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Ma’adi This is a site located south of Cairo dating to
the Predynastic Period (c. 3100 B.C.E.). Paleolithic settle-
ments were discovered at Ma’adi, part of the stages called
Naqada I and II. There were three necropolises found in
the area, including one at Wadi Digla. Remains of oval
and circular-shaped houses were found at this site. Posts
stuck into the earth served as foundations, which were
fashioned out of mud daub and wattle. Interior hearths,
an advance of the time, were also discovered as part of
the designs of these abodes. There is little indication,
however, that roofs were included in the buildings. Wind-
breaks and sheltering walls formed the only protection
for inhabitants. Demonstrations of agriculture and crafts
are available at Ma’adi, as well as ancient copper pro-
cesses.
Also found were wares imported from Palestine and
donkey remains. Ma’adi served as an early trading post
for Palestinian goods. The early Egyptians instituted
trade with neighboring countries in the first dynastic
periods and maintained a policy of exploring natural
resources as the civilization expanded on the Nile.
Ma’ahes (Mehos) An Egyptian lion deity also called
Mehos and reportedly Nubian (modern Sudanese) in ori-
gin, the cult center of Ma’ahes was at LEONTOPOLIS, where
the Egyptians addressed him as patron of the nation. He
was depicted as a man wearing the atefCROWNor as a
lion devouring Egypt’s enemies. There were other lion
cults, including the AKER. The lion was considered a sym-
bol of strength, cunning, and royalty from the first eras of
Nile habitation. The Aker assumed mortuary roles as
well.
Ma’at (Khama’at) An ancient goddess of Egypt wor-
shiped as the personification of the spirit of cosmic har-
mony and social stability from the earliest eras in Egypt,
she was depicted as a woman wearing an ostrich feather
on her head, often displaying the wings of divinity. She
maintained a vital role in the funerary rituals as well, tak-
ing part in the solemn weighing of human souls in
Osiris’s JUDGMENT HALLSof the Dead. The goddess was
revered as the spirit of Ma’at—the ideals that permeated
Egyptian affairs.
During the reign of MENKAURÉ(2490–2472 B.C.E.),
Ma’at was addressed as Khama’at. When Ma’at aided the
god OSIRISin judging the dead, she sometimes appeared
as two identical goddesses. When she did, the arena of
judgment was called “the Hall of Double Justice.” Ma’at
earned the respect of the other deities of Egypt because
she embodied the nation’s highest aspirations.ma’at The name for the spiritual ideals and pervasive
theme of social behavior for Egyptians of all historic peri-
ods, personified by the goddess MA’AT,ma’atis actually
one of the earliest abstract terms recorded in human his-
tory. By 3,000 B.C.E.,ma’athad evolved into a single phi-
losophy of life that was based on the observations of the
night sky, where the universe and the nightly procession
of celestial bodies proclaimed order. Such universal har-
mony appeared as a factor of existence that had to be
mirrored on the earth if the Egyptians were to prosper
and to serve as the divinely inspired “Gift of the Nile.”
Ma’at was the guiding principle for a national moral
order and for human affairs, providing a lasting moral
conviction.