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Hapi, God of the Nile, Fertility, the North and Southby Caroline Seawright August 21, 2001Updated: December 19, 2012

Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was probably a predynastic name f or the Nile - later on,the Egyptians just called the Nile iterw, meaning 'the river' - and so it became thename of the god of the Nile. ('Nile' comes f rom the Greek corruption - Neilos - ofthe 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 theunderworld f rom certain caverns, where he was thought to have lived at the FirstCataract. 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 itrose out of the ground between two mountains which lay between the Islands ofAbu (Elephantine) and the Island of Iat-Rek (Philae). Hapi was also mentioned inthe 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 peaceto make Egypt to live. Thou art the Hidden One, and the guide of the darknesson the day when it is thy pleasure to lead the same. Thou art the waterer of thef ields which Ra has created, thou givest lif e unto all animals, thou makest all theland 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 theFishes and Birds of the Marshes,' indicating that he provided these creatures tothe Egyptians along with the Nile itself . Without Hapi, Egypt would have died, andso he was sometimes revered even above Ra, the sun god. The depiction ofHapi himself , though, was that of a rather well- f ed, blue or green man with thef alse beard of the pharaoh on his chin. Other than showing his status as a godof f ertility by his colour, the Egyptians showed Hapi as having rather largebreasts, 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, thesewhite, muddy waters that f lowed f rom the breasts of Hapi were probably linkedto nurturing and suckling, and thus also to f ertility.

At a very early period he absorbed the attributes of Nun, the primeval waterymass f rom which Ra, the Sun-god, emerged on the f irst day of the creation; and as a natural result he washeld the f ather of all beings and things, which were believed to be the results of his handiwork and hisof f spring. When we consider the great importance which the Nile possessed f or Egypt and her inhabitantsit is easy to understand how the Nile-god Hapi held a unique position among the gods of the country, andhow 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

Hapi was also both god of Upper and Lower Egypt - this duality was shown byhaving 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 aheaddress. The Upper Egyptian Hapi was called 'Hap-Meht' while the LowerEgyptian Hapi was known as 'Hap-Reset'. They were depicted together, pouringwater f rom a carried vase or together, tying the two plants of the northern orsouthern region into a knot with the sema hieroglyph, symbolising the union ofUpper and Lower Egypt.

He was thought to be the husband of the vulture goddess Nekhbet in Upper Egypt, and of the cobragoddess Wadjet (Edjo) in Lower Egypt. When he took on the attributes of Nun (Nu), Hapi became husbandto 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 believedthat the gods Khnum, Satet, and Anqet were the guardians of the source of theNile. Their duty was to make sure that the right amount of silt was releasedduring the yearly inundation. Hapi was in charge of the waters that f lowed duringthe 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 andother sacrif ices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to Hapi. Hapi was thoughtto come with the inundation (the 'Arrival of Hapi') with a retinue of crocodile godsand f rog goddesses, and the sacrif ices were given in the hopes that the f loodwould not be too high, nor too low. If the inundation was too high, many homeswould be destroyed (the Egyptians built their homes and even palaces out of mud brick, which was easilywashed away in a large f lood). On the other hand, if the f lood was too low, there would not be enoughwater f or the f ields and cattle - Egypt would be in drought. A great f lood was known as a 'large Hapi', whilsta low f lood was a 'small Hapy'. During inundation, statues of Hapi were carried about through the townsand 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 didwith the other gods. Instead, he tried to suggest that Hapi was an incarnation ofthe Akenaten himself :

Praises to thee, O Ua-en-Re (Akhenaten). I give adoration to the height ofheaven. I propitiate him who lives by truth (Ma'at), the Lord of Diadems,Akhenaten, great in his duration; the Nile-god by whose decrees men areenriched; the f ood (kau) and f atness of Egypt; the good ruler who f orms me,begets me, develops me, makes me to associate with princes; the light by sightof 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 birdsof the marshes' who 'greens the Two Banks'. He was the 'maker of barley and wheat', the 'master of theriver bringing vegetation'. However, there are no known temples of Hapi, but his statues and relief s aref ound in the temples of other deities. He was worshiped throughout the land of Egypt, but especially atSwentet (Aswan) and Gebel El-Silisila.

© Caroline 'Kunoichi' Seawright 2001 - present