View source for Maa Kheru

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian phrase}}
{{Hiero|''mꜣꜥ-ḫrw'' ("True of Voice")|<hiero>U5:a-Aa1:r-E23-P8-A2-.-or-.-im:t-P8-t</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}
[[File:Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 152.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Cartouche]] of [[Ankhnesneferibre]], called ''Maa Kheru'' just below it.]]

'''Maa Kheru''' ({{langx|egy|mꜣꜥ ḫrw}}) is a phrase meaning "true of voice" or "justified"<ref name="Allen">Allen, James P. (2000). ''Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs''. Cambridge University Press. p. 95</ref> or "the acclaim given to him is 'right'".<ref>Rudolph Anthes, "[https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/371174 The Original Meaning of Mꜣꜥ ḫrw]",  ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies.'' Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan. 1954), p. 50</ref> The term is involved in [[ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs]], according to which deceased souls had to be judged morally righteous. Once the soul had passed the test, the [[Weighing of the Heart]], they were judged to be ''mꜣꜥ ḫrw'' and was allowed to enter the [[afterlife]].<ref name="Allen"/> 

The phrase was often used to denote someone who had died and become a god, placed after the name of the individual in question. As such, it is frequently found in inscriptions in [[Ancient Egyptian funerary practices|Egyptian tombs]] and royal [[mortuary temple]]s, especially as part of an introductory clause for autobiographical inscriptions celebrating the tomb or temple owner's achievements in life.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grenfell|first=Alice|title=Egyptian Mythology and the Bible |date=1906|jstor=27899648|journal=The Monist|volume=16|issue=2|pages=169–200|doi=10.5840/monist190616223 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2512735}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Maat]], the Egyptian concept of truth, order, and justice (from the same root)

==References==
*{{wiktionary-inline|mꜣꜥ-ḫrw}}
*{{Commons category-inline|True of Voice (hieroglyphs)}}

{{reflist}}

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Ancient Egyptian religion]]
[[Category:Book of the Dead]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian titles]]


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