Maat

   In Egyptian myth a goddess associated with Thoth, Ptah, and Khnemu in the Creation. The word means ‘straight’, or law and order, and as such gave her an almost unique position in the hierarchy of the gods. As the daughter of Ra, a lady of heaven, queen of the earth, mistress of the underworld, she sat in the Judgment Hall of Osiris to judge the dead, wearing in her hair a large upright feather (maat) as the symbol of justice (as can be seen in the Anhai papyrus in the British Museum). She it was who ordered the daily course of the sun, and was with Ra when he first appeared from Chaos. Maat is probably one of the first pre-dynastic mother goddesses, and was so enthroned in the hearts of the early Egyptians that no incursion of male gods or of new contestants for that rank could disturb her. Alternative spelling is Mayet.