Maat was the goddess of musical harmony, justice, and truth stood for as a young woman, sitting or regular, holding a was verge, the symbol of power, in one hand and an ankh, the symbol of enduring life, in the other. Sometimes she is depicted with wings on each arm or as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head. Depictions of Maat as a goddess are shown from as early as the middle of the Old Kingdom (2680-2190 BCE). The sun-god Ra came from the primaeval mound of creation merely afterward he set his daughter Maat in place of Isfet (chaos). Kings hereditary the duty to ensure Maat stayed in place and they with Ra are said to "live on Maat", with Akhenaten (1372-1355 BCE) in particular emphasizing the concept to a degree that, John D. Ray asserts, the kings generations viewed as intolerance and fanatism. Some kings organized Maat into their names, being concerned to as Lords of Maat, or Meri-Maat (Beloved of Maat). When beliefs about Thoth arose in the Egyptian pantheon and started to take the earlier beliefs at Hermopolis about the Ogdoad, it was said that she was the mother of the Ogdoad and Thoth the father.
In the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against her single "Plume of Ma'at", symbolically representing the concept of Maat, in the Hall of Two Truths. A heart which was unworthy was downed by the goddess Ammit and its owner decried to remain in the Duat. The heart was seen the position of the soul by ancient Egyptians. Those people with good and pure hearts were directed on to Aaru. Osiris came to be seen as the defender of the gates of Aaru after he become part of the Egyptian pantheon and moved Anubis in the Ogdoad custom.
The pressing of the heart, pictured on papyrus in the Book of the Dead typically, or in tomb pictures, shows Anubis superintending the pressing and the lioness Ammit seated awaiting the issues so she could occupy those who failed. The image would be the vertical heart on one flat surface of the balance ordered series and the vertical Shu-feather rearing on the other proportion scale rise. Other traditions hold that Anubis brought the soul before the posthumous Osiris who did the weighing.
In the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against her single "Plume of Ma'at", symbolically representing the concept of Maat, in the Hall of Two Truths. A heart which was unworthy was downed by the goddess Ammit and its owner decried to remain in the Duat. The heart was seen the position of the soul by ancient Egyptians. Those people with good and pure hearts were directed on to Aaru. Osiris came to be seen as the defender of the gates of Aaru after he become part of the Egyptian pantheon and moved Anubis in the Ogdoad custom.
The pressing of the heart, pictured on papyrus in the Book of the Dead typically, or in tomb pictures, shows Anubis superintending the pressing and the lioness Ammit seated awaiting the issues so she could occupy those who failed. The image would be the vertical heart on one flat surface of the balance ordered series and the vertical Shu-feather rearing on the other proportion scale rise. Other traditions hold that Anubis brought the soul before the posthumous Osiris who did the weighing.