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Year: 1992
Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies
Lichtheim, Miriam
Abstract: The first of five studies explores ”Maat”, the Egyptian term for the moral order that governed
men and gods in their respective spheres. The growth of the concept of Maat is traced from the Old
Kingdom to the Late Period by a sequence of autobiographical and other texts in which individual
Egyptians define and declare their understanding of, and adherence to, the code of right action were
truthfulness and fairness. Adherence to Maat created the good order of society, while abandoning Maat
plungedsocietyintochaos. Man’sknowledgeofright, andhisabilitytodoit, weredefinedasoriginating
inhisheartandinhisnature: virtuewasinnateandinner-directed. InthetextsoftheNewKingdomthe
gods came to be addressed as partners of man’s rightdoing by providing inspiration and guidance. At no
time, however, were the gods given the role of formulating moral precepts. Man remained the maker of
his ethos. The second study demonstrates that the ”Negative Confessions” of the Book of the Dead were
based squarely on the moral declarations of autobiographical inscriptions, declarations which the scribes
of the Book of the Dead rephrased in negative terms, in keeping with the BD’s ritual-magical purpose.
The third study pinpoints in vocabulary form the principal terms for the virtues and vices used in the
texts cited. The fourth study shows that the grammatical constructions of the ”Appeal to the Living” -
the request by the deceased for the prayers of the living - underwent changes which scholars have failed
to recognize, a failure resulting in unwarranted emendations and faulty translations. Lastly there is a
grave stela of Polemaic date with a text which, instead of the usual hopefulness, records a long cry of
despair.
Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich
ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-152368
Monograph
Published Version
Originally published at:
Lichtheim,Miriam(1992). MaatinEgyptianAutobiographiesandRelatedStudies. Freiburg,Switzerland
/ Göttingen, Germany: Universitätsverlag / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht.
Miriam Lichtheim Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies
and Related Studies
ORBIS BIBLICUS ET ORIENTALIS
Published by the Biblical Institute of the University
of Fribourg Switzerland
the Seminar für Biblische Zeitgeschichte
of the University of Münster i.W. Federal Republic of Germany
and the Schweizerische Gesellschaft
für orientalische Altertumswissenschaft
Editor: Othmar Keel
Coeditors: Erich Zenger and Albert de Pury
The Author:
Miriam Lichtheim grew up in Berlin. She studied Semitic languages, Egypt
ology, and Creek atthe Hebrew University in Jerusalem, finishing with a M.A.
degree in 1939. Continuing at the Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago, she obtained a Ph. D. in Egyptology in 1944. Subsequently she
became a professional librarian, working first at Yale University and later at
the University of California, Los Angeles. There, until her retirement, she held
the dual position of Near Eastern bibliographer and lecturer in ancient
Egyptian history. Apart from articles, her publications include: Demotic
Ostraca from Medinet Habu, 1957, the three-volume Ancient Egyptian
Literature, 1973-1980, Late Egyptian Wisdom Literature in the International
Context, OBO 52 (1983) and Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the
Middle Kingdom. A Study and an Anthology, OBO 84 (1988).
Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 120
Miriam Lichtheim
Maat in Egyptian
Autobiographies
and Related Studies
Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Lichtheim, Miriam:
Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies / Miriam Lichtheim. -
Freiburg, Schweiz: Univ.-Verl.; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1992
(Orbis biblicus et orientalis; 120)
ISBN 3-525-53754-9 (Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht)
ISBN 3-7278-0846-2 (Univ.-Verl.)
NE: GT
Die Druckvorlagen wurden von der Verfasserin
als reprofertige Dokumente zur Verfügung gestellt
© 1992 by Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen
Paulusdruckerei Freiburg Schweiz
ISBN 3-7278-0846-2 (Universitätsverlag)
ISBN 3-525-53754-9 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
Digitalisat erstellt durch Florina Tischhauser,
Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar, Universität Zürich
5
CONTENTS
PREFACE 7
1. MAAT IN EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 9
1. Basic Recognitions 9
2. Exploring the Self 20
3. Justice 33
4. Ethics and Piety in 18th DynastyA utobiographies 48
5. Ramesside Ethics and Piety 66
6. The Theban Clergy of Amun 81
7. "Principium Sapientiae Timor Domini" 90
II. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND "NEGATIVE CON-
FESSIONS" 103
III. THE MORAL VOCABULARY, AN ANNOTATED
INDEX 145
IV. THE "APPEAL TO THE LIVING" THROUGH THE
AG~ 1~
V. THE STELA OF PADISOBEK, A CHILDLESS MAN 191
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 203
A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MAAT STUDIES 205
ABBREVIA TIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 207
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA TO MY ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES CHIEFLY OF
THE MDDLE KINGDOM 211
7
PREFACE
Not formally but in effect, this book is a sequel to my Ancient
Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom
(Fribourg 1988). Its five studies deal with certain aspects of
Egyptian Autobiography, and the time span now is predomi
nantly that of the New Kingdom and the Late Period.
1. The essay on Maat was prompted by observing the imbal
ance between the· plethora of broad treatments of the topic "Maat"
and the lack of detailed textual studies. My enterprise is an assem
blage and paraphrase of texts, mostly autobiographic ones, ar
ranged in chronological sequence, in which the Egyptians declare
and define their doing and thinking of Maat. While the word
"maat" translates readily into "right/rightness", "truth", and
"justice", Egyptian thinking about Maat resulted in formulating the
systematized attitudes which in modern languages are called
"ethics" and "morality". Studying the ethics of the ancient Egyp
tians means examining Maat in the context of the Egyptian
experience with "knowledge/wisdom" (r!]) and with the Egyp
tian 's sense of the divine, his piety. Thus, in the sources here
assembled the triangle ethics-wisdom-piety will be in constant
view.
2. The second study traces the connection between autobio
graphic self-praises and the "Negative Confessions" of chapter 125
of the Book of the Dead. And since the "Negative Confessions"
were motivated by the idea of a "Judgment of the Dead", the auto
biographic texts are also examined for their bearing on the concept
of that "Last Judgment".
3. The brief third study is in the form of an annotated Index,
which assembles and translates the moral vocabulary of the texts
cited in Studies 1 & 2 and draws some conclusions about the rank
ing of moral values in Egyptian thought.
4. The fourth study is a grammatical investigation of the por
tion of Autobiographies known as the "Appeal to the Living". lt
8
reaches certain conclusions about changes in the grammatical struc
ture and meaning of the "Appeal" which have hitherto not been
recognized.
5. Lastly, there is a new edition of the text on the verso of the
Ptolemaic stela of Padisobek (Cairo JE 44065) which was first pub
lished by Daressy in Recueil de Travaux 36, 1914, 73ff. Known as
the stela of the "childless man", it has an unusual autobiographic
text on its verso which has been discussed by several scholars; but
no photographs were published and Daressy"s unreliable printed
text prevented a clear understanding. The photographs here pub
lished now allow an almost complete reading, and some im
provements over what I have read and understood could still be
made.
The camera-ready copy of my typescript was computer-typed
with care and competence by Hanna Jenni of Basel. And once
again I thank Prof. Othmar Keel for the hospitality of his OBO
series.
Jerusalem, July 1991
Miriam Lichtheim
9
MAAT IN EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
1. Basic Recognitions
The earliest statements of "doing Maat" occur near the end of
the 5th dynasty.
1) Tomb inscription of the priest Wr-.Qww from Giza. (Urk. I,
46.Sff.; Baer, Rank and Title, no. 118; end of 5th dyn.)
pr (.i) m niwt(.i)
h3.n(.i) m sp3t(.i)
g_d.n(.i) m3ct im
ir.n(.i) m3ct im
n sp ir(.i) snnt rm! nb
n sp di(.i) sg_r s nb spt ir(.i) }:lr bt nb
g_r mswt(.i)
I went from my town
and have descended from my nome,
having spoken Maat there,
having done Maat there.
I never did what is hurtful to people,
I never let a man spend the night angry with me about
something,
since I was born.
2) Tomb inscription of Ssm-nfr from Giza. (Urk. I, 57.llff.; Baer,
Rank and Title, no. 479; end of 5th dyn. or later)
iy.n(.i) m niwt(.i)
pr.n(.i) m sp3t(.i)
