The organisation of the legal system in ancient Egypt was governed by religious principles and it was believed that the law had been handed down from the gods to mankind at the time of creation and that the gods were responsible for maintaining the concept of law. 10 Maat represented a sense of moral responsibility. 9 The ancient Egyptians saw no difference between human and divine justice. 8 The goal of maat was to keep the chaotic forces at bay, with the idea of order as the Grundlage of the world, upon which the legal system was based in turn. 7 Egyptian law was essentially based on the concept of maat, which was about morality, ethics and the entire order of society.

The law stood above all humans and was personified by the goddess Maat, with the concept of maat representing truth, justice, righteousness, the correct order and balance of the universe. 6 Addendum A (at the end of this article) gives a summary of ancient Egypt's timeline. 5 It was religion, and the cult actions deriving from those beliefs, that held ancient Egyptian society together and allowed it to flourish for more than three thousand years. 4 Their beliefs and practices assisted the ancient Egyptians to understand and respond to events in their lives.

3 Every aspect of the world was seen as being governed by a divine power which established and maintained order. Religion was present in every aspect of the Egyptians' life it was embedded in society, rather than being a separate category. In many instances the emergence of truly legal concepts was derived from religion, although over time law emerged separately from religion. 1 The advent of writing left a record from which the living institutions of the past may be reconstructed. Law has existed as long as organised human society, but its origins are lost in the mists of prehistory. Keywords: Ancient Egypt emergence of Egyptian law importance of religion hp hpw maat jurisprudence justice balance impartiality tradition precedent custom

An attempt is made to indicate that the ancient Egyptians indeed had law and to explain what the ancient Egyptians understood by law, followed by a discussion of the development of ancient Egyptian law and key jurisprudence elements of ancient Egyptian law. In this article, the emergence of ancient Egyptian law out of religion and specifically arising from the concept of maat is discussed, as well as the important role played by religion, and specifically maat, in the ancient Egyptians' understanding and development of the law. Lecturer, LLB, MA, D Litt & Phil Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa The emergence of law in ancient Egypt: The role of Maat

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