What does maat mean?
Maat names a principle of order, truth, justice and right relationships in ancient Egyptian thought. It is also personified as a goddess. These senses overlap, but neither a single English translation nor one image covers the concept's long history.
The feather and the weighing of the heart
Funerary texts and images can depict a heart weighed against the feather of maat. This scene became especially familiar through Book of the Dead manuscripts. Versions vary, and the scene belongs to funerary beliefs rather than a universal daily temple ritual.
Kingship and cosmic order
Egyptian royal ideology frequently describes the king as sustaining maat and opposing disorder. That ideal must be distinguished from what any particular ruler actually did.
Reading the evidence
Temple inscriptions, coffins, papyri and tomb scenes span many centuries. Ancient Egypt was not static: iconography and interpretation differ by time and place.