Modern concepts of truth and justice can be traced back through Roman law, which was heavily influenced by Ma’at, when Rome occupied Egypt for 700 years starting in 31 BCE. Ma’at is the ancient Egyptian unified concept of truth, balance, law, justice, and morality. Ma’at was also a goddess who personified those qualities while regulating the stars, seasons, and influencing the actions of mortals. She, with other deities in the Egyptian religious system, brought order from chaos at the moment of creation. The carved and painted images of Ma’at typically portrayed an ostrich plume on her head. Ancient Egyptians believed she used the feather to weigh the hearts of citizens at death to indicate where they went in the afterlife. This is the origin of the concept of a good heart being as light as a feather. Ma’at resided in the cosmos and natural world of original creation.
Historians trace the symbolism of justice in the female form of blindfolded Lady Justice, carrying a scale and a sword, back to Roman Law and the ancient Egyptian concept of Ma’at.
The blindfold of the Lady embodies the principle of unbiased truth and equal justice. No favor is given to wealth, power, or status in the “face” of the law. Her scales for weighing justice are equated with Ma’at’s ostrich feather, which weighed the heart. A truthful and moral heart was light as a feather. Light-hearted.
Isfet was the Egyptian ideological opposite of Ma’at. Isfet carried injustice, chaos, violence, and did evil. Isfet didn’t reside in the cosmos like Ma’at but in the free will of humans. It was believed that if the annual Nile flood failed to occur or civil strife happened, it was because people were acting with Isfet rather than Ma’at.
I know that several of the Christian Ten Commandments demand we “have no other gods before Me” and “not make idols.” Those commandments are about what Christians are to worship in their spiritual and secular lives. I am not suggesting anyone start worshipping ancient Egyptian deities, but let’s look at what modern Americans, Christian or not, are worshipping.
I cannot find any term or symbol in modern America that embodies all the qualities exemplified by the single concept of Ma’at. Those elemental ideals seem to be split apart into separate areas, causing ideological opposition in America. Truth now comes in “alternative facts,” “fake news,” and AI-generated alternate realities, creating chaos and conflict with established science, professional journalism, and social norms. The current scales of justice are clearly tipped in favor of the powerful and well-connected. The written and established laws of the United States are challenged in courts by elite lawyers working for those who would undo those laws. If that fails, the powerful simply ignore the laws and unfavorable judicial rulings. The current injustices, chaos, and violence are the embodiment of Isfet regardless of what religious tradition one espouses. I don’t hear Christians speaking that the Anti-Christ, their version of Isfet, is actually present and directing our current circumstances.
Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. If He walked the streets of America today, He would drive the “moneychangers” out of temples of the billionaires. With those recovered ill-gotten gains, He would feed the multitudes, clothe the naked, house the unhoused, and read stories of hope, love, and balance to the children. I don’t think people would recognize Him as a savior now, but rather a “woke” or “socialist” person because of the “word-changers” impact on values and ethics. Christian nationalists would reject Him for exemplifying loving kindness and acceptance of others rather than the hate and racism espoused by those “Christians.” Some current movies and television programming impede many viewers from recognizing a true and authentic savior. Modern heroes are typically brutal, violent, and offer vigilante solutions to evil portrayed on screens of all sizes to audiences of all ages. Money and fame are held up as false idols to be worshipped through attainment of earthly things. Spiritual enlightenment is a suspect pursuit while sports gambling and “prediction markets” are aggressively promoted. Gladiatorial sports and war mongering are seen as more powerful than the stability and order found in moral and humanitarian living.
The Seven Grandfather Teachings are the basis of Ojibwe social order and morality. This codified teaching is shared widely among the Indigenous tribes of Turtle Island (North America) as a moral and cultural basis for a good life. The characteristics contained in this teaching are humility, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth, respect, and love. This unified code of conduct is another example of human qualities that are almost universally promoted by societies as the foundation for humane family and social development. These are the requirements to sustain human life and the individual goals of effective community members.
A popular poem and song from Egypt’s Middle Kingdom said, “Those who destroy the lie promote Ma’at. Those who promote the good will erase the evil. As fullness casts out appetite. As clothes cover the nude. As heaven clears up after a storm.” These words tell us that good can win out over evil as surely as food and clothes win out over starvation and nakedness. As certain as skies clearing after a storm. The power of this poem emerges when interpreted with the perspective of Ma’at, Jesus, and Ojibwe teachings. The Isfet influence on the “culture wars” of modern America diminishes the poem’s hope and influence by blurring what lies are. In the ensuing evil chaos, “food” and “clothing” are denied to the many to create “fullness” in the financial and power accounts of a few. This is an inversion of order, truth, and justice.
Remember that the Egyptians believed that the chaos and evil represented by Isfet resided in human free will. That is remarkably similar to the Christian concept of human free will causing the downfall of the Garden of Eden. The United States was founded upon freedom and justice and was promoted as an Eden of opportunity. While Ma’at qualities were being expressed by some in the land of opportunity, other people expressed the injustice, violence, and chaos of Isfet to produce murder and enslavement of the original occupants of North and South America and Africa.
Each of these three cultural examples embodies humanitarian principles to promote social well-being. The teachings of Ma’at, Jesus, and Ojibwe Grandfathers offer qualities and guidance that help humans to participate effectively in life. Each of these cultures also recognizes that free will can be a spoiler, and worse. There is a difficult catch embedded in free will. It demands choosing. Inaction is a free will choice. Willful ignorance is a choice. Free will is a responsibility with consequences resonating far into the future. It is easy to see that many choices, actions, and inactions of our ancestors deeply impact us today. The values we express in our own lives now will impact many future generations long after we are gone.
