Egyptian funerary religion
Maat
Tirard explains maat as the law or order through which the universe exists. Truth and justice apply that order to human conduct, connecting the steadiness of the world with obligations between people. At the weighing, a figure of the goddess of Truth or her feather occupies the scale opposite the heart. The heart must balance with truth, making conduct visible as a relation rather than a verbal assertion alone.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalTirard explains maat as the law or order through which the universe exists. Truth and justice apply that order to human conduct, connecting the steadiness of the world with obligations between people.
Further detail
TraditionalAt the weighing, a figure of the goddess of Truth or her feather occupies the scale opposite the heart. The heart must balance with truth, making conduct visible as a relation rather than a verbal assertion alone.
Context & interpretation
Tirard’s 1910 account interprets selected funerary texts and rituals through the scholarship of her period. Local cults and surviving manuscripts vary; her comparisons and proposed origins are not a modern Egyptological consensus.
Original passages
Source 1
The Book of the Dead
to be nebu maat lords_of Law, the Law or order by whieh the universe exists. Truth orjjastice wereforms of that Law as applied to humanOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Egyptian funerary religion; active reader leaf 127
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0039-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0039-E001-P0127
- Original scan leaf
- 137
- Recorded leaf number
- 127
- Current Reader position
- 119
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
- Location review
- Original scan location confirmed against the reviewed Reader mapping; the earlier recorded number is retained above.
Source 2
The Book of the Dead
of the goddess of Truth, or the feather which is her symbol. The heart represents the conduct or conscience of the deceased ; out of hisOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Egyptian funerary religion; active reader leaf 148
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0039-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0039-E001-P0148
- Original scan leaf
- 158
- Recorded leaf number
- 148
- Current Reader position
- 139
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
- Location review
- Original scan location confirmed against the reviewed Reader mapping; the earlier recorded number is retained above.