42
LAWS OF MAAT
UNDER KEMET LAW
42 Laws of Maat Under Kemet Law
Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as
Egypt called themselves in their surviving writings. Many scholars refer
to the people as "kmt" or Kemet. The surviving artifacts of the Kemet
viziers and scribes evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained
at least in part in observing the 42 Laws of Maat.
The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law
Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the
beginning Atum emerged from the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters).
Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool dryness) and goddess
Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu. Shu is depicted in the Kemet
iconography as an ostrich feather.
Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain
truth (Maat). The symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess
Maat. The iconography for Maat in the hieroglyphs depict the single ostrich
feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head.
During the reign of Pharaoh Menes, around 2925 B.C.E., after the unification
of upper and lower Kemet, archaeological finds evidence administration of the
42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as deduced from Kemet coffin texts or
funerary papyri dating from this period.
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Translation of the 42 Divine Principles of Maat:
1. I have not committed sin.
2. I have not committed robbery with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have not slain men or women.
5. I have not stolen food.
6. I have not swindled offerings.
7. I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
8. I have not told lies.
9. I have not carried away food.
10. I have not cursed.
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11. I have not closed my ears to truth.
12. I have not committed adultery.
13. I have not made anyone cry.
14. I have not felt sorrow without reason.
15. I have not assaulted anyone.
16. I am not deceitful.
17. I have not stolen anyone’s land.
18. I have not been an eavesdropper.
19. I have not falsely accused anyone.
20. I have not been angry without reason.
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21. I have not seduced anyone’s wife.
22. I have not polluted myself.
23. I have not terrorized anyone.
24. I have not disobeyed the Law.
25. I have not been exclusively angry.
26. I have not cursed God/Goddess.
27. I have not behaved with violence.
28. I have not caused disruption of peace.
29. I have not acted hastily or without thought.
30. I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.
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31. I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.
32. I have not worked evil.
33. I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds.
34. I have not polluted the water.
35. I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.
36. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds.
37. I have not placed myself on a pedestal.
38. I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.
39. I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.
40. I have not taken food from a child.
41. I have not acted with insolence.
42. I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.
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After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative
declarations, the weighing of the ka for truth, and the reading
of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered
Maat. If the petitioner is deemed by the Goddess Maat to be in
substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat the petitioner
passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits
as the final gatekeeper.
42 Laws of Maat Under Kemet Law
http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2013/02/42-laws-of-maat-under-kemet-law-and.html
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http://www.leaderu.com/wri-table2/intro.html
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