>>513599838
The Shabaka Text, although copied by King Shabaka in the eighth century B.C.E., appears to be a “copy of a document composed much earlier, possibly in the Old Kingdom or even before, although this is a disputed matter”. The central importance of the text lies in its role of legimating kingship through the principle of Right Over Might, and the positing of right as that which is loved and brings life and wrong as that which brings hatred and death. Moreover, it also contains a religious drama of creation and a religio-political drama of the founding of a united Egypt.
The Shabaka Text is notable and relevant, then, for several reasons relating to the evolution of Maatian ethical philosophy. First, it is both cosmology and a theory of kingship which “describes the order of creation and makes the land of Egypt, as organized by Menes (The Uniter) an indissoluble part of that order”. The monarchy becomes then a part of a divine plan and the social order becomes a reflection and part of the cosmic order. Secondly, it offers a principle of the triumph of right over might in the narrative of the struggle between Horus, the righteous, and his uncle, Setekh (Seth), the coercive, and through the decision of the Ennead in favor of Horus.
The Shabaka Text posits moral polarities of Maat as what is loved and rewarded with life and isfet, its opposite, as what is hated and punished with death. The text says:
>Thus, Maat is given to one who does what is loved (mrrt).
>And isfet is given to one who does what is hated (msḏḏt).
>Thus life is given to the peaceful (ẖr-ḥtp), literally, one bearing peace).
>And death is given to the wrongdoer (ẖr-ḫnbt, literally, one bearing crime)
