Symptoms were a result of a disturbance of maat, which could be repaired by heka, supplication, spells, and ritual. They turned to the religious idea that illness was a message from divine entities with access to heka (magic power). The swnw (conventionally pronounced as “sewnew”), wab priest, and sau were healers who focused either on the divine or mortal aspects of an illness or injury. Being pure was particularly important when one was coming into contact with the divine, including priests. Purity preserved maat and thus the body guided views on the relationship between the mortal world and the divine. Health depended on this balance just like Egypt depended on the Nile River to maintain life. One’s good health meant that maat was balanced, while illness, injuries, and other issues indicated that maat was not in order. New York Metropolitan Art Museum, Rogers Fund, 1927, 27.3.230. Above the cartouche is a winged sun disk and below is a broad collar with falcon terminals. Maatkare generally translates as “Maat is the life force of Re (the sun god).” On either side of the cartouche are feathers representing the goddess Maat (truth). In the center of the base of the scarab in the cartouche is Hatshepsut’s throne name, Maatkare (Hatshepsut was queen and later pharaoh during the Eighteenth Dynasty). Scarab inscribed for Maatkare (Hatshepsut), New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty (1479–1458 BCE).
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