Ancient Egyptian xt.w – menials of gods

The oldest ancient Egyptian «letter to the dead», «The Cairo Text on Linen», tells that all possessions of some Sankhenptah had been «taken away» by a woman called Wabut. Its lines 6 and 7 also complain that «she is taking away all xt.w of your Hm after removing all that was in your house». The noun xt.w therein is commonly understood as a social term referring to «menials» or even «slaves». But the present article shows its cognation to the noun xt.w – «entourage», «retinue» of a god, and to the title «xt(w) X», where «X» is a name of a god. In the «Cairo Text on Linen» the words «all xt.w of your Hm» refer to Sankhenptah’s mortuary priests. In the Old Kingdom, the service of the later was usually repaid from their deceased «client’s» property. Therefore, after Wabut took away all possessions of Sankhenptah, his mortuary priests had naturally to cease their service in his behalf.