Assessors of Maat explained

The Assessors of Maat were 42 minor ancient Egyptian deities of the Maat charged with judging the souls of the dead in the afterlife by joining the judgment of Osiris in the Weighing of the Heart.[1] [2]

Description

Negative Confessions and psychostasia

Chapter 125[3] of the Book of the Dead lists names and provenances (either geographical or atmospheric) of the Assessors of Maat. A declaration of innocence corresponds to each deity: it is pronounced by the dead himself, to avoid being damned for specific "sins" that each of the 42 Judges is in charge of punishing.

The deceased was accompanied in the presence of Osiris by the psychopomp god Anubis – where he would have declared that he was guilty of none of the "42 sins" against justice and truth by reciting a text known as "Negative confessions".[4] The heart (ib / jb) of the deceased was then weighed on a two-plate scale: a plate for the heart, the other for the feather of Maat. Maat, in whose name the 42 judges who flanked Osiris acted, was the deification of truth, justice, rectitude, and order of the cosmos and was often symbolized by an ostrich feather (the hieroglyphic sign of her name).[5] [6] If the heart and the feather were equal, then the deities were convinced of the rectitude of the deceased, who could therefore access eternal life becoming mꜣꜥ-ḫrw (Egyptological pronunciation: Maa Kheru), which means "vindicated / justified", literally "true of voice" ("blessed" in a broad sense).[7] But, if the heart was heavier than Maat's feather, then a terrifying monster named ꜥmmt "the Devourer" ("Ammit") devoured it by destroying the soul of the deceased.[8] [9]

The psychostasia episode is remarkable not only for its symbolic and even dramatic vivacity, but also because it is one of the few parts of the Book of the Dead with moral connotations. The judgment by Osiris and by the other 42 judicial deities,[10] and the "Negative Confessions" themselves, depict the ethics and morality of the Egyptians. These 42 declarations of innocence were interpreted by some as possible historical precedents of the Ten Commandments:[11] but, while the Ten Commandments of Judeo-Christian ethics consist of norms attributed to a divine revelation, the "Negative confessions" seem rather as divine transpositions (each corresponding to one of the 42 judging deities) of daily morality.[12]

List of names, provenances and tasks (Wilkinson)

The American egyptologist Richard Herbert Wilkinson thus inventoried, in his The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003), the 42 Assessors of Maat:

!!Name of the deity!Identified with!Sin!!Name of the deity!Identified with!Sin
1Usekh-nemmt"Far-Strider"Heliopolisfalsehood22Maa-antuf"Demolisher"XoisTransgressing
2Hept-khet"Fire-Embracer"Kheraha(Old Cairo?[13])Robbery23Her-uru"Disturber"WerytBeing hot-tempered
3Fenti"Nosey One"HermopolisStealing24Khemiu"Youth"Heliopolitan nomeUnhearing of truth
4Am-khaibit"Swallower of Shades""The Cavern"Murder25Shet-kheru"Foreteller"WenesMaking disturbance
5Neha-her"Dangerous One"Rosetau(Giza Plateau[14])Stealing grain26Nebheru"You of the Altar""the secret place"Violence
6Ruruti"Double Lion""The sky"Purloined offerings27[15] Kenemti"Face Behind Him""Cavern of wrong"copulating with a boy
7Arfi-em-khet"Fiery Eyes"LetopolisStealing Gods property28An-hetep-f"Hot-Foot""The dusk"Transgression
8Neba"Flame""Came forth backwards"Lying29Sera-kheru"You of the Darkness""The darkness"Quarrelling
9Set-qesu"Bone Breaker"HeracleopolisTaking food30Neb-heru"Bringer of Your Offerings"SaisUnduly active
10Utu-nesert"Green of Flame"MemphisCursing31Sekhriu"Owner of Faces"Nedjefet

(13th / 14th Upper

Egyptian nome)

Impatience
11Qerrti"You of the Cavern""The West"Adultery32Neb-abui"Accuser"Wetjenet

(in Punt[16])

damaging a god's image
12Hraf-haf"White of Teeth"FaiyumCausing tears33"Owner of Horns"AsyutVolubility of speech
13Hetch-abhu/Shezmu"House of Nature""The shambles"Killing a sacred bull34NefertemMemphisWrongdoing
14Ta-retiu"Eater of Entrails""House of Thirty"Stealing land35Temsep/Tem-SepuBusirisConjuration against

the king

15Unem-snef"Lord of Truth"MaatyEavesdropping36Ari-em-ab-f"You Who Acted Willfully"TjebuStopping water flow
16Unem-besek"Wanderer"BubastisComplaints37Ahi"Water-Smiter""The abyss"Being loud voiced
17Neb-Maat"Pale One"HeliopolisBeing angry38Uatch-rekhit"Commander of Mankind""Your house"Reviling God
18Tenemiu"Doubly Evil"AndjetAdultery39NehebkauThe Harpoon Nome

Egyptian nome[17])

Arrogance
19Sertiu"Wememty-Snake""Place of execution"Adultery40Neheb-nefertBestower of Powers""The city"Making distinctions

For self

20Tutu"See Whom You Bring""House of Min"Polluting the body41Hetch-abhu"Serpent With Raised Head""The cavern"dishonest wealth
21Uamenti"Over the Old One"ImauTerrorizing42Neb-abui"Serpent Who Brings and

Gives"

"The silent land"Blasphemy

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Hart 1986, pp. 34–5.
  2. Wilkinson 2003, pp. 84–5.
  3. Budge 2008, pp. 355–78.
  4. Taylor 2010, p. 208.
  5. News: Ma'at. World History Encyclopedia. 24 April 2018.
  6. Taylor 2010, p. 209.
  7. Taylor 2010, p. 215.
  8. Web site: Gods of Ancient Egypt; Ammit. ancientegyptonline.co.uk. 24 April 2018.
  9. Taylor 2010, p. 212.
  10. Hart 1986, pp. 34–5.
  11. Faulkner 1994, p. 14.
  12. Taylor 2010, pp. 204–5.
  13. Book: Sheehan, Peter. Babylon of Egypt: The Archaeology of Old Cairo and the Origins of the City. 2015. Oxford University Press. 9789774167317. en.
  14. Web site: Gods of Ancient Egypt: Sokar. ancientegyptonline.co.uk. 25 April 2018.
  15. Web site: Mark . Joshua J. . The Forty-Two Judges . 2024-08-19 . World History Encyclopedia . en.
  16. Book: Mysterious Lands. O'Connor. David. Quirke. Stephen. 3 June 2016. Routledge. 9781315423807. en.
  17. Web site: The Nomes of Lower Egypt. ancientegyptonline.co.uk. 25 April 2018.