Rechit

Northern Nile Delta Lapwing People

The settlement area extended to the border region of Retjenu. After the collapse of the Old Kingdom and the associated upheavals, the meaning of the word Rechit changed. The name Rechit was transferred to a new deity; the Rechit no longer appeared as a people of their own. The term Rechit then underwent a mythological change in meaning in ancient Egyptian history, as later all subjects of the ruler in Egypt were referred to by this term.

Depiction in Mythology

In Egyptian temples, the Rechit were depicted alongside the other two population groups, the Pat and Henmemet, as a mythologically tripartite social system of the ancient Egyptian world order. As a “symbol of the serving Egyptian population,” the kings held the Rechit tightly clasped in their hands in depictions of the Rechit.