Feather of Maat
A single ostrich feather, the emblem of Maat: right and truth, against which the heart of the dead was weighed.
Meaning
In the judgment of the dead, the heart was weighed in a balance against the feather symbolic of right and truth. Budge describes a painted Hall of Maat whose cornice is formed of uraei and feathers, with the heart of the dead in one scale of the balance and the feather in the other.
One plume or two
Petrie thought the single plume was probably the emblem of Maat. Pairs of ostrich plumes, he wrote, citing Kurt Sethe, were believed to fly away in the wind bearing the king’s soul, and so were provided as a vehicle for the soul of the dead.
See also
Eye of Horus, Scarab, Djed pillar, Was sceptre, Shen ring, Cartouche.
Sources
- Amulets, illustrated by the Egyptian collection in University College, London, W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1914, Constable and Company, London (Internet Archive), No. 39
- Egyptian Magic, E. A. Wallis Budge, 1901, Internet Archive (Getty Research Institute copy), Amulet 1
- Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life, E. A. Wallis Budge, 1899, Project Gutenberg, Chapter on the judgment
Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research