Number 4 ©
Assur's throne rests on a stable foundation of truth.
The Arabic number 4 is a representation of the "Maat" mat upon which Assur's
throne rests.
The "Maat" truth mat upon which Assur's throne rests represents stability based on unalterable truths like the
movements of the heavens, the changes of seasons, and the absolute certainty of
mathematics.
"The primary meaning of Maat is 'straight,' and as far as
we can see the same ideas were attached to the Greek word kanon
(i.e., a straight rod, a mason's rule, and finally a rule, a law, a canon, which
governs men and their actions) . . . The Egyptians used the word in a physical and
moral sense, and thus it came to mean 'right, true, truth, real, genuine, upright,
righteous, just,' etc."
(E.A. Wallis Budge in Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection pp
309.)
The ancient people lived in an uncertain world. They were vulnerable to floods,
famines, years of low crop yields, disease, war, social unrest, economic
downturns, political upheavals, and disasters of all kinds. Egyptian civilization was
extremely concerned about political stability, economic stability, and social order.
The Maat plinth upon which Assur's throne rests represented the stability of the
throne and the certainty of the King's wisdom and judgment in an unstable and
uncertain world.
"Great is truth (maat), the mighty and
unalterable, and it has never been broken since the time of Osiris."
(From the Precepts of Ptah-Hetep,
2000BC.)
ADDENDUM #1
Scribes of the Thoth school selected the Maat mat under Assur's throne to represent the number 4.
According to the foundation legend of Egypt, Thoth was the "scribe of the gods." He was "the inventor of writing and of numbers." "It was Thoth who first taught men to speak clearly." Scribes of the Thoth school selected the Maat mat under Assur's throne to represent the number 4. Those scribes of the Thoth school were also wordsmiths. The name of the Maat mat is probably the source of our word mat.
Thothian scribes didn't just arbitrarily pick symbols and sounds and assign meanings to them. They used a system of icons, god names, and the functions of gods, to create words. According to the foundation legend, "Assur gave names to things that formerly had none." Thothian scribes used Assur's name to create words and give them meaning. Our words sure, assure, and certain are derived from the name Assur.
Although the word certain is spelled with the letter c, the cer- syllable in certain has the sur sound from the name Assur. The use of Assur's name to give meaning to words like sure, assure, and certain conveys some feeling for Assur's place in their society and religion. Those linguistic connections convey some feeling for the significance of the plinth under Assur's throne, and for the meaning of number 4. "I stand four-square for the truth."
ADDENDUM #2
The Maat "truth feather" represents the feather from the shaft of an arrow.
The feather on the shaft of an arrow causes the arrow to fly true. The Maat mat
upon which Assur's throne rests was symbolic of solid physical truths and
unalterable cosmic truths. The Maat feather, the "truth feather," was symbolic of
spoken truths such as the given word of an individual, ideological truths, or
learned truths of the intellectual kind. Egyptian religion set high value on truth
speaking. In the final judgment, Assur weighs the heart of a deceased person on
a balance against the feather of truth while the soul of the deceased recites a
negative confession of all the wickedness that he or she has not done. If the
deceased person's heart was as light as a feather i.e., true, pure,
Maat, that person was promoted to heaven. The truth feathers attached to
Assur's "white crown" sent the soul of the departed straight to heaven.
(See the
Alphabet
F page on this website for a further discussion of
Maat.)
(See the
Alphabet
G page on this website for a further discussion of Assur's
White Crown.)
The goddess Maat was Thoth's wife. Thoth was the scribe of the gods. Maat was the goddess of truth and justice. Hers was "the law that has never been broken" i.e., math. Our word math is derived from the name of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice.
Pagan scribes of the Thoth school were wordsmiths. They used the names of gods to create words and used the functions of gods to give meanings to those words. Many gods had multiple functions and alternative names. Thoth was also the god of science. One of Thoth's alternative names was Tekh. Our syllable tech as in technology was derived from the name of Tekh, the god of science. Our word math is derived from the name of Maat, Tekh's wife. Our word mathematic is derived from the combined names of Maat and Tekh. Maat + Tekh = maat ma tekh i.e. mathematics.
Our word myth is also derived from the name of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. It is ironic that in our language in our culture, we use a form of the name of the goddess of truth as a synonym for "untrue." Such pejorative usage of Pagan names is leftover propaganda from a bygone era. Monotheism destroyed Paganism in an ancient power struggle. The use of Propaganda to dehumanize "the enemy" was as much a part of that ancient war effort as it was in later wars including those going on in the present. The old Pagan myths were the teachings of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. The use of her name to mean "untrue" was ancient propaganda.
ADDENDUM #3
This was borrowed from the "Alphabet F" page of this website.
The Goddess Maat was the goddess of truth and justice.
Maat was Thoth's wife. She was the goddess of truth and justice. Maat's name is the Egyptian word for truth. Maat's name is the name of the truth feather. Maat's law was "the law that has never been broken." Math is the law that has never been broken. Our word math is derived from Maat's name.
Maat, the goddess of truth and justice, along with her position atop the scales of judgment, is surely the original motif for the Roman "Lady of Justice" and through stages of evolution, Maat is the ancestress of American "Liberty."
Resurrect Isis. The world family of EarthMother's children was the nearest thing to a universal culture this world has ever known. For a brief era (c. 3000 - 2000 BCE) the Isis bloodline was the royal bloodline of all the kingdoms on earth. That era was the nearest thing to a "Golden Age" this world has ever known. Monotheism's attempt to destroy the EarthMother has resulted in a world anarchy of warring states. Let us return us to the way of the goddess of universal love.
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