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Why did ancient Egyptian kings work to preserve maat?

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Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt. — ancient Egypt Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background, Giza, Egypt.

In ancient Egyptian civilization, the king worked to preserve maat—the divine order of truth, justice, and cosmic balance—because it was his primary responsibility to replace isfet (disorder) with order.12

This duty was both social and cosmic. Because the ordered world was constantly threatened by surrounding chaos, the king acted as a manifestation of the gods on earth to keep that disorder at bay. By upholding maat, the king fulfilled his role as the intermediary between humanity and the divine; he returned to the gods the order that they had originally established at creation.21

When a new king ascended the throne, he reaffirmed this divine order, effectively playing the role of the sun god, Re, to ensure the continued stability of the cosmos. Ultimately, the king’s efforts to maintain maat were essential for the functioning of society and the preservation of the world against the forces of chaos.12