| Sumario: | This study examines the earliest evidence of Maat’s connection to the afterlife. While the deity’s social and royal aspects in the Old Kingdom (ca. 2686–2160 BCE) have been extensively researched, little attention has been given to her funerary role during this period of Egyptian history. Scrutiny of textual references to Maat, including those found in narrative texts from private mastabas (e.g., autobiographies, appeals to the living, and offering formulae), toponyms (necropoli names), and personal names, epithets and priestly titles (in particular, the title Hm nTr MAat „priest of Maat"), indicates that the terminus post quem for Maat’s role in the realm of the dead is the latter half of the Fifth Dynasty. During this period, the goddess’s funerary aspect was almost as prominent as her social and royal aspects. The new association with the afterlife may be viewed against the political background of the period and the lack of legitimacy felt by rulers of the dynasty. Maat, by symbolizing both natural order and social norms, positioned fixed social hierarchy as a cosmic element, and can thus be seen as a political device used to strengthen royal authority. I argue that Maat’s newly formed association with the afterworld both reflected and even enhanced these political developments.
|
|---|