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Assessors of Maat

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Papyrus of Ani: some of the 42 Judges of Maat are visible, seated and in small size. British Museum, London.

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

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Negative Confessions and psychostasia

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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.[1][2]

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)

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The American egyptologist Richard Herbert Wilkinson thus inventoried, in his The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003), the 42 Assessors of Maat:[2]

Name of the deity Identified with Sin Name of the deity Identified with Sin
1 Usekh-nemmt

"Far-Strider"

Heliopolis falsehood 22 Maa-antuf

"Demolisher"

Xois Transgressing
2 Hept-khet

"Fire-Embracer"

Kheraha

(Old Cairo?[13])

Robbery 23 Her-uru

"Disturber"

Weryt Being hot-tempered
3 Fenti

"Nosey One"

Hermopolis Stealing 24 Khemiu

"Youth"

Heliopolitan nome Unhearing of truth
4 Am-khaibit

"Swallower of Shades"

"The Cavern" Murder 25 Shet-kheru

"Foreteller"

Wenes Making disturbance
5 Neha-her

"Dangerous One"

Rosetau

(Giza Plateau[14])

Stealing grain 26 Nebheru

"You of the Altar"

"the secret place" Violence
6 Ruruti

"Double Lion"

"The sky" Purloined offerings 27[15] Kenemti

"Face Behind Him"

"Cavern of wrong" copulating with a boy
7 Arfi-em-khet

"Fiery Eyes"

Letopolis Stealing Gods property 28 An-hetep-f

"Hot-Foot"

"The dusk" Transgression
8 Neba

"Flame"

"Came forth

backwards"

Lying 29 Sera-kheru

"You of the Darkness"

"The darkness" Quarrelling
9 Set-qesu

"Bone Breaker"

Heracleopolis Taking food 30 Neb-heru

"Bringer of Your Offerings"

Sais Unduly active
10 Utu-nesert

"Green of Flame"

Memphis Cursing 31 Sekhriu

"Owner of Faces"

Nedjefet

(13th / 14th Upper

Egyptian nome)

Impatience
11 Qerrti

"You of the Cavern"

"The West" Adultery 32 Neb-abui

"Accuser"

Wetjenet

(in Punt[16])

damaging a god's image
12 Hraf-haf

"White of Teeth"

Faiyum Causing tears 33 "Owner of Horns" Asyut Volubility of speech
13 Hetch-abhu/

Shezmu "House of Nature"

"The shambles" Killing a sacred bull 34 Nefertem Memphis Wrongdoing
14 Ta-retiu

"Eater of Entrails"

"House of Thirty" Stealing land 35 Temsep/Tem-Sepu Busiris Conjuration against

the king

15 Unem-snef

"Lord of Truth"

Maaty Eavesdropping 36 Ari-em-ab-f

"You Who Acted Willfully"

Tjebu Stopping water flow
16 Unem-besek

"Wanderer"

Bubastis Complaints 37 Ahi

"Water-Smiter"

"The abyss" Being loud voiced
17 Neb-Maat

"Pale One"

Heliopolis Being angry 38 Uatch-rekhit

"Commander of Mankind"

"Your house" Reviling God
18 Tenemiu

"Doubly Evil"

Andjet Adultery 39 Nehebkau The Harpoon Nome

(7th / 8th Lower

Egyptian nome[17])

Arrogance
19 Sertiu

"Wememty-Snake"

"Place of execution" Adultery 40 Neheb-nefert

Bestower of Powers"

"The city" Making distinctions

For self

20 Tutu

"See Whom You Bring"

"House of Min" Polluting the body 41 Hetch-abhu

"Serpent With Raised Head"

"The cavern" dishonest wealth
21 Uamenti

"Over the Old One"

Imau Terrorizing 42 Neb-abui

"Serpent Who Brings and

Gives"

"The silent land" Blasphemy

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Hart 1986, pp. 34–5.
  2. ^ a b c Wilkinson 2003, pp. 84–5.
  3. ^ Budge 2008, pp. 355–78.
  4. ^ Taylor 2010, p. 208.
  5. ^ "Ma'at". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  6. ^ Taylor 2010, p. 209.
  7. ^ Taylor 2010, p. 215.
  8. ^ "Gods of Ancient Egypt; Ammit". ancientegyptonline.co.uk. Retrieved 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. ^ Sheehan, Peter (2015). Babylon of Egypt: The Archaeology of Old Cairo and the Origins of the City. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9789774167317.
  14. ^ "Gods of Ancient Egypt: Sokar". ancientegyptonline.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  15. ^ Mark, Joshua J. "The Forty-Two Judges". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  16. ^ O'Connor, David; Quirke, Stephen (3 June 2016). Mysterious Lands. Routledge. ISBN 9781315423807.
  17. ^ "The Nomes of Lower Egypt". ancientegyptonline.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

Bibliography

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