Hapi, Ancient Egyptian God of the Nile

Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was probably a predynastic name for the Nile - later on, the Egyptians just called the Nile iterw, meaning 'the river' - and so it became the name of the god of the Nile. ('Nile' comes from the Greek corruption - Neilos - of the Egyptian nwy which means 'water'.) He was mentioned in the Pyramid Texts ("who comest forth from Hep") where he was to send the river into the underworld from certain caverns, where he was thought to have lived at the First Cataract. The Nile was thought to have flowed from the primeval waters of Nun, through the land of the dead, the heavens and finally flowing into Egypt where it rose out of the ground between two mountains which lay between the Islands of Abu (Elephantine) and the Island of Iat-Rek (Philae). Hapi was also mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as a destructive power, but one that worked for the pharaoh.

1. t hekeep.o rg http://thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/hapi.html
Hapi, God of the Nile, Fertility, the North and South
by Caroline Seawright
August 2
1, 2001
Updated: December 19, 2012
Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was probably a predyna
stic name f or the Nile - later on,
the Egyptians just called the Nile iterw, meaning 'the river' - and so it became the
name of the god of the Nile. ('Nile' comes f rom the Greek corruption - Neilos - of
the Egyptian nwy which means 'water'.) He was mentioned in the Pyramid Texts
("who comest f orth f rom Hep") where he was to send the river into the
underworld f rom certain caverns, where he was thought to have lived at the First
Cataract. The Nile was thought to have f lowed f rom the primeval waters of Nun,
through the land of the dead, the heavens and f inally f lowing into Egypt where it
rose out of the ground between two mountains which lay between the Islands of
Abu (Elephantine) and the Island of Iat-Rek (Philae). Hapi was also mentioned in
the Pyramid Texts as a destructive power, but one that worked f or the pharaoh.
Homage to thee, O Hapi, thou appearest in this land, and thou comest in peace
to make Egypt to live. Thou art the Hidden One, and the guide of the darkness
on the day when it is thy pleasure to lead the same. Thou art the waterer of the
f ields which Ra has created, thou givest lif e unto all animals, thou makest all the
land to drink unceasingly as thou descendest on thy way f rom heaven.
-- Lewis Spence (2008), Myths & Legends of Ancient Egypt, p. 171
As a water god, Hapi was a deity of f ertility and f ecundity - he provided water,
f ood and the yearly inundation of the Nile. He was also known as 'Lord of the
Fishes and Birds of the Marshes,' indicating that he provided these creatures to
the Egyptians along with the Nile itself . Without Hapi, Egypt would have died, and
so he was sometimes revered even above Ra, the sun god. The depiction of
Hapi himself , though, was that of a rather well-f ed, blue or green man with the
f alse beard of the pharaoh on his chin. Other than showing his status as a god
of f ertility by his colour, the Egyptians showed Hapi as having rather large
breasts, like those of a mother with a baby. According to Donald A. MacKenzie
(1922), the "whitish muddy Nile may have been identif ied with milk". Thus, these
white, muddy waters that f lowed f rom the breasts of Hapi were probably linked
to nurturing and suckling, and thus also to f ertility.
At a very early period he absorbed the attributes of Nun, the primeval watery
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held the f ather of all beings and things, which were believed to be the results of his handiwork and his
of f spring. When we consider the great importance which the Nile possessed f or Egypt and her inhabitants
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how he came to be regarded as a being as great as, if not greater than Ra himself .
-- TourEgypt, Hap, or Hapi, The God of the Nile

2. Hapi was also both god of Upper and Lower Egypt - this duality was shown by
having twin Hapi deities, one wearing the papyrus of the north (Lower Egypt) as a
headdress, the other wearing the south's (Upper Egypt) water lily (lotus) as a
headdress. The Upper Egyptian Hapi was called 'Hap-Meht' while the Lower
Egyptian Hapi was known as 'Hap-Reset'. They were depicted together, pouring
water f rom a carried vase or together, tying the two plants of the northern or
southern region into a knot with the sema hieroglyph, symbolising the union of
Upper and Lower Egypt.
He was thought to be the husband of the vulture goddess Nekhbet in Upper Egypt, and of the cobra
goddess Wadjet (Edjo) in Lower Egypt. When he took on the attributes of Nun (Nu), Hapi became husband
to Nun's wif e, the primeval goddess Naunet of the Ogdoad. He was also linked with Osiris - another water-
related f ertility god - and thus Nekhbet and Wadjet were also seen as a f orm of Isis, Osiris' wif e.
...the Egyptians had no clue how or why the Nile f looded each year. They believed
that the gods Khnum, Satet, and $QTHW were the guardians of the source of the
Nile. Their duty was to make sure that the right amount of silt was released
during the yearly inundation. Hapi was in charge of the waters that f lowed during
the f loods. The f lood was commonly known as the "arrival of Hapi".
-- April McDevitt, Hapi
During the inundation f lood, the Egyptians would throw of f erings, amulets and
other sacrif ices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to Hapi. Hapi was thought
to come with the inundation (the 'Arrival of Hapi') with a retinue of crocodile gods
and f rog goddesses, and the sacrif ices were given in the hopes that the f lood
would not be too high, nor too low. If the inundation was too high, many homes
would be destroyed (the Egyptians built their homes and even palaces out of mud brick, which was easily
washed away in a large f lood). On the other hand, if the f lood was too low, there would not be enough
water f or the f ields and cattle - Egypt would be in drought. A great f lood was known as a 'large Hapi', whilst
a low f lood was a 'small Hapy'. During inundation, statues of Hapi were carried about through the towns
and villages so that the people could honor and pray to him - it was a solemn occasion.

Even Akhenaten, the 'heretic king', could not banish Hapi completely as he did
with the other gods. Instead, he tried to suggest that Hapi was an incarnation of
the Akenaten himself :
Praises to thee, O Ua-en-Re (Akhenaten). I give adoration to the height of
heaven. I propitiate him who lives by truth (Ma'at), the Lord of Diadems,
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of which I live - my Ka day by day.
-- Henri Frankf ort (1978), Kingship and the Gods, p. 69
Hapi was the mighty one in his cavern, whose true name was unknown. He was 'lord of the f ishes and birds
of the marshes' who 'greens the Two Banks'. He was the 'maker of barley and wheat', the 'master of the
river bringing vegetation'. However, there are no known temples of Hapi, but his statues and relief s are
f ound in the temples of other deities. He was worshiped throughout the land of Egypt, but especially at
Swentet (Aswan) and Gebel El-Silisila.
© Caroline 'Kunoichi' Seawright 2001 - present