Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics

by Karenga,Maulana

• ISBN13: 9780415947534
• ISBN10: 0415947537
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This work is a critical examination of Maat, the moral ideal in ancient Egypt. It seeks to present Maat in the language of modern moral discourse while at the same time preserving and building on its distinctiveness as a moral ideal capable of inspiring and maintaining ethical philosophic reflection. The effort here is one of both interpretation and transmission of an ethical tradition, a project in which tradition is seen not simply as a precondition and process in which one comes, but also as an ongoing product of one's efforts to understand it. Locating himself within the tradition, the author seeks to test the conceptual elasticity of its major categories and contentions and to establish its capacity for critical moral discourse.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents	vii
Preface	xiii
Foreword	xvii
Chapter 1 The Maatian Ideal: A Conceptual Framework	3	(26)
1.1 Introduction	3	(2)
1.2 Maat: The Conceptual Ideal	5	(6)
1.3 Conceptual Assumptions of the Study	11	(14)
1.3.1 Stance and Tradition	11	(1)
1.3.2 Difference from Egyptology	11	(1)
1.3.3 The Open-Texture of Maatian Discourse	12	(1)
1.3.4 Beyond the Eurocentric Approach	13	(2)
1.3.5 Toward An African-Centered Approach	15	(3)
1.3.6 The Unity and Diversity of Tradition	18	(5)
1.3.7 Continuity and Development	23	(2)
1.4 Tasks and Delimitations of the Study	25	(4)
Chapter 2 The Maatian Ideal: From the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom	29	(42)
2.1 Introduction: Formative Context	29	(12)
2.1.1 The Decisive Factor of Kingship	30	(4)
2.1.2 Civil Service and Social Ethics	34	(3)
2.1.3 A Context of Peace and Stability	37	(1)
2.1.4 The Economic Conditions	38	(3)
2.2 The Evolution of the Maatian Ideal: The Old Kingdom	41	(14)
2.2.1 The Pyramid Texts	42	(2)
2.2.2 The Declarations of Virtue	44	(9)
2.2.3 The Sebait	53	(2)
2.3 Maat in the First Intermediate Period	55	(8)
2.3.1 The Declarations of Virtue (DOV)	56	(4)
2.3.2 The Sebait	60	(3)
2.4 Maat in the Middle Kingdom	63	(8)
2.4.1 The Coffin Texts	63	(2)
2.4.2 The Declarations of Virtue	65	(4)
2.4.3 The Moral Narrative	69	(2)
2.4.4 The Books of Contemplation	71	(1)
Chapter 3 The Maatian Ideal: From the New Kingdom to the Late Period	71	(64)
3.1 Maat in the New Kingdom	77	(27)
3.1.1 Early Phase: Formative Context	77	(5)
3.1.2 Early Phase: Autobiographies	82	(6)
3.1.3 The Amarra Period: Autobiographies	88	(4)
3.1.4 The Restoration	92	(1)
3.1.5 The Ramessid Period	93	(11)
3.1.5.1 Introduction: Piety and Ethics	93	(3)
3.1.5.2 The Sebait	96	(8)
3.2 Maat in the Late Period	104	(16)
3.2.1 Introduction	104	(2)
3.2.2 The Early Phase: Autobiographies	106	(4)
3.2.3 The Nubian Period: Autobiographies	110	(5)
3.2.4 The Saite Period: Autobiographies	115	(1)
3.2.5 The Persian Periods and the Last Independence	116	(4)
3.3 Maat in the Greek and Roman Periods	120	(15)
3.3.1 The Autobiographies	120	(9)
3.3.2 The Sebait	129	(6)
Chapter 4 Maatian Theology: The Declarations of innocence	135	(40)
4.1 Introduction	135	(1)
4.2 The Textual Locus	136	(2)
4.3 The Theological Setting	138	(3)
4.4 The Transliteration and Translation	141	(7)
4.4.1 The Introduction	141	(1)
4.4.1.1 The Transliteration	141	(1)
4.4.1.2 The Translation	142	(1)
4.4.2 Declarations of Innocence (A)	142	(3)
4.4.2.1 The Transliteration	142	(2)
4.4.2.2 The Translation	144	(1)
4.4.3 Declarations of Innocence (B)	145	(2)
4.4.3.1 The Transliteration	145	(1)
4.4.3.2 The Translation	146	(1)
4.4.4 Address to the Divine Ones	147	(9)
4.4.4.1 The Transliteration	147	(1)
4.4.4.2 The Translation	147	(1)
4.5 The Sitz im Leben of the DOI	148	(8)
4.6 Maatian Moral Theology	156	(19)
4.6.1 Fundamental Concepts	156	(6)
4.6.2 Evolution of the Idea of Judgment	162	(15)
Translation Notes for the Declarations	174	(1)
Chapter 5 Maatian Ontology	175	(40)
5.1 Introduction	175	(2)
5.2 The Potentiality and Power of Being	177	(14)
5.2.1 Creative Becoming	177	(7)
5.2.2 The Self-Affirmation of Life	184	(3)
5.2.3 The Creative Character of Speech	187	(4)
5.3 The Orderedness of Being	191	(4)
5.3.1 The Created Order of Maat	191	(2)
5.3.2 The Social Order of Maat	193	(2)
5.4 The Continuity of Being	195	(3)
5.4.1 The Creative Source of Being	195	(1)
5.4.2 Differentiation in Unity	196	(1)
5.4.3 Being and the Transmission of Essence	197	(1)
5.5 The Essential Goodness of Being	198	(9)
5.5.1 The Ontological Anchor of Maat	198	(2)
5.5.2 Cooperative Character of Being	200	(3)
5.5.3 Being and Evil	203	(4)
5.6 The Eternalness of Being	207	(8)
5.6.1 The Telos of Being	207	(2)
5.6.2 The Dynamic Character of Being	209	(6)
Chapter 6 Maatian Anthropology	215	(48)
6.1 Introduction	215	(1)
6.2 The Divine Image of Humans	216	(14)
6.2.1 Pharaonic Divinity	216	(3)
6.2.2 Divine Filiation	219	(1)
6.2.3 Shared Essence	220	(2)
6.2.4 Irt mi Re (Imitatio Dei)	222	(3)
6.2.5 Snn Ntr (Imago Dei)	225	(5)
6.3 The Perfectibility of Humans	230	(6)
6.3.1 Conceptual Implications	230	(1)
6.3.2 Assimilation with God	231	(2)
6.3.3 Essential Goodness of Human Nature	233	(2)
6.3.4 Potentiality and Maatian Practice	235	(1)
6.4 The Teachability of Humans	236	(10)
6.4.1 Moral Wisdom	236	(1)
6.4.2 The Wise Person and the Fool	237	(2)
6.4.3 The Geru Maa	239	(1)
6.4.4 Tension Between Nature and Nurture	240	(2)
6.4.5 Ignorance and Moral Failure	242	(3)
6.4.6 The Problematic of Ignorance	245	(1)
6.5 The Free Will of Humans	246	(8)
6.5.1 Introduction	246	(2)
6.5.2 The JB (Heart/Mind)	248	(2)
6.5.3 The Ba	250	(1)
6.5.4 The Issue of Destiny	251	(2)
6.5.5 Conclusion	253	(1)
6.6 The Sociality of Humans	254	(9)
6.6.1 Relationality and Practice	254	(3)
6.6.2 The Communal Context	257	(1)
6.6.3 Life-Affirming Anthropology	258	(5)
Chapter 7 The Way of Worthiness	263	(48)
7.1 Introduction	263	(3)
7.2 The Maatian Way of Life	266	(12)
7.2.1 Location: The Communal Context	269	(3)
7.2.2 The Ground of Tradition	272	(6)
7.3 Moral and Social Worthiness: Quest and Claim	278	(10)
7.3.1 Having a Good Name	278	(2)
7.3.2 Being Worthy	280	(2)
7.3.3 Being Loved	282	(6)
7.4 The DOI: Rules Without Commandments	288	(6)
7.5 Im3h Hr EVtr Worthiness Before God	294	(17)
7.5.1 Worship: Reverence, Ritual and Virtue	294	(7)
7.5.2 Service to Others as Service to God	301	(1)
7.5.3 Offering Maat	302	(4)
7.5.4 Maat and Reciprocity	306	(5)
Chapter 8 Worthiness Before People	311	(70)
8.1 Introduction	311	(6)
8.2 The Maatian Concept of Human Dignity	317	(8)
8.3 General Moral Concerns	325	(7)
8.4 Social Justice and the Vulnerable	332	(6)
8.5 The Moral Considerability of the Stranger	338	(4)
8.6 The Moral Status of Women	342	(20)
8.7 The Relationality-Responsibility Paradigm	362	(11)
8.8 Character and the Maatian Person	373	(8)
Chapter 9 Worthiness Before Nature	381	(20)
9.1 Introduction	381	(4)
9.2 The Unity of Being	385	(6)
9.3 Guardianship and Filial Obligation	391	(4)
9.4 The Shared Heritage	395	(2)
9.5 Restoration (Serudj Ta)	397	(5)
9.6 Obligations to the Future	402
Chapter 10 Conclusion	401	(10)
Abbreviations	411	(2)
References	413	(36)
Index	449