ABSTRACT
Contra Michael Fox in his seminal “Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric” maintains that there is indeed a systematic and internally consistent conceptual framework from which ancient Egyptian rhetoric draws its power and form across many periods of African history: It’s name is Maat. Maat was the guiding principle of harmony, truth, balance, and order that permeated ancient Kemetic political and civil life. Although evolving in form and practice over the centuries, Maatian ethical principles can be traced all the way to Kemet’s prehistory. My goal has been to provide a rigorous and vigorous, communication-focused account of the ethical wisdom (rules of engagement) ancient Kemites cultivated and is evidenced in the form of recovered written texts, stelae, and the Medu Netcher script itself. Throughout the book, I’ve labored to present Maatian ethical teachings and communication practices as, at least partly, responsible for the longevity and success of Kemetic culture. At stake is the recognition that, in spite of widespread views of ancient Kemetic culture as blood-thirsty conquerors who mostly ruled by brute force, Kemites also promoted ethical philosophies grounded in communitarian wisdom that paid careful and sustained attention to listening habits and listening itself as the foundational moral virtue.
