The article discusses some concepts of the symbolic language of the Pyramid Texts (3rd millennium BC), which denoted the relationship between the Egyptian king and his subjects, both in this and in the other world. In the center of attention is the term implying categories of human society, united by the semantic meaning of "citizenship". Special emphasis is placed on the ethical meaning of this term, which has either a neutral or negative meaning, as well as on its ontological roots in the religious and political views of the Egyptians. Keywords: Ancient Egypt, Rehit, king, Pyramid texts. Among the numerous symbolic images recorded in the texts of the royal pyramids of the Ancient Kingdom, there are very remarkable images of crested birds resembling lapwings (vanellus cristatus). Ideograms representing images of these birds have been preserved on various monuments of ancient Egypt, starting from the Archaic period and ending with the Greco-Roman era. The etymology of the name of these birds is not known for certain, and there is no consensus about their symbolic meaning (see, for example: [Pirenne, 1934, p. 689-717; Gardiner, 1947, p. 99*, 108*; Helck, 1959, p. 10-12; Berlev, 1972, p. 97 - 98; Kaplony, 1980; Nibbi, 1986, p. 7-65]). The use of images of birds in connection with references in texts to various categories of people - the Egyptian population of the Western Delta, Lower Egypt, as well as inhabitants of the Mediterranean, Libyans, and Asians-attracted the attention of researchers primarily to the social, ethnic, and political significance of the concept, mainly under the influence of the concept of A. Gardiner [Gardiner, 1947, p. 98*] this concept was most often interpreted as "plebeians", "commoners", "rabble", contrasting people - "nobles", "patricians". At the same time, in the dictionary of A. Erman-G. Grapov, the term is given, on the one hand, a neutral meaning - "subjects", "people", "people", on the other hand, a sharply contrasting meaning - " ho ... Read more