Is the Maat and the 42 negative confessions the source of Moses 10 commandments.

Biblical Story of Moses and the 10 Commandments

1. Many people have read or at least heard the biblical story of Moses and the Ten Commandments.
2. What is interesting is that so many know about the 10 commandments but have never heard of the 42 Laws of Maat.
3. Maat was the Egyptian Goddess designed to avert chaos (Islet) and maintain truth (Maat) in ancient Kemet (Egypt).
4.  In the biblical story, Moses was adopted into Egyptian royalty and was educated in ‘all the wisdom of the Egyptians’ according to Acts 7:22.
5.  This means the biblical Moses would have been aware of the 42 Laws of Maat.
6.  The laws of Maat are dated as far back as 2925 B.C.E., meaning their existence predates the commandments received by Moses by 2000+ years!

Could it be that Moses was inspired by ancient Kemet teachings

1. Is it not remarkably interesting that the biblical 10 commandments can be somewhat found in the 42 Laws of Maat.
2. Could it be that Moses was inspired by ancient Egyptian teachings when he wrote the commandments?
3.  It is said that he was educated in all Egyptian ways.

Is the Maat and the 42 Negative confessions the Source of Moses 10 commandments

1.  Check out the 42 (Divine Principles) Laws of Maat below, do your research, and post your thoughts on comments
2. At the end of the article, you will see references for research and further readings

A brief outlook of the Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law

Kemet

1. Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as Egypt called themselves in their surviving papyri manuscript writings.
2. The surviving artifacts of the Kemet viziers and scribes’ evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained at least in part in observing the 42 Laws of Maat.

The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law

1. Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the beginning Atum emerged from the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters). Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool dryness) and goddess Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu.
2. Shu is depicted in the Kemet iconography as an ostrich feather.
3. Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain truth (Maat).
4.  The symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess Maat.
5.  The iconography for Maat in the hieroglyphs depicts the single ostrich feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head.

During the Reign of Pharaoh Menes around 2925 B.C.E ( Remember Moses is said  to have existed around 1500 B.C.E

After the unification of upper and lower Kemet, archaeological finds evidence administration of the 42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as deduced from Kemet coffin texts or funerary papyri dating from this period.

The Duat, the Hall of Two Truths, and the Weighing the Ka (Heart)

1. The duat (underworld as the place for judgment) is where the popular Kemet funerary scene of the Hall of Two Truths is depicted in the various versions of the “Egyptian Book of the Dead:

The Papyrus of Ani edited by E.A Wallis Budge.

1. In Chapter 30B of The Papyrus of Ani entitled “Chapter for Not Letting Ani’s Heart Create Opposition Against Him, in the Gods’ Domain,”
2. We see the deceased scribe Ani standing before his own heart/soul (ka) on the scale of Maat.
3. On the opposite scale is the Goddess Maat’s feather of truth (Shu).
4. The head of the Goddess Maat is depicted atop the scales of justice.
5. Thoth, also known by other names such as Tehuti, stands holding a tablet and a writing tool to record the results from the scales.
6. The ibis-headed Thoth is the patron saint of Maat scribes and priests.

Petitioner Announces the 42 Divine Principles of the Maat

In Chapter 125 of The Papyrus of Ani,

1. We find the petitioner led by Anubis into duat and pronouncing his/her 42 affirmative declarations, listed below from Budge’s public domain translation of the 42 Divine Principles of Maat:
2. I have not committed sin.
3. I have not committed robbery with violence.
4. I have not stolen.
5. I have not slain men or women.
6. I have not stolen food.
7. I have not swindled offerings.
8. I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
9. I have not told lies.
10. I have not carried away food.
11. I have not cursed.
12. I have not closed my ears to truth.
13. I have not committed adultery.
14. I have not made anyone cry.
15. I have not felt sorrow without reason.
16. I have not assaulted anyone.
17. I am not deceitful.
18. I have not stolen anyone’s land.
19. I have not been an eavesdropper.
20. I have not falsely accused anyone.
21. I have not been angry without reason.
22. I have not seduced anyone’s wife.
23. I have not polluted myself.
24. I have not terrorized anyone.
25. I have not disobeyed the Law.
26. I have not been exclusively angry.
27. I have not cursed God/Goddess.
28. I have not behaved with violence.
29. I have not caused disruption of peace.
30. I have not acted hastily or without thought.
31. I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.
32. I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.
33. I have not worked evil.
34. I have not used evil thoughts, words, or deeds.
35. I have not polluted the water.
36. I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.
37. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word, or deeds.
38. I have not placed myself on a pedestal.
39. I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.
40. I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.
41. I have not taken food from a child.
42. I have not acted with insolence.
43. I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.

After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative declarations,

1. The weighing of the ka for truth, and the reading of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered Maat.
   1.  If the Goddess Maat deems the petitioner to be in substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat the petitioner passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits as the final gatekeeper.

From these Laws our Ancient Ancestors maintained a Society without policemen for thousands of years

1. With these laws our Ancient Ancestors maintained a society without policemen for thousands of years.
   1. In the early morning they would say “I will not…” and in the evening say, “I have not….”

References:

• “Maat the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt,” by Maulana Karenga (Sankore Publisher, 2006).
• “The Book of the Dead,” edited by E.A. Wallis Budge (Gramercy Publisher, 1995).
• “Maxims of Good Discourse” writings of the notable Kemet vizier and scribe Ptah-Hotep (accounting of some procedural laws under Maat).