42 Laws of Maat Under Kemet Law

Maat was the rule of law and moral justice among the ancient Kemet people, and the divine cosmological order within their mythology, astronomy, and astrophysical studies.

Kemet is the name the native African people of the country now known as Egypt called themselves in their surviving writings. Many scholars refer to the people as "kmt" or Kemet. The surviving artifacts of the Kemet viziers and scribes evidence that Kemet rule of law was “Maat,” contained at least in part in observing the 42 Laws of Maat.

The Goddess Maat as the Cosmological Origin of Kemet Rule of Law

Heliopolis-era creation stories from the Kemet people report that in the beginning Atum emerged from the Isfet (chaos) of Nu (primordial waters). Atum created the god Shu (personification of air/cool dryness) and goddess Tefnut (personification of moisture) from Nu. Shu is depicted in the Kemet iconography as an ostrich feather.

Under Kemet cosmology, Maat is designed to avert chaos (Isfet) and maintain truth (Maat). The symbol for truth, justice, balance, and order is the Goddess Maat. The iconography for Maat in the hieroglyphs depict the single ostrich feather (Shu), worn atop Goddess Maat’s head.

During the reign of Pharaoh Menes, around 2925 B.C.E., after the unification of upper and lower Kemet, archaeological finds evidence administration of the 42 Laws of Maat among the Kemet people as deduced from Kemet coffin texts or funerary papyri dating from this period.

The Duat, the Hall of Two Truths, and the Weighing the Ka (Heart)

Photo: Plate 3 of the Papyrus of Ani. 42 Laws of Maat, or 42 Negative Confessions, or 42 Admonition to Goddess Maat

The duat (underworld as the place for judgment) is where the popular Kemet funerary scene of the Hall of Two Truths is depicted in the various versions of the “Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani,” edited by E.A. Wallis Budge. A closer interpretation of the title from the Kemet language is said to be “Book of Coming Forth by Day.” The Budge translation was a funerary text written for the "coming forth" of Kemet scribe Ani.

In Chapter 30B of The Papyrus of Ani entitled “Chapter for Not Letting Ani’s Heart Create Opposition Against Him, in the Gods’ Domain,” we see the deceased scribe standing before his own heart/soul (ka) on the scale of Maat. On the opposite scale is the Goddess Maat’s feather of truth (Shu). The head of the Goddess Maat is depicted atop the scales of justice. Thoth, also known by other names such as Tehuti, stands holding a tablet and a writing tool to record the results from the scales. The ibis-headed Thoth is the patron saint of Maat scribes and priests.

Petitioner Announces the 42 Divine Principles of the Maat

In Chapter 125 of The Papyrus of Ani, we find the petitioner led by Anubis into duat and pronouncing his/her 42 affirmative declarations, listed below from Budge’s public domain translation of the 42 Divine Principles of Maat:

1. I have not committed sin.
2. I have not committed robbery with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have not slain men or women.
5. I have not stolen food.
6. I have not swindled offerings.
7. I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
8. I have not told lies.
9. I have not carried away food.
10. I have not cursed.
11. I have not closed my ears to truth.
12. I have not committed adultery.
13. I have not made anyone cry.
14. I have not felt sorrow without reason.
15. I have not assaulted anyone.
16. I am not deceitful.
17. I have not stolen anyone’s land.
18. I have not been an eavesdropper.
19. I have not falsely accused anyone.
20. I have not been angry without reason.
21. I have not seduced anyone’s wife.
22. I have not polluted myself.
23. I have not terrorized anyone.
24. I have not disobeyed the Law.
25. I have not been exclusively angry.
26. I have not cursed God/Goddess.
27. I have not behaved with violence.
28. I have not caused disruption of peace.
29. I have not acted hastily or without thought.
30. I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern.
31. I have not exaggerated my words when speaking.
32. I have not worked evil.
33. I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds.
34. I have not polluted the water.
35. I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly.
36. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds.
37. I have not placed myself on a pedestal.
38. I have not stolen what belongs to God/Goddess.
39. I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased.
40. I have not taken food from a child.
41. I have not acted with insolence.
42. I have not destroyed property belonging to God/Goddess.

After the petitioner’s testimony containing the 42 affirmative declarations, the weighing of the ka for truth, and the reading of the scales, it is said that the doer of Maat is administered Maat. If the petitioner is deemed by the Goddess Maat to be in substantial compliance with the 42 Laws of Maat the petitioner passes from duat to the Field of Reeds (Arus) where Osiris sits as the final gatekeeper.

- by Vanessa Cross

References:

• "Maat the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt," by Maulana Karenga (Sankore Publisher, 2006).
• "The Book of the Dead," edited by E.A. Wallis Budge (Gramercy Publisher, 1995).
• “Maxims of Good Discourse” writings of the notable Kemet vizier and scribe Ptah-Hotep (accounting of some procedural laws under Maat).

Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt: The Queen that Would Become a Pharaoh




Ancient Egyptian statue (painted limestone) remain showing bust of Queen Hatshepsut that was originally attached to a larger stone work representing the queen as the god Osiris.

"I have restored that which was in ruins. I have raised up that which was destroyed." 

- Queen Hatshepsut

There was a woman who ruled over Egypt from 1479 to 1458 B.C. -- the 18th dynasty, the New Kingdom. During that time the word "Egypt" did not exist. The best English translation of the name the Nile Valley natives called themselves in ancient Egypt is Kemet. For 21 years, as queen regent to her young stepson Thutmose III and surrounded by the great kingdoms of Nubia, Kush, and Punt, Queen Hatshepsut (meaning "foremost of noble ladies") ruled this valley. 



Photo: Valley of the Kings, royal cemetery at Luxor that embraces Hatshepsut's mortuary temple.

It was not until 2007 that Hatshepsut's lost mummy was not discovered. In 1903, archaeologist Howard Carter found a sarcophagus that belonged to Hatshepsut in KV20 Valley of the Kings. The sarcophagus, a cubicle funeral receptacle for a corpse, was empty. Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian Mummy Project and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities honed in on mummy KV60a, discovered more than a century earlier and then deemed a minor tomb. It had no gold or other jewels but was tested and determined to be the late queen regent.

This was a far cry from the treasures found in the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun. There was no gold or other jewels adorning Hatshepsut's mummy, only the remains of the ancient Egyptian royal family. It was soon discovered that there was a concerted effort to eradicate the historical record of her reign. Thumose III, her co-regent and successor, systemically removed evidence of her rule during the time he was too young to rule. Temples, obelisks and monuments underwent a systematic chisel job.

Born in the 15th century BC, Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Aahmes, both of royal lineage. She would marry Thutmose II, the son of her father by another. The marriage of Hatshepsut as wife-sister to Thutmose II was part of the traditions used to fortify royal lineages. Thutmose II fathered one child, Isis, not with Hatshepsut -- to whom he never bore children.  Isis bore the male child Thutmose III. After Thutmose II's death in 1479 BC, Thutmose III was too young to assume control as the male royal. Hatshepsut was allowed to rule as the young pharaoh's queen regent.



Queen Hatshepsut effectively ruled the Egyptian kingdom for about 21 years. In public, she portrayed herself as a man, the traditional gender of a pharaoh. She wore male clothing and a pharaonic beard. Suggestions of her femininity are portrayed, however, in the surviving sculptures that depict her with feminine breasts. Hatshepsut's dynastic rule was a clear break from the traditional role of the queen regent, such as seen in other Nile Valley royal dynasties like that of Nigiste Negaste (Empress Regent) Zewditu Menelik of Ethiopia.

Photo: only remaining obelisk of Karnak, erected by Pharaoh Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut was a grand renovator of shrines and temples, from Nubia to Sinai. Four great granite obelisks were erected at Karnak, at the temple of the great god Amun. During her reign hundreds of monumental public works were commissioned, including focused public efforts on Thebes, her capital, which is known today as Luxor and Karnak.

One of the Karnak obelisks commissioned by Hatshepsut read: "Now my heart turns this way and that, as I think what the people will say. Those who see my monuments in years to come, and who shall speak of what I have done."  One of the four great obelisks erected by Pharaoh Hatshepsut still stands.

Queen Hatshepsut established international trading partners with kingdoms as close as Nubia and Punt, as well as those across the great seas. Her rule was a time of economic growth for her people.

Today, the tomb of Hatshepsut is said to be in one of the two of the Egyptian Museum's Royal Mummy Rooms. If visiting, however, check to determine status because the location and public presentment of certain antiquities change and are limited during social and political upheaval in a region.

Above video: on-site lecture at Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

A Brief Timeline of the Ancient History of Africa to the "Scramble for Africa"

Map of Africa, c. 1812.

	A BRIEF TIMELINE OF THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF AFRICA TO THE “SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA”
c. 3150 B.C.	Ancient tradition states that the first pharaoh (king) of Kemet (kmt, translation: “black land”, nka Ancient Egypt) was Pharaoh Menes, honored with having unified Upper and Lower Kemet into a single kingdom. The pharaoh of Dynasty I would begin a series of dynasties that ruled Kemet for the next three millennium. In Pliny's account, Menes was credited with being the inventor of writing in Kemet. The New Kingdom of Kemet (c. 1550-1070 B.C.) began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire into the southern, northern and western regions of continental Africa and as far east as the region now called India. Notable Pharaohs of this era include Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The last native ruled dynasty is said to have been the Thirtieth Dynasty, after which the kingdom fell into the hands of Persian rulers c. 343 B.C., defeating Pharaoh Nectanebo II. Later the Ottomans, of Arab descent, came to rule this part of the Nile Valley.
c. 1200 B.C.	Kingdom of Kush was an ancient African dynasty situated on the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now the Republic of Sudan. Established after the Bronze Age collapse (c. 1206 to 1150), it was centered at Napata in its early phase. After king Kashta ("the Kushite") invaded Egypt in the 8th century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as Pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt for a century, until they were expelled by Psamtik I in 656 BC. In early Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom, with its imperial capital at Meroe, was known as Ethiopia. The Kushite kingdom with its capital at Meroe persisted until the 4th century C.E., when it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion. The Kushite capital was eventually captured and destroyed by the kingdom of Axum.
c. 100 C.E.	Kingdom of Aksum (aka as the Axum, Aksumite Kingdom, Abyssinia and Ethiopia), encompassed the national regions now known as Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its dominion included rule over the declining Kingdom of Kush and over the Kingdom of Himyarite in the region now known as Yemen, which then included Saba (Sheba) from c. 25 B.C., Qataban from c. 200 C.E., and Hadramaut from c. 300 C.E. The kingdom existed from approximately 100 C.E. to 940 C.E. Great traders, the Aksumites minted their own currency and was named by Mani (216–276 C.E.) as one of the four great powers of his time along with Persia, Rome, and China. Aksum became the first major empire to convert to Christianity.
c. 400 C.E.	The name Nubia is derived from the Noba people, nomads who settled in the Nile valley region in the 4th century, after the collapse of the Kingdom of Kush. In the ancient commentary, however, Nubia, Kush and Ethiopia (Greek: Aithiopia) are frequently used to describe the same people. For example, while Kemet conquered Nubian lands during various times in history, the Nubians are also noted as having conquered Kemet under its 25th Dynasty. The ancient Nubian language in written form uses a modified Coptic script that was mostly used in religious texts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries C.E.. It is now preserved in at least a hundred pages of ancient documents, including the famous The Martyrdom of Saint Menas. There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between The Arab Republic of Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization of much of the Nubian population. Nubia was again brought under Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century, and within Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from 1899 to 1956.
c. 400 C.E.	Kingdom of Ghana, also called the Wagadou, founded in western region of Africa. The wealth of the kingdom includes commentaries of domesticated animals adorned with gold collars and included the domestication of camels before the Arabs.  The old kingdom is not located in the same region as the current Ghana nation. It included the western region of the current nation of Mali and the southeastern section of the current nation of Mauritania and emcompassed Mande-speaking people. Gold, ivory, and salt were traded to Europe and the Middle East. Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Arabic: عَبْدَالله مُحَمَّد بِن مُوسَى اَلْخْوَارِزْمِي‎), the Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer writing from Baghdad c. 800 C.E. documented the legend of the Ghana dynasties.
c. 600 C.E.	The Great Zimbabwe complex was built in stone in the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, marking the rise of the Shona (Translation: dzimba dza mabwe or "great stone houses") civilization and evidencing the great Bantu expansion. The archaeological ruins known as "Great Zimbabwe" have been radiocarbon dated to approximately 600 C.E. The Kingdom of Zimbabwe controlled the ivory and gold trade from the interior to the southeastern coast of Africa. Asian and Arabic goods could be found in abundance in the kingdom.
c. 1230 C.E.	The Mali Empire (aka Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufaba) major tribal group was the Mandinka and was founded by Sundiata Keita and gained international fame from its ruler Mansa Musa I. The empire formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century with the center of its scholarship and trade in the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu. The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a Semetic script) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.
c. 1402 C.E.	Ethiopian embassy was established in Venice.
c. 1460	The Songhai (aka Songhay) are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 C.E., but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. Sulaiman-Mar gained independence and hegemony over Gao c. 1340, and became the forbear of Sunni Ali, the first emperor of Songhai, reigning from c. 1464-1493. Sulaiman-Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire at a time of internal succession disputes. The Songhai Empire would eventually supplanted the Mali Empire. The Songhai Empire would collapse in 1591 in great part due to what is described as the Moroccan invasion.
1497	Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope
1505-1821	The Funj empire in Sudan.
1517	Ottomans take Cairo
1626	First French settle in Senegal and Madagascar
1628-29	War between Mozambique and Portugal, with Mozambique becoming a Portuguese protectorate
1820	Egypt conquers Sudan. British settlers arrive in Cape Colony.
1822	Liberia is established by freed Africans from America.
1824-31	First Anglo-Ashanti War.
1830-47	French conquest of Algeria.
1834-35	British defeat the Xhosa.
1849	Livingstone's first journey in Africa
1850-78	Nine Xhosa wars in South Africa.
1868	British annexes Lesotho
1869	Suez Canal opens
1879	Ango-Zulu War
c. 1880	“Scramble for Africa” begins Note: There were many great kingdoms and empires that rose on the African continent, such as the great civilizations developed by the Moor and the Berber, the Ndongo Kingdom in the central west Africa; the absence on this time-line is a product of the need for brevity only.

Ancient Egypt Remembered in Photographs | Excursions Along the Nile

Photo: Street vendors, Cairo, Egypt 1870's, albumen print from glass negative.

I found myself at a library book sell during the weekend of May 8, 2012, rummaging through the left behind collection of a collector of books in San Fernando Valley, Edgar Hermann, who recently passed. First the book sale attendant handed me a box, noticing my arms weighed with books. Then two boxes...I knew it was going to be a great weekend for this armchair historian. 


At this early review of my finds, I am most excited about acquiring the book "Excursions Along the Nile: The Photographic Discovery of Ancient Egypt," a 1993 art exhibition catalog of photographs of the Nile published by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. The 100+ year old photographs of Cairo from the exhibition catalog are astonishing. I could not help but share a few of my favorites here with BHH readers. 

~ V. Cross

Photo: Great Pyramid and Sphinx, Egypt, 1873.

Photo: Scottish soldiers visit Sphinx in Egypt, 1880

Photo: Crocodile on sand bank of the Nile River, 1858.

Photo: Mosque at Cairo, Egypt 1857, albumen print from glass negative.

Photo: Street in Cairo, Egypt 1850's, salt print from paper negative

.

Photo: Street of the Citadel, Cairo, c. 1858, stereo albumen print from glass negative.

Photo: boys swimming in the Nile River, 1873, albumen print from glass negative.

Photo: Cairo, Egypt from the Citadel, 1858.

Photo: view from the Summit of Mount Serbal, Egypt looking northeast, 1868, albumen print from glass negative.

THE DOGON: From the Nile Valley of East Africa to the Kingdom of Mali in West Africa

The Dogon of Africa

The Dogon, an ancient people in Africa, are mainly populated in the modern nations of Mali and Burkino Faso in West Africa, the epicenter of the historical medieval Mali Empire. When western anthropologists first began to study Dogon culture they were baffled at the group's advanced knowledge of the universe. They were specifically astonished at their intricate understanding of the Sirius planetary system (Alpha Canis Majoris).

Historical commentators believe that the Dogon's cosmological lore goes back thousands of years to at least 3200 BC, during the pre-dynastic age of ancient Egypt, of the Kemet-Nubian family group of the Nile Valley region. Is it only a coincident that the Dogon's oral history includes an eastern migration story prior to their settling in the Bandiagara Plateau region, near the Southern edge of the Sahara desert between the 13th and 16th centuries?

Dogon Astronomy and Cosmology

Sirius B circles Sirius A like the
Earth circles the Sun.

According to French anthropologist Marcel Graiule, author of Conversations With Ogotemmeli, Dogon priests have kept a precise reading of the ebbs and flow of Canis Major planetary bodies. Sigi Tolo is the name the Dogon give to the distant star Sirius, also referred to as Sirius A. Po Tolo is the name given to its smaller companion star, Sirius B. Keeping and tracking cosmological and astronomical knowledge is part of every aspect of the Dogon's communal lives. In the 1960s, when Graiule studied the Dogon, he found a social order void of murder and theft. It included an elder mediation process that resolved the disputes that arose within Dogon communities -- addressing such issues as who has liability for damages when a man's goat destroys property belonging to his neighbor.

For thousands of years, Dogon social and cultural systems were designed to recall and trek planetary bodies that have been subsequently verified as correct mapping. The Dogon gained this knowledge without the use of physical telescopes. From documentary footage about the Dogon, it appears that they dwell among the cliffs and use the peaks of mountain and hill tops to anchor and measure planetary movements, aided by our pattern of rotation around the sun.

Youth viewing Dogon rock drawings.

For the Dogon, patterns and symbols related to planetary knowledge is embedded in rituals, architecture, sand drawings, etc. The Dogon are aware that Po Tolo (Sirius B) has a 50-year elliptical orbit around the super dense Sigi Tolo (Sirius A).  Knowledge of Sirius B was not discovered by western astronomers until 1970 when photographed by Irving Lindenblad of the U.S. Naval Observatory.

The Nile Valley and the Sirius Connection

Seen clearly in Africa, the Canis Major
is one of Orion's great hunting dogs
(See also Canis Minor). 

The Kemet story of Osiris and Isis were developed and recalled by other Nile valley civilizations such as Nubia and Kush -- all of which identify the Sirius constellation system as the dog star (Canis Major), a manifestation of Anubu (aka Upuaut or "Opener of the Ways"; Greek: Anubis). In Nile valley creation stories, Anubu is a central actor. He is probably best known for his role in the battle between the brothers Set and Osiris.

When Set disassembles the body of his brother Osiris, Isis reassembles the body pieces and delivers them to Anubu who performs embalming rites that bring Osiris back to life. Anubu is also associated with Osiris as his son -- making him the brother of Horus (hour/time).

Anubu is also known among Nile valley civilizations as the one who protects and guides the spirits of the dead across the waters (Nun) of the underworld (Duat or the Hall of Two Truths). Anubu reigned over the process of mummification and embalming, leading the souls of the dead to the Hall of Two Truths for the declaration of the 42 Laws of Maat and the weighing of the heart by the goddess of law and justice, Ma'at.

Ancient image representing Anubu (greek: Anubis / Canis Major).

Image: Ancient Kmt image representing Anubu / Anubis / Dog Star (right).

Nommo Cosmology and the Dogon Creation Story

An unusual graffiti photographed by Scotch Mist in 
Edinburgh, Scotland (Creative Commons/Flickr).

The Dogon's creation story has its origin on Po Tolo (Sirius B). According to the Dogon, Nommo came from the Sirius star system, which is some 8.7 light years away but still bright in our night sky. According to the creation story, the Nommo traveled to Earth by ark and, upon arrival, morphed into the eight mythical human ancestors -- 4 male and 4 female (See also Tehuti (aka Thoth), Ogdoad, Rebirth, Golden Age). Over time, the first human ancestors mated and birthed all of humanity. Even today, the Dogon pray to Nommo for rain, a prayer they say was taught to them by the Nommo. The Dogon rain dance is similar to that of the Native American and involves raising of hands, chanting and making offerings.

Queen Tiye of the Land of Kmt: Revisiting Ancient Egypt

The Nubian Queen of Egypt
(cir. 1398 B.C. to 1338 B.C.)

Sculpture bust created circa 1355 B.C. renders Queen Tiye (Taia, Tiy, and Tiyi) the matriarch of the Amarna Dynasty, also referred to as: Lady of The Two Lands; Hereditary Princess; Great of Praises; Sweet of Love; King’s Wife; Great King’s Wife; Great King's Spouse; King’s Wife, His Beloved; Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt; Mistress of the Two Lands). This head bust of Queen Tiye, full view below, was excavated from the Medinet el-Gurob region. The Hathor-Isis (double-plumed feather) crown below was said by one antiquities commentator to have been added later in antiquity.

Fragmentary bust of Queen Tiye, New Kingdom,

cir. 1355 BCE (Located at the Altes Museum, Berlin, German

[Ägyptisches Museum collection] )

Image: KMT, Ancient Egyptian, wall relief of Hathor and Isis blessing Nefertari.

Located inside the smaller Abu Simbel temple, 230 km southeast of Aswan,

near the border of Egypt with Sudan. Also the site of two temples

of Ramesses II (1279 - 1213 BCE).

Queen Tiye's  father was Yuya, the commander of the Chariotry, God's Father and High Priest of Min from Akhmin in Upper Kemet. Her mother was Thuya (Tuya, Tjuyu, Thuyu, Singer of Hathor), Chief of the Entertainers of Amun and Min. According to "The Complete Practical Encyclopedia of Archaeology," Thuya may have also been descendent of Ahmose-Nefertari of the 18th dynasty. Queen Tiye's parents were buried in the Valley of the Kings (tomb KV46). Her brother was Amen, Second Priest of Amun in Karnak.

Bust of Queen Tiye's father Yuya  

Bust of Queen Tiye's father Thuya

Green steatite statue of Queen Tiye in the Louvre (France) 

(N 2312, E 25493). Photo by Keith Schengili-Roberts

The ancient Egyptian (Kemet) ruler Pharaoh Amenhotep III was so captivated by Queen Tiye's wisdom and beauty that he defied customs and made her his Great Royal Spouse during the second year of his reign. The commentators note that her counsel was relied upon greatly by Pharaoh Amenhotep III, in both national military and political matters. According to some Amarna letters, Queen Tiye was indeed an influential lady at court and acquired independent wealth owned separate from the wealth  of the royal house.

12-foot colossus (statue) of Queen Tiye discovered in 2008. Made of quartzite, this royal statuary was originally attached to a 50-foot statute that included a seated Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) was one of the many children born to Queen Tiye and Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Others children were Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Nebetiah, Isis, and Thutmosis. After Pharaoh Akhenaten became ruler and married Nefertiti, his royal administration instituted some of the most significant religious reforms during the dynastic history of ancient Egypt, which includes the "One God" concept. Queen Mother Tiye, however, continued her role as royal advisor. Pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut) is the grandson of Queen Tiye and in Sedeinga, Nubia, a temple was dedicated to honor her works.

Map of ancient Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt; Upper Nubia, Lower Nubia regions.

Map of Lower, Middle and Upper Egypt. Kmt Kemet Nubia. Em Hotep Ptah Memphis (Public Domain) .