320 Abibisika (Black Gold) Points

Rank: Unranked Newbie

Just got finished listening the Abibitumi video from Isi-Abia/Dibia/Seba Bonotchi.

There was a question of “maat” being a “god” and “kings” not being “egalitarian”.

Now, I had a goal of writing a fiction book and in my personal notes Kikongo “Mbongi” had an alternative definition of “fireplace”. Turns out it came from the book “Mbongi” (page 2).
Also there are several books on Google Books onnecting “mbongi” as “fireplace” as a meeting/palaver place.

“Mbongi” per Fu-Kiau:
Public-council-house; institutio of debates and of conceptualization, the community parliament; the popular court of justice among African people; source, origin, fireplace

From root word “bonga” (translated as) “grasp, bear, possess”

Fire – represents balance, good and bad, can warm or burn, cook food or kill, consume energy and produce energy; heat forces people/animals to keep a “balanced” distance
Fire also represents “grasping” knowledge or “enlightenment”… arranging or balancing energy in order to maximize output.

Kalenjin/Nandi has “maa” – “to know”, to “grasp” knowledge; Igbo also has “maa” “to know, to tether, to bind, measure (grasp/balance)”…

Maat is translated in Kalenjin as ‘fire’ or ‘code of conduct’. The ‘constitution’ or ‘principles’ (nTr) holding the autonomous kinship group or society together.

The nTr of Kemet seem to be “principles” or “elements” given the form or “face” of muntu/bantu.
Its like giving elements on the periodic table or “scientific concepts” a “human” face.
To make it easier to understand, yet more sophisticated at the same time.
Entropy (Apep), Rising Energy (Ogun), Radiation (Ra)…

Maat can be the ‘integrated (balancing) energy’, ‘group constitution’.
Related might be “Omenala/Omenani/Omenana” the name for “corpus/code of conduct” in Igbo (specific rules vary by location) or “Ama-ala” (Land/State Village Governing Council), Mbongi and Bonga of KiKongo which was mentioned of course, Ogboni and Egbe of Yoruba. Mmara, Mpow, Fekuw of Twi.
Just any “group” was a “maat”.

The ideal it seemed to make everything “balanced” and “one” or “fit together”, filter or separate out the clashing elements to form a stronger group/society.

“Maat” or ‘Omenani’ as a ‘constitution’, is a political tool that can be changed. And not something everyone embraces. In Kemet that would be isfet. In Igbo “nsogbu” (trouble, conflict, embroglio, con-fusion of clashing ideas, clashing, mixing it up). In IsiZulu I saw the word “uzibuthe” listed as meaning “spirit of conflict” but all dictionaries I see list uzibuthe as “magnets” (magnetism, electromagnetism) as in “clashing (elements)”.

Kalenjin book mentioning maat:
https://books.google.com/books?id=GiAOAQAAMAAJ
Kalenjin thesis on Kemet:
uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/10500/17655/1/thesis_sambu_ka.pdf