into the walls and led to the SERDAB, the chamber in
which the statue or statues of the deceased were normally
placed. These chambers were also used in nonroyal
tombs. The serdabwas built with a slit in the wall so that
the statues of the deceased placed within the chamber
could view the funerary rituals being conducted in the
chapel and could observe the gifts being offered in com-
memorative rites.
The actual burial chambers were placed at the end of
long corridors or sometimes located deep in the ground
behind shafts in the mastabas. Stone plugs, staircases,
debris, and various traps were incorporated into the
design in order to deter thieves and to protect the corpse
and the funerary regalia. These burial chambers normally
had vast storage areas and other compartments designed
to hold tomb ritual materials.
The use of mastabas in ancient Egypt altered the
mortuary processes in time. All of the bodies that were
buried in shallow graves on the fringes of the desert, fol-
lowing the mortuary customs of the time, were preserved
by the heat, the sand, and the lack of moisture in that
harsh environment. Placing such corpses inside brick
structures altered the natural preservation processes, and
the priests were forced to devise the embalming processes
to rectify the changes in preserving the dead. Mastabas
were popular until the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783
B.C.E.) but continued in some areas until the Twenty-sec-
ond Dynasty (945–712 B.C.E.).
Mastabat el-Fara’un This was Arabic for “Seat of the
Pharaoh,” given to the complex of PEPI I(r. 2289–2255
B.C.E.) at Memphis. Nearby, a monument of SHEPSESKHAF
(r. 2472–2467 B.C.E.) stands covered with Tureh lime-
stone. Pepi I’s mortuary temple contained an inner shrine
of dressed stone blocks on a granite base. He died before
completing his VALLEY TEMPLE, but the ruins of a cause-
way remain evident. The tomb is shaped in the form of
an actual SARCOPHAGUS.
Matarriyah, el- This is a suburb of modern Cairo,
once part of HELIOPOLIS. An OBELISKof SENWOSRET I(r.
1971–1926 B.C.E.), one of a pair originally flanking
Amenemhet I’s HEB-SEDtemple, remains on the site. Made
of pink granite, the obelisk is decorated with Senwos-
ret I’s cartouches.
Matit She was a lion goddess whose cults were located in
HIERAKONPOLISand TANIS. The images of Matit were found
on jars dating to the Early Dynastic Period (2920–2575
B.C.E.). In some historical periods Matit served as guardian
of royal residences. Lion cults were popular in Egypt.
See also AKER.
Mau (1) (Mafdet) A feline deity sometimes called
Mafdet in some regions of the nation, and worshiped in
BUBASTISand in the temple of NEITH(1) at SAIS, Mau
aided the god RÉin his nightly journey through the TUAT,
or Underworld. CAT Swere mummified in her honor in
various cities. She was associated with BASTET.Mau (2) The spiritual being honored at BUBASTISas a
feline symbol of the goddess Bast, Mau resided in the
PERSEA TREE and is associated with the traditions of
recording pharaonic names on the leaves of the tree.mau(3) This was the Egyptian cat, called ma’auwhen
large in form. Sacred cats were worshiped and maintained
in splendor in BUBASTISand in SAIS.Mau-Taui A guardian deity of the MORTUARY RITUALS
and the JUDGMENT HALLSof OSIRIS,serving as part of the
deity Osiris’s retinue, Mau-Taui aided Osiris in determin-
ing the worthiness of deceased Egyptians.Maxims of Ani This is an Egyptian document dating to
c. 1000 B.C.E., but probably in its surviving form from the
Nineteenth Dynasty (1307–1196 B.C.E.). Ani followed the
usual didactic form in addressing his son about the
responsibilities and obligations of life. The Egyptians
revered didactic texts such as the Maxims of Anias part of
their LITERATUREin all eras of the nation’s history. A com-
plete version of the Maximsis in the Egyptian Museum of
Cairo.Maxims of Ptah-hotep One of the most popular and
lasting didactic texts of Egypt, believed authored by Ptah-
hotep Tshefi, a member of a powerful Fifth Dynasty fam-
ily, the text was written in the reign of UNIS(r. 2356–2323
B.C.E.) or in the reign of IZEZI(2388–2356 B.C.E.). The
Maximshave survived in 10 separate forms, on papyri
and ostraca, and were discovered at DEIR EL-MEDINA, the
community of workers of the VALLEY OF THE KINGS,on
the western shore of the Nile at THEBES.
Ptah-hotep wrote about the spirit of MA’AT,the guid-
ing principle of civic and social life in Egypt. Later gener-
ations used the Maxims to instill the moral values of
ma’atinto their own historical periods. Especially con-
cerned with the weak and the oppressed, Ptah-hotep
exhorted his countrymen to conduct their affairs with
quietude and righteousness. He urged them to be truthful
and to treat one and all with kindness and respect. A
major copy of the Maximsis in the PRISSE PAPYRUSin the
Louvre in Paris. Another copy is in the British Museum
in London.Maya (Maia)(fl. 14th century B.C.E.)Official of the
Eighteenth Dynasty who saved the tomb of Tut’ankhamun
Maya served TUT’ANKHAMUN(r. 1333–1323 B.C.E.) and
HOREMHAB(r. 1319–1307 B.C.E.) as the overseer of the228 Mastabat el-Fara’un