Maat Artifact
The Feather of Maat, known as the Feather of Truth is shown in this exhibit, and is now housed at the Smithsonian Museum. The feather is a portion of inlay art, made of glass, which now appears green in color. This artifact is believed to be from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, 305-30 BCE, in Egypt. It is a tiny artifact, measuring only 1 and 1/4 inches, but it has a big legacy. This artifact was most likely used in part of a greater art piece to depict a story with the Goddess Maat.
The Goddess Maat was believed to be the Goddess of balance, truth and Justice by the Ancient Egyptian people. Her father was the sun god, Ra, and images of her show her with an ostrich feather on her head. The Pharaohs were tasked with keeping her balance and truth here
on earth to ward off chaos. This white feather was named the Feather of Truth, and the belief was that at the end of the Duat, your heart was weighed on a scale against the Feather. If the golden scale showed that your heart balanced with the feather, then you were permitted to enter the Field of Reeds and have eternal life. In this way, Maat also became known to the Ancient Egyptians as the principle of striving for balance in life
The Goddess Maat was believed to be the Goddess of balance, truth and Justice by the Ancient Egyptian people. Her father was the sun god, Ra, and images of her show her with an ostrich feather on her head. The Pharaohs were tasked with keeping her balance and truth here
on earth to ward off chaos. This white feather was named the Feather of Truth, and the belief was that at the end of the Duat, your heart was weighed on a scale against the Feather. If the golden scale showed that your heart balanced with the feather, then you were permitted to enter the Field of Reeds and have eternal life. In this way, Maat also became known to the Ancient Egyptians as the principle of striving for balance in life