As Hornung notes, then, Maat is not only nourishment for the Divine but for humans and “for all creatures an element of life as indispensable as bread and water.” In this context, Maat-doing came to be conceived as an offering of Maat in both the sense of a ritual of worship and an ethical practice. The ritual, of necessity, presupposed and required the ethical practice. For the ritual has no meaning or validity without the Maat-doing that is both ethical practice and spiritual nourishment. The conception and expression of Maat-doing as offering Maat to God evolves in the First Intermediate Period. Texts fiom tombs at Dendera, as noted above, provide the earliest evidence of this concept. The treasurer, Meni, says of his offering Maat as an ethical practice and spiritual gift:
“I judged between two brothers in order to satisfy them.
I listened to the words of the needy.
I removed the cry of the needy.
I rescued the wretched from the hand of one stronger than he.
I spoke what the great loved and the small praised.
And I spoke truly so as to raise Maat to its lord.”

Ma’at, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt by Karenga
(via smarmychristopagan)