Wall Tile with Rekhyt Birds

Overview Wall Tile with Rekhyt Birds New Kingdom, Ramesside ca. 1200–1085 B.C. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 124 The tile depicts two birds raising human hands. These birds, called rekhyt in Egyptian, came to represent humankind in a gesture that expresses adoration to the Egyptian king. The stars are hieroglyphs that write the word dwA "adoration," and the baskets on which they sit--nb, "all," expressing all humankind's expected attitude toward Pharaoh. Their image often decorates walls of temple and palaces, to which this tile probably belonged.