ma'at

Examples of ma'at in the following topics:

• Ancient Egyptian Religion

  • The Egyptian universe centered on Ma'at, which has several meanings in English, including truth, justice and order.
  • Ma'at was renewed by periodic events, such as the annual Nile flood, which echoed the original creation.
  • They believed humans possessed ka, or life-force, which left the body at death.
  • However, the ba returned to the body at night, so the body must be preserved.
  • By the New Kingdom, the soul had to face dangers in the Duat before having a final judgment, called the Weighing of the Heart, where the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive to Ma'at, to see if they were worthy.

• Ancient Egyptian Monuments

  • It is the largest and oldest monolith statue in the world, at 241 feet long, 63 feet wide, and 66.34 feet tall.
  • The temple was the house dedicated to a particular god, and Egyptians would perform rituals there, give offerings, re-enact myths and keep order in the universe (ma'at).
  • At the front of each court was a pylon (broad, flat towers) that held flagpoles.

• The Xia Dynasty

  • The Zhou created the idea of the "Mandate of Heaven," which stated that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China at any given time.
  • This hanging scroll shows Yu the Great, as imagined by Song Dynasty painter Ma Lin.

• Babylon

  • The Sumerian "Ur-III" dynasty eventually collapsed at the hands of the Elamites, another Semitic people, in 2002 BCE.
  • Under his successor Samsu-iluna (1749-1712 BCE), the far south of Mesopotamia was lost to a native Akkadian king, called Ilum-ma-ili, and became the Sealand Dynasty; it remained free of Babylon for the next 272 years.
  • Amorite rule survived in a much-reduced Babylon, Samshu-iluna's successor, Abi-Eshuh, made a vain attempt to recapture the Sealand Dynasty for Babylon, but met defeat at the hands of king Damqi-ilishu II.
  • The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign.

• Europe's Early Trade Links

  • In 1154, Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi created what would be known as the Tabula Rogeriana at the court of King Roger II of Sicily.
  • But the journeys, reported by Ma Huan, a Muslim voyager and translator, were halted abruptly after the emperor's death and were not followed up, as the Chinese Ming Dynasty retreated in the haijin, a policy of isolationism, having limited maritime trade.

• The Fall of the Han and the Three Kingdoms Period

  • He nearly succeeded but was defeated in 208 CE at the Battle of Red Cliffs, a memorable turning point in history.
  • Wei mechanical engineer, Ma Jun, invented a hydraulic-powered, mechanical puppet theatre designed for his emperor.

• Technological Advancements Under the Song

  • While engaged in a war with the Mongols, in 1259 the official Li Zengbo wrote in his Kezhai Zagao, Xugaohou that the city of Qingzhou was manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased bomb shells a month, dispatching to Xiangyang and Yingzhou about ten to twenty thousand such bombs at a time.
  • This device, originally crafted by Ma Jun in the 3rd century, incorporated a differential gear that allowed a figure mounted on the vehicle to always point in the southern direction, no matter how the vehicle's wheels' turned about.
  • The device concept of the differential gear for this navigational vehicle is now found in modern automobiles in order to apply the equal amount of torque to wheels rotating at different speeds.

• Napoleon's Defeat at Waterloo

• Diplomatic Goals at the Paris Peace Conference

• The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE

  • A few ships were blown off course and landed at Romney, where the Normans fought the local fyrd.
  • More fortifications were erected at Pevensey
  • The deaths of Tostig and Hardrada at Stamford left William as Harold's only serious opponent.
  • Harold's army confronted William's invaders on October 14 at the Battle of Hastings.
  • Here, a figure some think to be Harold Godwinson is shown falling at the Battle of Hastings.