Rechit

Rechit in hieroglyphics
	Base foundation as formwork for a statue of King Nectanebo II (decorations with Rechit representation)

Rechit in hieroglyphics
	Rechit under the feet of Djoser (statue) ; ( Egyptian Museum in Cairo )

Rechit (also lapwing people, people, crowd ) already referred to a people living in the northern Nile Delta as early as the early dynastic period of ancient Egypt , as well as the deity Rechit from the Middle Kingdom . The origin of the Rechit is unclear, as it was at the beginning of the third millennium BC. Were not yet counted among the people of the Egyptians. The settlement area extended according to the previous finds to the border area of Retjenu . The evaluation of the early inscriptions on monuments resulted in a mythological assignment as Nile Delta inhabitants , since all "northern enemies of Upper Egypt " were also among the " Qebehu inhabitants".

After the collapse of the Old Kingdom and the associated upheaval and religious reorientation, the meaning of the term “Rechit” changed. At the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, the name "Rechit" was transferred to a new deity. However, the Rechit no longer appeared as a separate people, rather the Egyptians saw a connection with Horus in the earlier Rechit people, especially from the New Kingdom onwards . The popular name Rechit and the associated meaning was subject to a mythological change in ancient Egyptian history, since the name Rechit was later applied to all "subjects" as a generic term.

"Rechit" as a person and people name

etymology

The lapwing overwinters as a migratory bird from late October to late March in Siwa , Alexandria , Fayum , Bubastis , Pithom and in northern Sinai . The flight pattern of the lapwing is characteristic and not to be confused. Lapwings fly with easy, leisurely wing beats, the wings themselves are noticeably wide and rounded. The black upper and white underside, which flashes in flight, allows you to identify flying flocks of lapwing from a great distance. The naming of the inhabitants of these areas was initially understood as a mockery in the figurative sense .

Lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus )

The ancient Egyptians saw the lapwing as a “clumsy mourning bird in the mud” due to its “slowly staggering-fluttering herd flight behavior” with the typical long drawn-out call “pliit”.

The assumption often made earlier in Egyptology that the name Rechit with the single hieroglyph G23

When the transfer of the lapwing was written, it was a non-verifiable assumption and had to be corrected in the meantime. Since a people always has a collective title , the name of an individual bird cannot mean a collective title. Rather, the name “Rechit” derived from the behavior and appearance of the lapwing that basic meaning after which the ethnic group was later named, whereby Rechit as a popular name refers to the individual terms “Rech” and “Rechet”.

origin

The appearance of the lapwing was unknown to the inhabitants of Upper Egypt , as the lapwing did not move as far as the regions around Abydos . In the world chamber of the solar sanctuary of Niuserre , the lapwing is therefore described as the "bird from Qebehu". In the early days, the associated people of the Rechit were mostly opposed to the Upper Egyptian people of the Pat , who saw themselves as the "people of Seth and Kenmet ". In armed conflicts, the defeated also carried the designation "Rechit", which is why they were also regarded as legitimate subjects. For example, in the context of the Henmemet of the Old Kingdom, the sun god Re victorious against the people of the Rechit.

Tied up Rechit with cage (lapwing pallet)

The translation made by Alan Gardiner with the exclusive meaning "lower class, rebels, defeated, enemies of Egypt" has been modified in the meantime, as the expression Rechit could be used ambiguously. In the early dynastic period, "Rechit" mostly referred to the enemies of Egypt as well as prisoners and subjects. In the eastern region of Sais , the fragment of a was Barken - slate palette found that in the time of kings Scorpio II. And Ka is (around 3100 BC..) Dates. Because of the detailed representation of a lapwing , which is depicted on the boat deck with the determinative of a cage over the bow , the find is called the " lapwing palette ". The place of origin could not yet be determined.

On the old “world map of the Egyptians” the “residences of the lapwing” were limited to the regions in and around Lower Egypt . With the beginning of the Old Kingdom , the meaning of the term "Rechit" was expanded to denote " farmers ", " craftsmen " and " commoners without a special status ". In Egyptology , therefore, the question is discussed whether the Rechit have always been at home in the Nile Delta or only settled there later. Due to the scattered Rechit places of residence, it is understandable why the lapwing people were not only counted among the hostile nine-arch peoples under Djoser .

Representations

Seti I (Rechit in hand).

In the Egyptian temples, the Rechit were depicted together with the two other strata of the population, the Pat and Henmemet, as a mythologically three-part social system of the ancient Egyptian world order . In addition, “foreigners and enemies” stood in the temple decoration as a counterpart to the chaos . The king combined both aspects of ancient Egyptian mythology in depictions, which is why he can be seen very often on the one hand "standing on the vanquished" or "with the people in his hand". The statues of the respective kings standing on the Rechit underline the “royal ruling motive over the Rechit” in their role as “belonging to the nine-arch peoples”; for example, the lapwings lie under Tutankhamun's feet. This motif was also maintained until the late period , as was that of Amenhotep III. and his wife Teje , who sit together under a canopy on fourteen Rechit representations.

As a “symbol of the servant Egyptian population”, the kings held the Rechit tightly in their hands. On the western wall of the second hypostyle hall in the Abydenean mortuary temple is a relief of Seti I , on which Seti I kneels with the henu crown during the coronation before Amun-Re , in order to be appointed by Amun-Re as the rightful king of Egypt. Further insignia are the Nemes headscarf and the blue crown of Amun , which also belong to the royal robe , with the blue color of the Amun crown representing the sky. In his left hand Seti I holds a Rechit lapwing as a sign that all people in Egypt are under his rule. In his right hand is the Chepesch sword and the curved "war ax" which Seti I received from Amun-Re to ensure his victories in every battle.

Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom

Rechit representation on the pommel of the scorpion II.

Rechit can be seen on the limestone “Club Knob of Scorpio II”. This scene is mostly as Scorpion victory over the lapwing people interpreted . However, the Rechit standards can also stand symbolically for the control of Scorpio over different areas of Egypt, without having to come to a military conflict. In addition, the creation of irrigation ditches or canals by scorpions and other people can be seen. Wolfgang Schenkel could not determine the exact circumstances of that work.

On the annals stone of the 5th dynasty the Rechit are mentioned twice under King Den ( 1st Dynasty ), whereby from the fourth year of the reign only one reading of the “ People of the Rechit ” could be made in an otherwise unclear context. In the 31st year of reign, the Rechit and their settlement areas play a role in connection with an administrative action carried out by King Den. In 1987 the Egyptologist Wolfgang Helck translated the difficult text passage with " Plan (?) And dig the western and eastern canals (through) the area of the Rechit ". Rolf Gundlach also joined this reading in 1994 .

However, Helck's reading can only be seen as an interpretation, since he is the pond hieroglyph

as a channel

and the sign V23 ("mehu")

as F30 ("schedj")

pointed.

In the overall context, Helck's assumption again fits very well, since such canal construction work was previously documented by King Scorpio II and later in the Old Kingdom. In 2000 Toby Wilkinson submitted a slightly modified translation compared to Helck regarding the 31st year of Den's reign, which adhered to the given hieroglyphs: “ Organization? of farms? the north-western delta (Rechit) and all people in the eastern delta. “Wilkinson remarked at his reading that it was also only to be regarded as an interpretation. However, earlier translations than “ nationwide census ” can be excluded.

Anedjib (around 2910 BC) noted another massive flooding by the Nile flood in the year after his Sedfest , which affected all north-western districts and triggered a mass epidemic among the Rechit people . The earliest representation of the Rechit in the Old Kingdom is a statue in the complex of the Djoser pyramid ( 3rd dynasty ), which shows three Rechit birds with their wings under Djoser's feet in connection with the "nine-arch peoples".

The hieroglyph was first used under Djoser

used for the representation of the Rechits.

This motif is part of the king's rulership attributes and is intended to express his power over Egypt and its neighboring regions.

"Rechit" as an acting deity

With the decline of the Old Kingdom and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom , the position of the king changed, who in earlier times stood “above the people” and, after the first interim period, functioned as “king among the people”. He saw himself now in the role of the “ shepherd of his people” as a guarantor of security, who protected “his flock” and the world order . In this respect, the king held a “command-receiving position” vis-à-vis Amun-Re or Re, which symbolically corresponded to the previous “Rechit mythology”.

A similar change took place in the “world of the gods”. In the Old Kingdom, a topography of the afterlife was superfluous for non-royal deceased, since only the king performed the ascension into heaven . With the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, more precise ideas of the afterlife emerged, which were now also accessible to non-royal people. For the accompaniment of the dead and the worship of heavenly deities, new protective and auxiliary gods were necessary, to whom logistical and ritual tasks were assigned. The Rechit deity had a cult-accompanying function and in this network mainly took on a “gods and king worshiping” position, which was derived from the previously assigned task of the Rechit as “subjects” and “serving the king”.

Mythological connections

Since the lapwing belong to the migratory birds that overwintered in Qebehu , there is a connection with the Ba soul as equation with the Ba birds with reference to the appearance of the Ba in connection with the "birds from Qebehu". The mention of food has parallels to the Bas in the island of flames in the 56th scene in the gate book , where the herbs / vegetables (semu) are also given as food. The home of the lapwing was handed down as "coming from the distant (cooling) waters (of the sky)". A literal translation in terms of mythological use is not possible.

Already in the Old Kingdom , the region of "the (cooling) waters (of the sky)" was considered to be the area above the goddess Nut as well as the " concentrated darkness " and the "upper heaven of the Nun ", the area of which after leaving the edge zone was the "back of the groove “ Begins. In this primordial darkness there are neither stars nor other celestial bodies , but the nothingness in which only “the primordial waters of the Nun” are at home. According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the sky itself was located on the body of the sky goddess Nut, who leaned over the earth in an arc on her fingertips and feet.

The deity Rechit has only been documented since the Middle Kingdom . The first mentions of the deity Pat date from around the same epoch . In the New Kingdom the deceased proclaimed the words of the sun god Re to the deity Rechit . Rechit also appeared in other minor forms, for example as the snake-headed 37th judge of the court of the dead ("Wedj-Rechit"), who checked the deceased whether they ever appeared offensive to a deity in their life. Together with the deity Pat, the Rechit worshiped the newborn god child and the deity Amun . It is also mentioned that Rechit and Pat “could not harm” the deceased.

In the Greco-Roman times , the feathers of Rechit were symbolically given as hair to the deceased, who in turn saw the Rechit as a group who wore a " Peri bandage " on the neck , while the " Pat people " wore an Areq bandage on the head ”were marked. As a triad of gods , " Henmemet , Pat and Rechit" were probably among the particularly revered deities in Edfu . Osiris appeared in the subsidiary form "Sau-Rechit (S3w-Rhjt)" as the protective deity of Rechit in the 18th Upper Egyptian Falkengau .

Representations and their meaning

Iconographically , the deity Rechit first appeared as a group of three kneeling people in cheer who raised their arms. From the New Kingdom onwards, the deity Rechit appeared as a community of up to six lapwing, each with raised human-shaped arms sitting on a nest worshiping other deities .

The Rechitdarstellungen in the various temples were partly brought directly to the former Rechit folk in connection that in the temples szenarisch representative of the Egyptian people stood and additionally as "place zuweisendes sign" for illiterate served. From these assumptions the conclusion arose that wherever the rechit symbols were, the ancient Egyptian people were present on solemn occasions and accompanied the ceremonies. The Rechit picture elements can, however, also be seen in rooms to which only the priesthood had access.

Kenneth Griffin was able to refute earlier interpretations of the complex network of relationships in an in-depth study and considers it likely that the Rechit depictions show the Egyptian population as a “cult-supporting stage setting ” that was not directly related to the respective ceremonies, but used as a “divine approval ritual ” has been. Karin Stephan, who agrees with Griffin's considerations, sees the Rechit symbolism as a supplementary magical ceremony that was primarily aimed at the deity Amun-Re and intended to express the “wishes of the subjects” for the “well-being of Amun-Res”.

Hatshepsut

Rechit representation
(mortuary temple of Hatshepsut)

The oldest surviving representations of the divine Rechit symbol are in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut . In the entrance hall of the red chapel of Hatshepsut, a narrow decorative strip with symbols of the Rechit stretches across the entire north wall , who, among other things, worship Hatshepsut as “praising their mistress” and in the same posture in the direction of the sanctuary, worshiping the “king of the gods Amun-Re ”. The other representations of the Rechit in the entrance hall are interpreted differently in terms of their interpretation in Egyptology . On the one hand, the Rechit are here partly understood as a symbol for the "entire Egyptian people", on the other hand the decoration program speaks more for the traditional connection as "subjugated inhabitants of Lower Egypt" if the supposed representation of the "Pat" should have been on the south wall.

The Rechit hymn to Amun preserved on the northern side of the east wall was probably present on all the transverse walls of the entrance hall, as two texts still preserved can also be found in the sanctuary on the north and south sides:

“All life, all duration and all happiness, all health and all joy; all countries and foreign countries are at the feet of Amun , lord of the thrones of both countries, whom all praise Rechit, for they live (through him) for a million of millions (of years) for (all) eternity. "

- Entrance hall east wall, north side, block 133 and Sanctuary east wall, north side, block 262

Amenhotep II

Rames III. as praying Rechit

In the forecourt of the Khnum temple in Elephantine , which Amenhotep II donated to the Nile source and creation god , there is an inscription in which the Rechit are mentioned: “He (Amenophis II) built this temple for his father Khnum, who in Elephantine lives. The festival hall was built so that all Rechit people can see what he has done for Khnum ”. The Rechit representations are also here, as is usually the case with the columned halls examined , not only in the entrance area, but also in other inner rooms.

Ramses III.

In the mortuary temple of Ramses III. , which he built in Medinet Habu while he was still alive, is the most conspicuous Rechit figure of all temples. On the upper outside of the wall of the Migdol entrance gate, Ramses III. represent as Rechit in a praying posture; supplemented with the royal insignia of the Nemes headscarf and divine beard as well as the bull attribute and king's apron.

Augustus

Augustus had a representation of Hor-pa-chered in front of three kneeling Rechit people in the Mammisi of Philae :

"Words to speak: be silent four times and cheer four times, all Rechit people, let us come cheering so that you may see the son of Osiris (Hor-pa-chered), who is your lord and prince."

- Mammisi in Philae

literature

Elmar Edel : On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the sun shrine of Niuserre, part 2. In: News from the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, No. 5. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964, pp. 111–115.
Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG , vol. 6 . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1151-4 , p. 710.
Lanny Bell: The New-Kingdom Divine Temple In: Byron Esely Shafer: Temples of ancient Egypt . Tauris, London 1998, ISBN 1-86064-232-2 , pp. 127-184.
Kenneth Griffin: Images of the Rekhyt from Ancient Egypt. In: Ancient Egypt, Vol. 7, No. 2, Issue No. 38. Empire Publications, Manchester 2006, pp. 45-50.
Kenneth Griffin: A re-interpretation of the use and function of the Rekhyt Rebus in New Kingdom temples. In: Current research in Egyptology. Leiden 2007, pp. 66-84.
Patrick F. Houlihan, Steven M. Goodman: The birds of ancient Egypt. Aris & Phillips, Warminster 1986, ISBN 0-85668-283-7 , pp. 93-96.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the solar sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 115.
↑ Ägyptologische database Aha Berlin, according Sesch project .
↑ Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the sun sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 113.
^ Richard Meinertzhagen : Nicoll's birds of Egypt . Rees, London 1930, p. 547.
↑ See also Wb II 447.8
↑ Male Lapwing:
↑ Female Lapwing:

.
^ Wolfgang Helck: History of Ancient Egypt; Vol. 1, Section 3 . Brill, Leiden 1968, p. 20 and p. 42.
↑ Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG, register . Peeters, Leuven 2003, ISBN 90-429-1376-2 , p. 313.
↑ Special characters U 103 according to Petra Vomberg: special characters list In: Rainer Hannig: Large handbook Egyptian-German: (2800 - 950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1448.
^ Henri Asselbergh: Chaos en beheersing: Documents uit de Aenolitische Egypt . Brill 1961; Pp. 222-224.
↑ Simson Najovits: Egypt, the Trunk of the Tree: A Modern Survey of an Ancient Land, Vol. 1 . Algora Publishing, New York 2003, ISBN 0-87586-221-7 , p. 248.
↑ Farid Atiya: Pocket Book of Ancient Egypt . Amer University, Cairo 2008, ISBN 977-17-4439-9 , p. 202.
↑ Wolfgang Helck : Investigations on the Thinite Age (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. (ÄA) Vol. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-447-02677-4 , p. 157 and Rolf Gundlach: The forced resettlement of the foreign population as a means of Egyptian politics until the end of the Middle Kingdom . Steiner, Stuttgart 1994, pp. 50-51.
↑ Toby AH Wilkinson: Royal annals of ancient Egypt: The Palermo Stone and its associated fragments . Kegan Paul, London 2000, p. 108 ff.
^ Wolfgang Helck: History of Ancient Egypt; Vol. 1, Section 3 . Brill, Leiden 1968, p. 34.
^ Hermann Alexander Schlögl: The ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-406-48005-5 , p. 123.
^ Hermann Alexander Schlögl: The ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-406-48005-5 , p. 127.
↑ Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the sun sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 106.
↑ Christian Leitz u. a .: Wedj-Rechit In: LGG , Bd. 2 . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1147-6 , p. 634.
↑ Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG, vol. 6 . Leuven, Peeters 2002, ISBN 90-429-1151-4 , p. 130.
↑ Kirsten Konrad: Architecture and theology: Pharaonic temple terminology taking into account aspects of royal ideology . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-447-05436-0 , p. 15.
↑ ^a ^b Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-4840-7 , pp. 103-104.
↑ Kenneth Griffin: A re-interpretation of the use and function of the Rekhyt Rebus in New Kingdom temples . P. 81.
↑ Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . P. 65.
^ Franck Burgos, François Larché, Nicolas Grimal : La chapelle Rouge: Center Franco-Egyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak, Vol. 1 . Ed. Recherche sur les Civilizations, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-86538-300-8 , pp. 198 and 202.
↑ Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . P. 108.
↑ Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates): The genesis of an Egyptian god child . Peeters, Leuven 2006, ISBN 90-429-1761-X , p. 104.

[E115-1] Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the solar sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 115.

[2] Ägyptologische database Aha Berlin, according Sesch project .

[E113-3] Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the sun sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 113.

[4] Richard Meinertzhagen : Nicoll's birds of Egypt . Rees, London 1930, p. 547.

[5] See also Wb II 447.8

[6] Male Lapwing:

[7] Female Lapwing:

.

[8] Wolfgang Helck: History of Ancient Egypt; Vol. 1, Section 3 . Brill, Leiden 1968, p. 20 and p. 42.

[9] Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG, register . Peeters, Leuven 2003, ISBN 90-429-1376-2 , p. 313.

[10] Special characters U 103 according to Petra Vomberg: special characters list In: Rainer Hannig: Large handbook Egyptian-German: (2800 - 950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1448.

[11] Henri Asselbergh: Chaos en beheersing: Documents uit de Aenolitische Egypt . Brill 1961; Pp. 222-224.

[N248-12] Simson Najovits: Egypt, the Trunk of the Tree: A Modern Survey of an Ancient Land, Vol. 1 . Algora Publishing, New York 2003, ISBN 0-87586-221-7 , p. 248.

[13] Farid Atiya: Pocket Book of Ancient Egypt . Amer University, Cairo 2008, ISBN 977-17-4439-9 , p. 202.

[14] Wolfgang Helck : Investigations on the Thinite Age (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. (ÄA) Vol. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-447-02677-4 , p. 157 and Rolf Gundlach: The forced resettlement of the foreign population as a means of Egyptian politics until the end of the Middle Kingdom . Steiner, Stuttgart 1994, pp. 50-51.

[15] Toby AH Wilkinson: Royal annals of ancient Egypt: The Palermo Stone and its associated fragments . Kegan Paul, London 2000, p. 108 ff.

[16] Wolfgang Helck: History of Ancient Egypt; Vol. 1, Section 3 . Brill, Leiden 1968, p. 34.

[17] Hermann Alexander Schlögl: The ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-406-48005-5 , p. 123.

[18] Hermann Alexander Schlögl: The ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-406-48005-5 , p. 127.

[E106-19] Elmar Edel: On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the sun sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . P. 106.

[20] Christian Leitz u. a .: Wedj-Rechit In: LGG , Bd. 2 . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1147-6 , p. 634.

[21] Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG, vol. 6 . Leuven, Peeters 2002, ISBN 90-429-1151-4 , p. 130.

[22] Kirsten Konrad: Architecture and theology: Pharaonic temple terminology taking into account aspects of royal ideology . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-447-05436-0 , p. 15.

[S103-23] Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-4840-7 , pp. 103-104.

[24] Kenneth Griffin: A re-interpretation of the use and function of the Rekhyt Rebus in New Kingdom temples . P. 81.

[25] Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . P. 65.

[26] Franck Burgos, François Larché, Nicolas Grimal : La chapelle Rouge: Center Franco-Egyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak, Vol. 1 . Ed. Recherche sur les Civilizations, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-86538-300-8 , pp. 198 and 202.

[27] Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak: structure and function (university thesis, master's thesis 2006) . P. 108.

[28] Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates): The genesis of an Egyptian god child . Peeters, Leuven 2006, ISBN 90-429-1761-X , p. 104.