On the relationship between Maat’s concept and female status in ancient Egypt

Xinbo He

doi:10.54691/2adqmm67

Authors

Xinbo He

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/2adqmm67

Keywords:

ancient Egypt; Maat’s concept; female status; goddess worship.

Abstract

In ancient Egypt with a strong religious belief, Maat was recognized, followed, and respected by all ancient Egyptians for its unique figurative metaphor and multiple connotations. The goddess Maat not only mastered the order of the universe but also guided real society. She was one of the important objects of goddess worship in ancient Egypt. The belief in the goddess Maat, which has been popular for thousands of years, is an imprint of the female status in ancient Egypt. The Maat’s concepts of justice, harmony, and order have influenced the legal, family, and political status of women in ancient Egypt. Maat’s concepts run through the history of the rise and fall of ancient Egyptian civilization and are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which are the spiritual source of the high status of ancient Egyptian women.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Siegfried Morenz, Egyptian Religion, translated by ANN E. Keep, New York: Cornell University Press, 1992, p.114.

Domestic related research mainly includes: Li Xiaodong: Philosophical Thinking on Maat and Tao, Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2000; Shi Haibo: On Ancient Egyptian Maat, Historical Collection, 2001; Li Xiaodong: The Birth and Historical Stages of the Dominant Consciousness in Ancient Egyptian Society, Historical Collection, 2015. The most instructive for this paper are: Yan Haiying: Matt and the World Outlook of Ancient Egyptians, Peking University History, 1997; and Guo Dantong, Chen Jiaqi: Maat’s Concept in Ancient Egyptian Letters, World History Review, 2021.

Miriam Lichtheim, Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies, University Press Fribourg Switzerland, 1992, pp.84-85.

Miriam Lichtheim, Moral Values in Ancient Egypt, University Press Fribourg Switzerland, 1997, p.79, pp.101-102.

Emily Teeter, the Presentation of Maat: Ritual and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1997, p.67, p.75, p.83.

Maulana Karenga, Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics, Taylor & Francis, 2004, p.79, pp.342-362.

Zhang Ye and Liu Hongcai believed that the religious belief represented by the worship of the goddess Hator was beneficial to the improvement of the family status of women in ancient Egypt, without mentioning Maat. (Zhang Ye, Liu Hongcai: The Status of Egyptian Women in the Family in the Pharaoh's Era, World History, 2004, p. 16); Zou Wenxing also analyzed the reasons for the high status of women in ancient Egypt from the perspective of religious belief, and did not mention Maat. (Zou Wenxing: An Analysis of the Reasons for the Higher Status of Women in Ancient Egypt, Dongjiang Journal, 2009, pp. 65-66.); Teacher Wang Haili's Women in Ancient Egypt by the Nile took “Goddess Matt” as a section and discussed the women in ancient Egyptian mythology. (Wang Haili: Ancient Egyptian Women by the Nile, Beijing: China Youth Publishing House, 2007, pp. 34-36); Han Shanshan introduced the image of the goddess Maat to us in the section of Women's Cultural Roles in her master’s degree thesis. (Han Shan: An Analysis of Women's Roles in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Master's Degree Thesis, School of History and Culture, Northeast Normal University, 2020, pp. 38-39); In 2017, Ji Jiawei and Tian Ming wrote a review of the study of ancient Egyptian goddesses, pointing out that “at the same time, due to the different perspectives of topic selection, the influence of religious beliefs, especially goddess worship, on women's status is rarely touched.” They pointed out the shortcomings of the current domestic research on ancient Egyptian women. (Ji Jiawei, Tian Ming: A Review of Studies on Ancient Egyptian Goddess in China, Journal of Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities (Social Science Edition), Vol.43, No.2, March 2017, p.63).

Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, vol1: the Old and Middle Kingdoms, California: University of California Press, 2006, pp.169-184.

Wang Liang: A Study on Legal Documents in Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom, Doctoral Dissertation, School of History and Culture, Northeast Normal University, 2014, p. 257.

Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biographical, vol1, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1975, pp.125-126. Translation: Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated & Annotated Notes Translation, Vol1, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995, p.106. (See Appendix for the original inscription)

Maulana Karenga, Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics, Taylor & Francis, 2004, p.360.

Jin Shoufu's translation: The Book of the Dead in Ancient Egypt, Commercial Press, 2020, pp. 90-91. (See Appendix for the original inscription)

Sally Kamaluddin Ahmed Kamel El Hjersi, “The social status of women in ancient Egyptian Art as Goddesses,” Research on Art and Arts Education, vol.21, no.3(July 2021), p.163.

Russ VerSteeg, “Ancient Egypt and Laws Relating to the Status of Women,” Women & Criminal Justice, vol.33, 2023, p.12.

Joyce Tyldesley, Judgement of the Pharaoh: Crime and Pinishment in Ancient Egypt, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000, p.23.

K. A. KITCHEN, Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1983, pp.471,472. Translation from: McDowell A G, Village life in ancient Egypt: Laundry lists and love songs, 1999, p34.

Jin Ling of Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities believed that Maat’s concept of harmony includes three aspects: man and god, man and man and man and nature. This paper discussed the harmony between people. (See: Jin Ling: The Concept of Harmony in Ancient Egyptian Ethics, Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), Vol. 37, No.1, 2008, p. 139.)

Geraldine Pingh, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Tranditions of Ancient Egypt, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, P.159.

Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, vol2: the New Kingdom, California: University of California Press, 2006, p.141.

Richard B, Parkinson, Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991, pp.69-70.

Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, vol1: the Old and Middle Kingdoms, California: University of California Press, 2006, p.100.

Obenga, TheCophile, Ancient Egypt & Black Africa: A Student's Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics & Gender Relations, London: Karnak House, 1992, p.165. Quoted from: Maulana Karenga, Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics, Taylor & Francis, 2004, p.360.

James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp.134-137.

Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, vol2: the New Kingdom, California: University of California Press, 2006, p.143.

H. M. Stewart, Egyptian stelae, Reliefs and Paintings from the Pentrie Collection 2: Archaic Period to Second Intermediate period, Warminster, 1979. Quoted from: Annette Depla, “Women in Ancient Egyptian Wisdom Literature,” in Leonie J. Archer, Susan Fischler and Maria Wyke(eds.), Women in Ancient Societies: An Illusion of the Night, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1994, p.44.

The Gifts of Isis: Women's Status in Ancient Egypt - World History Encyclopedia, 2023.10.5.

Donald B. Redford, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol2, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp.319-321.

Geraldine Pingh, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, P.160.

Joyce A. Tyldesley, Judgement of the Pharaoh: Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt, Orion Publishing: Illustrated edition, 2000, P.22.

Shih-Wei Hsu, Bilder für den Pharao: Untersuchungen zu den bildlichen Ausdrücken des Ägyptischen in den Königsinschriften und anderen Textgattungen, Brill, 2017, p.258. Translation reference: Xu Shiwei: An Analysis of the Relationship between the Inscriptions and Propaganda of Ancient Egyptian Kings, Nankai History, No.2, 2022, p.144.

Glenn S. Holland, Gods in the Desert Religions of the Ancient Near East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2010, pp.39-40.

Sally Kamaluddin Ahmed Kamel El Hjersi, “The social status of women in ancient Egyptian Art as Goddesses,” Research on Art and Arts Education, vol.21, no.3(July 2021), p.163.

Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, 2003, p.58.

Hao Yuying, Reasons, Influence and Cultural Implication of Goddess Worship in Ancient Egypt, Master’s degree thesis, School of History and Culture, Hebei Normal University, 2014, pp. 28-29.

NEFERTARI-QV66 p.3 (osirisnet.net), 2023.10.5. See the appendix for the picture.

Annette Depla, “Women in Ancient Egyptian Wisdom Literature,” in Leonie J. Archer, Susan Fischler and Maria Wyke(eds.), Women in Ancient Societies: An Illusion of the Night, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1994, p.49.