Ancient Egyptian god of the annual flooding of the Nile
This article is about the Egyptian Nile god. For Hapy, one of the four sons of Horus, seeFour sons of Horus. For Hapi-ankh, bull deity of Memphis, seeApis (deity).
Hapi
Hapi, shown as an iconographic pair ofgenii symbolically tying togetherUpper andLower Egypt
Hapi (Ancient Egyptian:ḥꜥpj) (also spelledHapy) was the god of the annualflooding of the Nile inancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited richsilt on the river's banks, fertilizing the soil and enabling the Egyptians to grow crops.[1] Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians. Some of the titles of Hapi were "Lord of the Fish and Birds of the Marshes" and "Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation". Hapi is typically depicted as anandrogynous figure with a prominent belly and large drooping breasts, wearing aloincloth and ceremonial false beard.[2]
The annualflooding of the Nile occasionally was said to be theArrival of Hapi.[1] Since this flooding providedfertile soil in an area that was otherwise desert, Hapi symbolised fertility. He had large female breasts because he was said to bring a rich and nourishing harvest. Due to his fertile nature he was sometimes considered the "father of the gods",[1] and was considered to be a caring father who helped to maintain the balance of the cosmos, the world or universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious system.[1] He was thought to live within a cavern at the supposed source of the Nile nearAswan.[3] The cult of Hapi was mainly located at theFirst Cataract namedElephantine. His priests were involved in rituals to ensure the steady levels of flow required from the annual flood. At Elephantine the officialnilometer, a measuring device, was carefully monitored to predict the level of the flood, and his priests must have been intimately concerned with its monitoring.
Hapi was not regarded as the god of the Nile itself but of the inundation event.[1] He was also considered a "friend ofGeb", the Egyptian god of theearth,[4] and the "lord ofNeper", the god ofgrain.[5]
Althoughmale and wearing the falsebeard, Hapi was pictured with pendulous breasts and a large stomach, as representations of thefertility of the Nile. He was usually given blue[2] or green skin, representing water. Other attributes varied, depending upon the region of Egypt in which the depictions exist. InLower Egypt, he was adorned withpapyrus plants and attended byfrogs, present in the region, and symbols of it. InUpper Egypt, it was thelotus andcrocodiles which were more present in the Nile, thus these were the symbols of the region, and those associated with Hapi there. Hapi often was pictured carrying offerings of food or pouring water from anamphora, but also, very rarely, was depicted as ahippopotamus. During theNineteenth Dynasty Hapi is often depicted as a pair of figures, each holding and tying together the long stem of two plants representing Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolically binding the two halves of the country around ahieroglyph meaning "union".[2] This symbolic representation was often carved at the base of seated statues of the pharaoh.[2]Egyptian historianAl-Maqrizi (1364–1442) claimed in his "El Khutat El Maqrizia" ("The Maqrizian Plans") that virgins were sacrificed annually as "brides of the Nile" ("Arous El Nil"). This claim was historically accepted until the 1970s,[6] when Egyptologists such asBassam el-Shammaa began to dispute it.[7]
Upper part of a statue of the Nile God Hapi. FromFaiyum, Egypt,12th Dynasty, c. 1800 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin
Limestone slab showing the Nile God Hapi. 12th Dynasty. From the foundations of thetemple of Thutmose III atKoptos, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Bonneau, Danielle (1964).La Crue du Nil: Divinité égyptienne, à travers mille ans d'histoire 332 av.–641 ap. J.–C., d'après les auteurs grecs et latins (in French). C. Klincksieck.
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