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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Ancient Egypt and Africa's search for 'Ka-Maat'
Author:Oculi, OkelloISNI
Year:1989
Periodical:Savanna: A Journal of the Environmental and Social Sciences
Volume:10
Issue:2
Pages:1-13
Language:English
Geographic terms:Egypt
Subsaharan Africa
Subject:monarchy
Abstract:The pharaonic systems of administration in ancient Egypt were organized according to the principles of 'Ka' and 'Maat'. 'Ka' was the divine creative force with which a Pharao was endowed and with which he was expected to bring about prosperity. 'Maat' was the Truth and Justice (seen as public law) by whose dictates the Pharao applied his 'Ka'. After a note on the dispersal of conceptions and manifestations of Pharaonic divine kingship across Africa, the author demonstrates how the colonial regime sought to unbind 'Ka' from the constitutional limitations of 'Maat' by, amongst others, ordering African rulers to round up their people into forced labour gangs and by imposing various taxes. Consequently, the African ruler's role was reversed from that of guarantor of social and economic security to that of a permanent agent of colonial violence. In his discussion of policy implications, the author argues that the paradigm of 'divine kingship', as articulated by the ancient Egyptians, is still vibrant in the cultural consciousness of African peoples today. He therefore stresses the need to abandon the use of the label 'political science' as a tool for conceptualizing the study of the relationship between power and society, and use the label 'Ka-Maat' instead. Notes, ref., sum.
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