayers passed down through generations. There was a complete calendar of each of the religious days, both good and bad, illustrating the appropriate daily rituals. Along with wine, milk and ointments, offerings to the gods consisted of small amulets to life-size statues and family. #egypt #amulet #ancientegypt #amazing #interesting #wow #archeology #egyptology #knowledge #facts #belikepharaoh #tripadvisor_egypt #rituals #heritage #primordial #pharaoh #nile #tour #tours #tourguide #travel #visitegypt #traveler #adventure #history #excursion #luxurytravel #luxuryvacation #thisisegypt #besttour

We should look to begin with what is, in my opinion, at the very heart of Kemeticism as a whole: Maat. Maat has a variety of different definitions, but it is most widely accepted as a "fundamental, pervasive and enduring element in ancient Egyptian civilization and an inclusive and defining cultural category." Maulana Karenga (author of Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics) defines Maat as the "understanding of ancient Egypt's highest moral standards, its delineation of right and wrong, its definitive concepts of relational obligations and rules of conduct and other data which composed and informed the ancient Egyptian moral universe."

But what exactly does that mean?

That's a good question, and it's the question that a lot of Kemetic practitioners ask themselves every day (myself included). While we don't have a definitive definition necessarily, we do have the differing definitions of a variety of scholars, both philosophical and archaeological. Mubabinge Bilolo suggests that Maat is "a place of articulation of three ideals," and that these ideals are:

The ideal of knowledge; the love of science; the aspiration for knowledge; the aspiration for the knowledge of true being or of that which is true or sure.

The moral ideal of truth, justice, and rectitude.

The metaphysical ideal of love and the knowledge of being: the beginning of all being.

That is to say, Maat is more than just a moral ideal, it's also an epistemological ideal. Karenga calls Maat "polysemic," that is to say, it hold several different meanings, and they're all correct. Maat is not specifically an ideological ideal, it's the foundations on which the universe rests. It is the foundation and order of the world along with the foundation of morality and idealism. It is an "interrelated order of rightness" that we should all strive to both embody and perpetuate. Maat is the core of Kemeticism and the core of who we are as Kemetic practitioners. Henri Frankfort states that "a [person's] success in life appears as proof of his frictionless integration in (this divine) order."

While Maat is similar to a myriad of different ideological principles in different cultures throughout the world--cieng in the Dinka tradition, rta in Hinduism, etc.--Maat is uniquely situated as more than just an ideological principle for morality or for righteousness in a culture--it is "conceived and carried out within the worldview which links the Divine, the natural and the social. These three domains are interrelated, interactive, and mutually affective." (Karenga, p.10)

Maat, unlike many other moral principles, is not a fixed ideology or a fixed set of concepts. It's an ongoing project that we all work to create and make better throughout our practices. It is something that we have to actively work on in order to bring to fruition and continue to uphold.

So what all does Maat entail?

Maat, like I've stated, is a polysemic concept that envelops three distinct areas of life: the Divine, the natural, and the social. In order to best understand Maat so that we may best practice it, it is best to split it up into these three sections: Maat as it relates to relationships with the Divine, Maat in the natural world, and Maat in the social world. In order to understand Maat as it relates to relationships with the Divine (or even the goddess Maat herself), we must first understand Maat in the natural and social worlds.

Maat in the natural world

Maat as it relates to the natural world is, in my opinion, the most basic understanding of Maat. In ethical texts, it is described as "life-giving" and "life-affirming," which is to say that it is natural way of life. Ptahhotep describes Maat as "a way even before the unlearned," suggesting that it is innate within us and when we learn things that go against our instincts we are effectively going against Maat. It is considered a way of life that we are so innately connected to we do not even have to learn it. Of course, we will always have to work to practice it--isfet is always nearby--but we do not have to work to learn it. It is the understanding that we are to be mutually beneficial with nature. We cannot take whatever we please from nature without giving back to nature in some way, just as nature cannot take whatever it pleases from us without giving back in some way. There is a reciprocity in Maat as a natural principle.

Maat in the social world

Maat as it relates to the social world is probably the most common definition of Maat--at least in my research--and it centers around social ethics and civil service. To be more precise, it centers around several key teachings made by different pharaohs during different Kingdoms. The most common teachings cited as the foundations of Maat stem from the Old and Middle Kingdoms, with a heavy focus on the teachings of Ptahhotep and his court and the writings of multiple tombs which include things like the Declaration of Virtues, the Declaration of Innocence, and the Book of Coming Forth By Day (Also known as the Egyptian Book of Life/The Egyptian Book of the Dead).

The oldest instructions come from The Instruction of Hordedef, during the third Old Kingdom. They say:

"Cleanse yourself before your own eyes, lest another cleanse you. When you prosper, found your household, take a mistress of heart, a son will be born to You. It is for the son that you build a house when you make a place for yourself. Make good dwelling in the graveyard, make worthy your station in the West. Accept that death humbles us, accept that life exalts us, the house of death is for life. Seek for yourself well-watered fields. Choose for him a plot among your fields, well-watered every year. He profits you more than your own son, prefer him even to your [son]."

While there are a multitude of versions of the Egyptian Book of the Dead that we can look towards for information regarding Maat in a variety of contexts, I have found the Papyrus of Nu to be one of the most helpful in interpreting the social constructs of Maat.

From the Papyrus of Nu, we get the following:

"In truth I have come to thee (Maati), and I have brought Maat to thee, and I have destroyed wickedness for thee. I have not done evil to mankind. I have not oppressed the members of my family, I have not wrought evil in the place of right and truth. I have had no knowledge of worthless men. I have not wrought evil. I have not made to be the first consideration of each day that excessive labor should be performed for me. I have not brought forward my name for exaltation to honors. I have not ill-treated servants. I have not thought scorn of the Gods. I have not defrauded the oppressed one of his property. I have not done that which is an abomination unto the gods. I have not caused harm to be done to the servant by his chief. I have not caused pain. I have made no man suffer hunger. I have made no one to weep. I have done no murder. I have not given the order for murder to be done for me. I have not inflicted pain upon mankind. I have not defrauded the temples of their oblations. I have not purloined the cakes of the gods. I have not carried off the cakes offered to the khus. I have not committed fornication. I have not polluted myself in the holy places of the god of my city, nor diminished from the bushel. I have neither added to nor filched away land. I have not encroached upon the fields of others. I have not added to the weights of scales. I have not misread the pointer of the scales. I have not carried away the milk from the mouths of children. I have not driven away the cattle which were upon their pastures. I have not snared the feathered fowl of the preserves of the gods. I have not caught fish with bait made of fish of their kind. I have not turned back the water at the time when it should flow. I have not cut a cutting in a canal of running water. I have not extinguished a fire or light when it should burn. I have not violated the ties of offering to chosen meat-offerings. I have not driven off the cattle from the property of the gods. I have not repulsed the gods in their manifestations. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure."

We also have the Negative Confession from the Papyrus of Nebseni, which is a numbered list of 42 statements that define what Maat is not. These are somewhat edited from the most commonly found translations because the translations speak only of God, and we know that Kemeticism is not a monotheistic religion and it irks me lol.

Hail, thou whose strides are long, who comest forth from Annu, I have not done iniquity.

Hail, thou who art embraced by flame, who comest forth from Kher-aba, I have not robbed with violence.

Hail, thou divine Nose, who comest forth from Khemennu, I have not done violence to any man.

Hail, thou who eatest shades, who comest forth from the place where the Nile riseth, I have not committed theft.

Hail, Neha-hau, who comest forth from Re-stau, I have not slain man or woman.

Hail, thou double Lion-god, who comest forth from heaven, I have not made light the bushel.

Hail, thou whose two eyes are like flint, who comest forth from Sekhem, I have not acted deceitfully.

Hail, thou Flame, who comest forth as thou goest back, I have not purloined the things which belong unto the gods.

Hail, thou Crusher of bones, who comest forth from Suten-henen, I have not uttered falsehood.

Hail, thou who makest the flame to wax strong, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not carried away food.

Hail, Qerti, who come forth from Amentet, I have not uttered evil words.

Hail, thou whose teeth shine, who comest forth from Ta-she, I have attacked no man.

Hail, thou who dost consume blood, who comest forth from the house of slaughter, I have not killed the beasts which are the property of the gods.

Hail, thou who dost consume the entrails, who comest forth from the mabet chamber, I have not acted deceitfully.

Hail, thou god of Right and Truth, who comest forth from the city of double Maati, I have not laid waste to the lands which have been plowed.

Hail, thou who goest backward, who comest forth from the city of Bast, I have never pried into matters to make mischief.

Hail, Aati, who comest forth from Annu, I have not set my mouth in motion against any man.

Hail, thou who art doubly evil, who comest forth from the nome of Ati, I have not given way to wrath concerning myself without a cause.

Hail, thou serpent Uamemti, who comest forth from the house of slaughter, I have not defiled the wife of a man.

Hail, thou who lookest upon what is brought to him, who comest forth from the Temple of Amsu, I have not committed any sin against purity.

Hail, Chief of the divine Princes, who comest forth from the city of Nehatu, I have not struck fear into any man.

Hail, Khemiu, who comest forth from the Lake of Kaui, I have not encroached upon sacred times and seasons.

Hail, thou who orderest speech, who comest forth from Urit, I have not been a man of anger.

Hail, thou Child, who comest forth from the Lake of Heq-at, I have not made myself deaf to the words of right and truth.

Hail, thou disposer of speech, who comest forth from the city of Unes, I have not stirred up strife.

Hail, Basti, who comest forth from the Secret City, I have made no man to weep.

Hail, thou whose face is turned backward, who comest forth from the Dwelling, I have not committed acts of impurity, neither have I lain with men.**

Hail, Leg of fire, who comest forth from Akhekhu, I have not eaten my heart.

Hail, Kenemti, who comest forth from the city of Kenemet, I have abused no man.

Hail, thou who bringest thine suffering, who comest forth from the city of Sau, I have not acted with violence.

Hail, thou god of faces, who comest forth from the city of Tchefet, I have not judged hastily.

Hail, thou who givest knowledge, who comest forth from Unth, I have not... and I have not taken vengeance upon the god.

Hail, thou lord of two horns, who comest forth from Satiu, I have not multiplied my speech overmuch.

Hail, Nefer-Tem, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not acted with deceit, and I have not worked wickedness.

Hail, Tem-Sep, who comest forth from Tattu, I have not uttered curses on the king.

Hail, thou whose heart doth labor, who comest forth from the city of Tebti, I have not fouled water.

Hail, Ahi of the water, who comest forth from Nu, I have not made haughty my voice.

Hail, thou who givest commands to mankind, who comest forth from Sau, I have not cursed the gods.

Hail, Neheb-nefert, who comest forth from the Lake of Nefer, I have not behaved with insolence.

Hail, Neheb-kau, who comest forth from thy city, I have not sought for distinctions.

Hail, thou whose head is holy, who comest forth from thy habitations, I have not increased my wealth, except with such things as are justly mine own possessions.

Hail, thou who bringest thine own arm, who comest forth from Aukert, I have not thought scorn of the god who is in my city.

**"neither have I lain with men" can be used to excuse homophobia in Kemeticism, but I personally interpret it similar to declaration 19, in that it is specific to those already married/in relationships.

There is a large body of work surrounding Ptahhotep's Maxims as a site of Maatian ideals, but the Maxims alone are over a dozen pages long, so I will put those in a separate post!

Maat, the relationships with the Divine

Maat as it relates to relationships with the Divine is probably the least well-defined aspect of Maat. In the autobiography of Seshem-Nefer, Maat is defined as "What God loves, wills and wishes" and "the Good". In relationship to the Divine, Maat is essentially "right" worship. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation and expansion, which is ideal in a culture and religion that continues to evolve and survive the tests of time.

What the hell does all of this mean?

...

Because the divine intoxicant was meant to accompany the Egyptian pharaoh into the underworld, however, its use as an advanced religious bio technology cannot be overlooked. Just like the beer from Mas Castellar de Pontós, the special brew may have fueled the visionary states that allowed Scorpion I and later Egyptian kings to both witness and become one with the gods. Although priestesses are thought to have been the original enologists, and "lore surrounding the vine personified it as a female entity," Osiris likely predated Dionysus as the first male wine god.

According to the oldest surviving illustrated papyrus roll, which preserves the ancient Egyptian coronation ceremony in amazing detail, wine would be presented as an "Eye of Horus" in order to cure the king of his "spiritual blindness." A ritual meal was then ingested as part of the "secret rites" engineered to transform Osiris's earthly representative into the wine god himself. In this supreme act of "mystical conjunction" - drinking the god to become the god - the human king sought to merge with Osiris as the Lord of Death. In preparation for his eternal sleep, the royal initiate is said to have traveled to and actually experienced the cosmic underworld, receiving the awesome knowledge of what lies beyond the threshold of death. Thousands of years before Jesus or the lamas interviewed by Father Francis, the Egyptian pharaohs are said to have acquired the light body of a "shining spirit" (akh in Egyptian) that allowed them to traverse the starry afterlife.

Whether you have a grand altar or a single candle.

Whether you offer expensive wines or water.

Whether you burn carefully crafted herbal bundles or walmart brand incense.

Whether you dedicate your life strictly to your deities or if you dedicate a few minutes to them a day or week.

Whether you believed every myth or you interpret them in your own way.

Whether you practice openly or privately.

Whether you follow ancient practices or make your own.

Translations of Ancient Egyptian Wisdom Texts

☀️ Instructions of Ptahhotep

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/ptahhotep.html

☀️ Instructions of Kegemni

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/kagemni.htm

☀️Instructions of Amenemhat

http://wsrp.usc.edu/information/REL499_2011/Instruction%20of%20King%20Amenemhet.pdf

☀️Loyalist Instructions

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/sehetepibre_stela.htm

Modern Scholarship

☀️ The Ancient Egyptian Concept of Ma’at: Reflections on Social Justice and Natural Order by R.J. Ferguson.

http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=cewces_papers

☀️The Concept of Law and Justice in Ancient Egypt with specific reference to the Tale of the Elequent Peasant by N.J. van Blerk

http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/2447/dissertation.pdf

☀️The Representations of Law and Justice in Ancient Egypt by J.G. Manning

http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=yjlh

☀️Law and Order in Ancient Egypt: the development of criminal justice from the Pharoanic New Kingdom to the Roman dominate by A.J. van Loon

https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/30196/Law%20and%20Order%20in%20Ancient%20Egypt.pdf?sequence=1

☀️Innocent Suffering in Ancient Egypt by D.P. Bricker

http://www.tyndalehouse.com/tynbul/library/TynBull_2001_52_1_04_Bricker_SufferingEgypt.pdf

Depictions in Art and Architecture

☀️The presentation of Ma’at: Rituals and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt by E. Teeter

https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/saoc57.pdf

☀️ Ma’at as a Theme in Ancient Egyptian Tomb Art by T.M. Schroeder

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1049&context=ojur

☀️ Keeping Ma’at: an astronomical approach the orientation of temples in Egypt by J.A. Belmonte and M. Shaltout

The ḥtp-dỉ-nswt formula has two related functions: The official and the personal. In the first case, the rank and position of the deceased as a Blessed Dead was inseparable from a brilliant actuation in the functions of the royal court and ethical behaviour their during life.

This succes was necessary as a  qualification of the deceased for getting access to the conmemoration through conmemorative inscriptions and funerary monuments. The purpose of this foruma was allow the deceased participate in the offerings given to the deities in the main temples in the name of the king, particularly in the great feasts. This reversion of the offerings shows how important were the official live, especially referred to the person of the king and their relationship with the living and the deceased.

The second function, more personal, is related directly with the familiar aspects of the ancestor veneration. These offerings, made pictorically and physically, will be perpetuated by the members of the family, by visitors of the tomb or by those who pass in front of the stela.

This last aspect is the one that should matter to us in the practice of ancestor veneration, therefore, I ’ll try to explain it in a clear, coherent and grammatically correct way how to write this formula in this little guide. Let’s begin!

The Header

The First Dative

Epithets of the most frequent funerary gods: Osiris & Anubis.

The Purpose

The Object: The funerary offerings

The funerary offerings: The five canonical offerings

Other frequent offerings

Other terms or expressions related to offerings

The Second Dative: The Deceased

Epithets or expressions related to the deceased

Bonus track: Would you like to try what you’ve learnt? Give this little excerpt a try. It’s an easy one! Good luck! 😉