maat musings cover by William Weston
Cover art by William Weston
Exercpts from an interview with the Providence Singers "Six Questions for Trevor Weston"
What, exactly, are Ma’at Musings?
Ma’at is something like “wisdom” or “divine order.” The idea of a final judgment – of being judged on how well you led your life, the good things you did – was prevalent in Egyptian theology. In some way, all four movements speak to the idea of divine order, of the best way to live one’s life.
How did you arrange the texts into the four movements?
The two Unas movements are like bookends. They relate to each other and open and close the work. But the other movements also have their relationships.
The second and third movements share a literary form – a prayer offering that amounts to a list of desires or a list of virtues. It reminded me of Anglican chant. “To whom shall I speak today,” repeated before each verse, has a liturgical feel. Chanting may be the oldest choral form; it’s probably what people did when they first began to sing – mimicking the sounds of plain speech.
The third movement is a response to the heavy complaining of movement two. It’s almost as if Intef is saying that things aren’t so bad – I’m kind to the poor, I try to soothe the angry. Intef’s words are a statement of his good deeds, in line with divine moral order. Even all that power language in the fourth movement supports Intef’s point. Unas is powerful, yes, but he also threatens the evil-doers.
Ancient texts are foreign to just about everyone. Does that lend the work a more universal appeal?
If anything, the ancient texts gave me more musical freedom as a composer. Being so old, they don’t come from a tradition that is recognizable today. But while the texts are ancient, they remain oddly current. “Brothers are mean, hearts are greedy.” That may have been written in the 21st century B.C.E., but we haven’t come very far, have we?
MA'AT Musings
I. The King Joins the Stars
II. Complaint Tapestry
III. The Wisdom of Intef
IV. The King Feeds on the Gods (listen)
View some of the original hieroglyphics
TEXTS
I. The King Joins the Stars
Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara
Fifth Dynasty (2450-2300 B.C.E.)
Unas comes to you O Nut,
He has consigned his father to the earth,
He has left Horus behind him,
Grown are his falcon wings,
Plumes of the holy hawk;
His power has brought him,
His magic has equipped him!
The sky-goddess replies:
Make your seat in heaven,
Among the stars of heaven,
For you are the Lone Star,
The comrade of Hu.
You shall look down on Osiris,
As he commands the spirits,
While you stand far from him,
Unas.
II. Complaint Tapestry
From the dispute between
a man and his Ba (soul)
Twelfth Dynasty (1990-1785 B.C.E.)
To whom shall I speak today?
Brothers are mean,
The friends of today do not love.
To whom shall I speak today?
Hearts are greedy,
Everyone robs his comrade’s goods.
To whom shall I speak today?
Kindness has perished,
Insolence assaults everyone.
To whom shall I speak today?
One is content with evil,
Goodness is cast to the ground everywhere.
To whom shall I speak today?
He who should enrage men by his crimes
He makes everyone laugh at his evil-doing.
To whom shall I speak today?
Men plunder, everyone robs his comrade.
To whom shall I speak today?
The criminal is one’s intimate,
The brother with whom one dealt is a foe.
To whom shall I speak today?
The past is not remembered,
Now one does not help him who helped.
To whom shall I speak today?
One goes to strangers for affection.
To whom shall I speak today?
Faces are blank,
Everyone turns his face from his brothers.
To whom shall I speak today?
Hearts are greedy,
No man’s heart can be relied on.
To whom shall I speak today?
None are righteous,
The land is left to evil-doers.
To whom shall I speak today?
One lacks an intimate,
One resorts to an unknown to complain.
To whom shall I speak today?
No one is cheerful,
He with whom one walked is no more.
To whom shall I speak today?
I am burdened with grief for lack of an intimate.
To whom shall I speak today?
Wrong roams the earth and ends not.
III. The Wisdom of Intef
From the Stela of Intef, Son of Sent
Eleventh Dynasty (2040-1650 B.C.E.)
I am silent with the angry,
Patient with the ignorant,
So as to quell strife.
I am cool, free of haste,
Knowing the outcome,
Expecting what comes.
I am a speaker in situations of strife,
One who knows which phrase causes anger.
I am friendly when I hear my name
To him who would tell me his concern.
I am controlled, kind, friendly,
One who calms the weeper with good words
I am a friend of the poor,
One well-disposed to the have not.
I am one who feeds the hungry in need,
Who is open-handed to the pauper.
I am a listener who listens to the truth,
Who ponders it in his heart.
IV. The King Feeds on the Gods
Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara
Fifth Dynasty (2450-2300 B.C.E.)
Sky rains, stars darken,
The vaults quiver, Earth’s bones tremble,
The planets stand still
At seeing Unas rise as power,
A God who lives on his fathers,
Who feeds on his mothers!
Unas is the bull of heaven
Who rages in his heart,
Who lives on the being of every god
Who eats their entrails when they come,
Their bodies full of magic,
From the Isle of Flame.
Unas eats their magic, swallows their spirits:
Their big ones are for his morning meal,
Their middle ones for his evening meal,
Their little ones for his night meal,
And the oldest males and females for his fuel.
Unas has risen again in heaven,
He is crowned as lord of light land,
He has smashed bones and marrow,
He has seized the hearts of gods,
He has eaten the red, swallowed the green,
Unas feeds on the lungs of the wise,
Likes to live on hearts of their magic.
Lo, their power is with Unas,
Their shadows are taken from their owners,
For Unas is of those who risen is risen,
Lasting lasts.
Not can evil-doers harm the chosen seat of Unas
Among the living in this land for all eternity.
* Texts excerpted from Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1: The Old and Middle Kingdom, edited by Miriam Lichthem, adapted by the composer with the kind permission of University of California Press.