Images of the rekhyt in ancient egypt

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Images of the Rekhyt fromAncient Egypt

Above: a rekhyt rebus: The rekhyt bird raises arms in adoration of Rameses II as represented by his double cartouche.Carving on a column in the temple of Amun at Karnak. Photo: RP.

The lapwing first makes an appearance in Egyptian artduring the Protodynastic Period. The bird is depicted onthe deck of a boat, on a fragment of slate palette knownas the “Plover Palette”, which is housed in the EgyptianMuseum in Cairo.

From the same period comes the limestone ceremonialmace-head of “king” Scorpion, on which a series of stan-dards with lapwing birds hanging from their necks aredepicted. This scene has been interpreted by many schol-

ars as depicting Scorpion’s victories over the people of theDelta, who are depicted as the rekhyt people. However, thescene could also depict the sovereign’s control over all thepeople of Egypt.

The earliest depiction of the rekhyt bird during the OldKingdom comes from the statue base of the pharaohDjoser. This base, which is on display in the EgyptianMuseum in Cairo, depicts three rekhyt birds, each withtheir wings intertwined, under the feet of the pharaoh. As

The lapwing was represented in ancient Egyptian art for a period of over three thousand years, butthese images are much more than just a representation of the bird, as Kenneth Griffin reveals.

The lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), has, for a period of over threethousand years, been abundantly represented in both Egyptian artand hieroglyphs. The lapwing can be identified by its characteris-

tic short pointed bill, rounded head, long squared tail and especially bythe long crest on its head. To the Egyptians the bird was referred to asrekhyt. They were often depicted in Egyptian art in papyrus marshes,perching on their nests. It is generally accepted that the rekhyt peopleare to be identified as the lowest class of society in ancient Egypt andhave been called “subjects”, “common people”, “plebeians” or“mankind”. However, other scholars have suggested that the rekhyt peo-ple were actually foreigners who had settled in Egypt.

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well as the three rekhyt birds there is alsoa depiction of the “nine bows”, whichwere a symbol used to denote the ene-mies of Egypt; thus the rekhyt people inthis instance are closely linked withEgypt’s enemies, a theme that remainsuntil the end of pharaonic history.

Depictions of the rekhyt birds withtheir wings intertwined in an act of sub-mission, were frequent in Egyptian art.Even in the markets of Egypt today it ispossible to find live ducks in this posi-tion. This prevents the birds not only

from flying, but also from walking; theycannot stand properly, so consequentlylie on their legs.

Images of the rekhyt birds in themastabas of the Old Kingdom are quitecommon. In the majority of cases, thebirds are depicted in the marshes, eitherflying or sitting upon their nests.

One relief from an Old Kingdommastaba that does stand out comes fromthe Fifth Dynasty mastaba of Nefer atSaqqara. Here the tomb owner isaccompanied by his wife or daughterwho holds a lotus blossom in one hand,while in the other she clutches a rekhytbird by its wings. It has been suggestedby Partick Houlihan that the rekhyt inthis depiction was a pet or plaything.He points out that children often carrytheir pet birds, the hoopoe being themost common, while accompanyingtheir parents.

Occurrences of the rekhyt birds fromthe Middle Kingdom are rare. with onlyone relief worthy of comment.

The relief, which is on display in theEgyptian Museum in Cairo, depicts twoimages of Amenemhat I seated on hisSed-festival pavilion. Beneath the pavil-ion there are seven representations ofthe rekhyt bird in an act of praising. It islikely that there were originally ninebirds depicted, but unfortunately the leftside of the relief is missing. Nine inancient Egypt was a significant number,which appears many times. One cre-ation myth revolves around nine deities,known in Greek as the ennead, whilethe “nine bows” symbolises the tradi-tional enemies of Egypt.

Depictions of the rekhyt during theNew Kingdom are numerous.

Above all, the most common depic-tion of the rekhyt is the rekhyt rebus,which first makes an appearance duringthe reign of Hatshepsut and continuesto be depicted through to the Graeco-Roman Period.

A rebus is an artful intertwining ordecorative arrangement of hieroglyphicand other pictorial elements. At firstglance, a rebus looks like a picture, but itis meant to be read as a phrase or clause.The use of the rebus was fairly commonin ancient Egypt, where writing and artwere never really separated. This rebusappears on many of the templecolumns, with over one thousand exam-ples in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnakalone. The rebus, made up of a number

Above: detail of the Scorpion macehead

showing rekhyt birds hanging fromthe standards in the top register.

Drawn by Sam Channer. (After Cialowicz, 1997Protodynastic Egypt.)

Below: the base of a statue of Djoser,

showing rekhyt birds before the feet of the king.

Photo: RP.

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of hieroglyphic signs reads “all the rekhytpeople worship N” (N being the name ofthe king in whose reign the relief wascarved).

The most important element of therebus is the rekhyt figure itself. The figureis usually depicted resting upon a hiero-glyph in the shape of a basket, meaning“all”. This reminds one of the nestsupon which the lapwing bird wouldcommonly be seen by the ancientEgyptians.

Another element of the rebus is thehieroglyph in the shape of a five-point-ed star, meaning “worship”, which isusually placed just in front of the face ofthe rekhyt figure. The act of worshippingis confirmed by the depiction ofupraised human arms which often formpart of the rebus.

While the simplest form of the rekhytrebus depicts the lapwing bird withhuman arms raised, in an act of adora-tion, and wings pinned back, in an act ofsubmission, it was possible to have vari-ants.

The most common variations aredepicted in the temple of Rameses II atAbydos. These include rekhyt figuresdepicted with a human body and thehead of a lapwing; a human body witha lapwing crest; or a complete humanwith only the hieroglyphs in front of thefigure identifying it as a rekhyt person.These variants are not unique to thistemple.

In fact, the earliest form of the rekhytrebus, which is located on the third tierof Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri,

depicts a kneeling rekhyt figure that hasthe body of a human and the head of alapwing (see below left).

From Luxor Temple there are also anumber of depictions of rekhyt figuresthat are completely human in appear-ance and can only be identified by theiraccompanying hieroglyphs..

Perhaps the most intriguing examplesof the rekhyt rebus come from the mor-tuary temple of Rameses III at MedinetHabu. High up on the outside walls ofthe Migdol entrance gate there are sev-eral depictions of a kneeling human fig-ure who can be identified as a rekhyt by

Above: a rekhyt rebus from Luxor Temple.

Author’s photo.

Below left: a column from the third tier of themortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, depicting a kneelingrekhyt figure.

Author’s photo.

Below right: detail of a rekhyt bird from the baseof the Djoser statue.

Photo: RP.


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Below: a statue base of Nectanebo II.

A statue of the king would have fitted into the slot in the top of the

base. Note the rekhyt bird on the left of the base.

Author’s photo.

the lapwing’s crest projecting from theback of his head. The hands of the fig-ure are raised in adoration, as is the casein the previous examples, and the five-pointed star hieroglyph is placed infront. What is intriguing about theseimages is that the depictions seem todepict the pharaoh Rameses III as arekhyt person. He wears royal attributesincluding the nemes headcloth, divinebeard, shendyt kilt and the bull’s tail.

So what function did the rekhyt rebushave?

It has been suggested by a number ofEgyptologists, including Bell, Wilkinsonand Brand, that the function of thisrebus was to indicate the areas of thetemples that were accessible to the“common people”. Peter Brand, whilstdiscussing the examples from thehypostyle hall of Karnak, says that therebus was “a visual sign to the publicthat they had access to this part of thetemple” and that “the illiterate couldeasily be taught to recognise this designas a visual sign meaning ‘you may standhere’ ”. However, a study of the various

areas of the NewKingdom temples, wherethis rebus is present, sug-gests otherwise.

It is the belief of mostEgyptologists that the“common people” wouldhave had access to onlythe forecourts of the tem-ples and even then it isdebatable whether thiswas allowed all yearround or just during festi-vals.

Of the six temple forecourts exam-ined by this author, where the rekhytrebus is located, five have hieroglyphicinscriptions specifically mentioning thatthe rekhyt people have access. Thisincludes an inscription from the fore-court of the temple of Khnum atElephantine which states, “He(Amenhotep II) made [this], for hisfather Khnum, who dwells inElephantine. He made a festival hall inorder that all the rekhyt people may seethat which he makes for him.”

In opposition to the belief that therekhyt rebus was used to designate areasaccessible by the “common people” itwas observed that of the four hypostylehalls, and five inner sanctuaries orshrines, where the rekhyt rebus was locat-ed, only the great hypostyle hall atKarnak has a direct inscription statingthat it was accessible to the rekhyt people.

If the function of the rekhyt rebus wasnot to signify the areas of the templeaccessible to the rekhyt people, what wasits function?

There are two possible answers.Firstly, it is possible that the rebus was

no more than a “filler” used by thesculptors. However, it is hard to believethat the Egyptians would have gone toall the trouble of using this rebus thisway if it had no significance whatsoever.

The other possible function of therebus, and the one that I believe ismuch more likely, is that it signified thatthe rekhyt people were present in thetemple metaphysically and not physi-cally.

The Egyptian temple, representingthe cosmos, needed to include all classesof society in order to maintain maat, cos-mic order.

Baines says that the rekhyt, along withtwo other classes of society known as thepat and henmemet “form a quasi-mytho-logical description of the peoples of theEgyptian cosmos, excluding non-Egyptians”. Moreover, foreigners andenemies were frequently depicted on thetemple walls, although in all cases theyare being defeated by the pharaoh orbrought before the gods as captives.These themes were necessary depic-tions, which maintained maat andhelped banish isfet, “chaos”.

During the New Kingdom it becamevery common to depict the rekhyt underthe feet of the pharaoh in the same wayas the “nine bows”.

Above: the “People’s Gate” at Luxor

Temple, which has a depiction ofa number of kneeling rekhyt people.

Note the small lapwing between the two figures.

Author’s photo.


There were various different methodsof doing this. Statues of the pharaohsoften had the rekhyt depicted on theirbases, a practice which continuedthrough to the Late Period.

Tutankhamun depicted the rekhyt onthe footstool of one his thrones now inthe Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

A relief from the tomb of Kheruefdepicts Amenhotep III and his wife Tiyeseated under a canopy, the base ofwhich has fourteen depictions of therekhyt rebus.

A large number of faience tiles depict-ing the rekhyt, many originating from thetemple of Rameses III at MedinetHabu, have also been found. These tileswere believed to have decorated thefloors of the palace of the pharaoh orperhaps the dais from where the kingwould greet his people.

The theme of these depictions wasthus to emphasise that the pharaoh wasin complete control and that the rekhytpeople were subjugated and inferior.

This theme of control can also be seenthroughout the temples of the NewKingdom where there are images of thepharaoh holding a rekhyt bird in hishand. The bird is usually directedtowards the deity facing the king who inturn presents the emblems of kingshipto the pharaoh, his reward for maintain-ing maat.

During the Graeco-Roman Period, itbecame common to depict the rekhyt fig-ures as part of a frieze around parts ofvarious temples. These friezes consist ofa large number of rekhyt figures, eachwith their hands raised in adoration andsitting on the nb sign, similar to the rebusdiscussed earlier. However, the appear-ance of the birds is most striking and itis often difficult to tell for certain if theyrepresent the rekhyt people. The birdsare usually very stout in appearance,highly decorated and often missing thedistinctive crest of the lapwing bird.Clearly the artists of the period weretrying to duplicate the New Kingdomexamples, but in their own style.

With the emergence of Christianitythe Egyptian temples were shut down

Above left: a painted relief from the Temple ofSety I at Abydos, showing the kingreceiving the emblems of kingship fromAmun-Ra. Note that the pharaoh isholding a rekhyt bird in the directionof the god.

Author’s photo.

Above right: a coloured faience tile depicting arekhyt rebus, from the temple ofRameses III at Medinet Habu andnow in the Egyptian Museum inCairo.

Photo: RP.

Left:a frieze of rekhyt birds in the Temple of Deir el-Haggar, Dakhla Oasis.

Photo: Cheryl Hanson.

ANCIENT EGYPT June/July 2006 49


and images of the gods and pharaohswere mutilated. Surprisingly though,images of the rekhyt, with the appear-ance of a bird complete with humanhands, seem to have been spared the

deliberate damage inflicted on manyreliefs, despite the fact that they wouldhave contradicted Christian ideology.

Kenneth Griffin

Kenneth is a Student of Egyptology atthe University of Wales, Swansea,where he recently completed hisMasters in Ancient Egyptian Culture.His area of study was the rekhyt rebus inNew Kingdom temples.

He will be continuing his study of therekhyt for his Ph.D., also at Swansea.

Further reading:Bell, Lanny (1998) “The New Kingdom‘Divine’ Temple” in Temples of AncientEgypt, ed. Byron E Shafer. London:Cornell University Press. Pp.127-84.Houlihan, Patrick F and Goodman,Steven M. (1988) The Birds of AncientEgypt. Cairo: American University inCairo Press. 93-6.Nibbi, Alessandra (1986) Lapwings andLibyans in Ancient Egypt. Oxford: DEPublications.

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A relief from the Migdol Gateway in the Temple of Rameses III at

Medinet Habu, showing the king as a rekhyt person.

Author’s Photo.

Above:a particularly fine representation of a rekhyt bird on a block now in

the Open Air Museum at the temple of Amun, Karnak.Photo: RP.


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Images of the rekhyt in ancient egypt