All Things Egyptian

Did a little digging through my many folders and memory sticks today and found a blurb I had written for a college course paper about ancient Egypt. We were each given a symbol and told to dig up info and write about the symbol's barer. I was given the symbol of Maat, or Ma'at. She was thought to be the goddess of Justice, balance, and the scribe. (Wolfy...am I missing anything? You're our in-house Egyptologist. ) I also found a copy of ten out of the forty-fine virtues of Ma'at if anyone is interested.

I can remember studying Egypt, but only a little bit, as it was for an Art project. Unfortunately, my teacher didn't much like my ideas because I wanted to create my own Canopic Jars; she wouldn't let me and said it wouldn't be interesting enough to show during the exam, heh. And I believe you have it all right, so don't worry! I really like the second image you shared and it defines her well!

Also, the first image you shared is of her feather and it is that feather that was used during the Weighing Of The Heart. That particular ritual was part of the Book Of The Dead {unfortunately, it isn't exactly a book} and as most probably know already, it included a pair of enormous scales. If the heart of the deceased balanced against the feather of Ma'at, the soul of the deceased would be granted entry into Heaven. If the heart weighed heavy against the feather, the soul would enter Hell. Where Egyptians are concerned though, this was all quite different. They seldom used those terms {heaven and hell} to define where the dead would end up.

I'm sorry if I've rambled a bit! but I love all this stuff and am very happy you shared your information!

Oh that was rather rude of them! Isn't art supposed to be about total creativity and the love of something? I would have (and still do) find those jars very interesting. *phew!* I was afraid I'd posted something wrong. I'm still trying to find the rest of the virtues but I'm sure I'll stumble upon them soon enough. I also found the whole Weighing Of The Heart ritual very intriguing. I actually wasn't aware that The Book Of The Dead wasn't actually a book. Oh those scales give me chills, but in a good way. It's all so damn fascinating! Please don't worry, you didn't ramble at all and like I've said before you have full run of the place so go right ahead! My information wasn't much but I thought it was something.