Finally, this relationship of love and obligation is a reciprocal one. Thus Sesostris I says, “I excel by acting for my maker, pleasing God with what he gave”. This implies, and indeed reflects, a reciprocal response to a good given and an obligation incurred. Moreover, as Posener notes, the service which the king owes the Divinity is an obligation of kingship and is both “the purpose and the condition of the power he holds.” And if the obligation is not met, negative consequences are to be expected. In Kheti’s instruction for Merikara one reads that one should “serve God and he will act for you likewise. For “God is aware of one who acts for him”. And in serving God, that is to say by doing Maat, one ensures one’s place in the otherworld. Here reciprocity is framed both in terms of God’s return for service and the reward of afterlife by doing Maat. Although serving God is in fact doing Maat, there is a perceptible intention to place emphasis on service as a reciprocal good in addition to uprightness and doing Maat as the ground of a secure place in the afterlife.

Furthermore, the reciprocity of the Divinity is evidence again in Ramesses’s appeal to Amen Re on the battlefield of Kadesh. Feeling abandoned, he addresses Amen saying: “What is this, Father Amen? Is it right for a father to ignore his son? Are my deeds a matter for you to ignore? Do I not walk and stand at your word? I have not neglected an order you gave”. Continuing, he draws a line between himself, the dutiful son and his opponents, the Asiatics, whom he calls “wretches ignorant of God”. After giving a lengthy account of what he considers dutiful acts, he appeals to Amen to reciprocate saying, “Shall it be said ‘The gain is small for him who entrusts himself to your will?’ Do good to him who counts on you, then one will serve you with a loving heart.” Amun, as the narrative develops, hears the appeal, assures Ramesses he is indeed his father and is with him and ultimately gives him strength for victory.

Ma’at, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt by Karenga

wow look at that, ancient egyptians saying the same kind of things those goddamn disrespectful kemetics were saying the other day and everyone lost their shit lmao

(via smarmychristopagan)