12.10.2006 Maat or "what is right " was personified as a squatting goddess with an ostrich feather on top of her head, or, simply the feather alone. The goddess Maat was responsible for the divine order of the cosmos at the moment of its creation. The concept of Maat was the basis for all thought and ethics; most significantly, truth, justice, and the essential harmony of the universe. Maat not only regulated the seasons and the movement of the stars, but also the relations between men and gods. Living in the image of Maat was the basis for all order in the universe, and the aspiration of every Egyptian. The opposite of Maat was chaos. The goddess Maat is often represented in temples sacred to Egypt deities, but few structures dedicated to the goddess herself have survived. One of the best preserved is a small structure in the precinct of Montu at Karnak. The cult of Maat is attested as early as the Old Kingdom, and from the New Kingdom onward, the goddess is called "daughter of Ra ", no doubt an expression of the belief that the king ruled through her authority. Frequently, the king is depicted on temple walls holding a small image of the goddess of cosmic order cupped in the palm of his hand, and offering it to the gods. The epithet, "beloved of Maat ", is often included in his tutelary. Even Akhenaten, whose devotion to the cult of the sun disk, Aten, was later reviled as the antithesis of Maat, is described in the Theban tomb of the vizier Ramose (Theban Tomb 55) as "living by Maat ". Maat embodied the concept of justice, and it is therefore not surprising that the Vizier, who controlled the courts of law, also held the title, "Priest of Maat "; a figure of the goddess suspended from a gold chain may even have been his emblem of office. Maat was present at the judgment of the dead in the Hall of the Two Truths, (or Maaty) when the heart of the deceased was weighed against an image of the goddess, or her symbol, the "feather of truth ". If both the heart and the feather were in balance, the deceased was assured harmony with Maat and eternal survival. Dr. Wafaa el Saddik Director Nationalmuseum Cairo