When it comes to the hierarchy of the Egyptian Gods things get a bit blurry, generally it's the Sun God at the top, but in truth that is not the way it always is or was, in my opinion. Ma'at stands right at the top of the Universe.
Often represented as a pair of twins or a teenage girl, she rules it all. She represents the Order and Truth in the Universe. This makes her more powerful than even Ra himself.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the Universe was above anything else an ordered and rational place, where things happened with predictability and regularity, the cycle of the world was always constant and in perfect balance, and to them Ma'at represented this order. In fact, the Egyptian word for this balance was the Egyptian word for "truth," ma'at. Ma'at functioned always, and with accuracy, she maintained Order in the Universe.
The concept of Ma'at became very important to subsequent history, the Egyptians passed the idea to the Greeks who renamed it 'logos' which means "order/pattern". The Christians adopted the concept of logos to explain moral order. In the Gospel of John is says "In the beginning was the logos , and the logos was with God, etc." Dispute it or agree with it, the concept of Ma'at was the same for the Greeks and for the Christians.
The Egyptians believed that Ma'at ruled the universe as a benevolent Goddess, in all aspects, and the Christians make the same assumption about their God. Lets look a bit at what she was all about.
Ma'at (sometimes called Maat) was the Patron of truth, law and Order. She is represented as a woman, sometimes a teenage girl, wearing a crown which is surmounted by a huge ostrich feather. (often Red) Her symbols is a stone platform or foundation which represents her stability. It was believed that without her all of creation would perish, as she represented the order and stability in the Universe.
The primary duties of the Pharaoh was to uphold Law and administering Justice, as a reflection of her importance in Truth and Order, many of the pharaohs took the title ' Beloved of Ma'at' to show their dedication to justice and truth.
Whenever there was need for anything to be judged, Ma'at would be present, she would be invoked by the judge to make sure that justice would prevail. It was said that in the underworld, the heart of the deceased was weighed by Anub on the scales of justice weighing it against Ma'at's feather. If the heart was heavier the soul of the deceased would be fed to Anub, but when the scales balanced Osiris would welcome the deceased into the Blessed Land
Ma'at was present in all the worlds, worshipped and revered widely throughout all of Egypt, and even the Gods was shown praising her.
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