
In the course of a few thousands of years of their history, the ancient Egyptians developed a very complex concept of cosmic order represented by the notion of maat and personified by the goddess Maat. It involved many of the cardinal laws described by subse¬quent philosophers, such as the Truth, the Law and Justice. One may claim that the principle of cosmic balance which involved both the forces of nature (physics) and the moral order is the earliest example of the activity of an all-embracing principle of natural law (You exist because Maat exists. Maat exists because you exist). The principle of maat which is ensured by the king operates permanently (for Maat embraces you day and night). A righteous man may rely on its protection both during his lifetime as well as during the judgment of the dead. The rules of the material law (referred to with the word hp, hepu), which were merely at the stage of development in Egypt, operate according to the law of Maat. Unfortunately, this refined holistic concept of natural law is underexplored and it was rarely referred to in the considerations about the beginnings of human thinking
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