Ma'at is the Egyptian Goddess who personifies Cosmic Order, the ideal state of the universe, and natural order. She was created at the beginning of time and�her father is Re. She is the goddess of Truth, Justice and Moral Integrity, she regulates the seasons, the movement of the stars and relationships between men and gods (netjer).�Ma'at can not be taken for granted because without Ma'at there is chaos and lawlessness. Ancient Egyptians view the world in dual opposites. These dual opposites were always struggling with one another, night/day, male/female, sunrise/sunset, right/wrong etc. �Ma'at was needed to balance out the dual opposites so chaos is defeated. In art she is shown as a young woman wearing an ostrich feather. Judges in Ancient Egypt wore her feather as a sign of office. Egyptian pharaohs were responsible for establishing social order(ma'at) while they reign and Egyptians were to live their lives in accordance with the laws of Ma'at (moral laws). Egyptians did not have a�set�of�religious commands�or�civil�laws until later in their history.�Pharaohs, their Great�Wives�and The God Wife of Amen were often shown presenting a statute of Ma'at in temples. This offering is called "Presentation of Ma'at". This expressive the promise to uphold the divinely ordain cosmic order and was one of Egypt's most important ceremonies. In The Book of the Dead, Chapter 125 there is a detail description on how the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of Ma'at. If the heart is pure the deceased will share in the afterlife, but if the heart is found corrupt it is devoured by the Swallowing Monster which obliterate the deceased's personality.
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