SHRINE OF
HAPI



Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was a predynastic name for the Nile - later on, the ancient 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'.) God Hapi is 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 1st 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 ancient 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. As a Water God, Lord Hapi is a deity of fertility - he provided water, food and the yearly 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 ancient Egyptians along with the Nile itself. Without Lord Hapi, ancient Egypt would have died, and so he was sometimes revered even above Lord Ra, the Sun God. The depiction of Lord Hapi himself, is that of a rather well-fed, blue or green man with the false beard of the Pharaoh on his chin. Other than showing his status as a God of fertility by his colour, the ancient Egyptians showed God Hapi as having rather large breasts, like those of a mother with a baby. At a very early period he absorbed the attributes of Nun, the primeval watery mass from which Lord Ra, the Sun-God, emerged on the first day of the creation; and as a natural result he was held the father of all beings and things, which were believed to be the results of his handiwork and his offspring. When we consider the great importance which the Nile possessed for ancient Egypt and her inhabitants it is easy to understand how the Nile-God Hapi held a unique position among the Gods of the country, and how he came to be regarded as a being as great as, if not greater than God Ra himself. Lord Hapi was also both God of Upper and Lower ancient 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 ancient Egyptian God Hapi was called 'Hap-Meht' while the Lower ancient Egyptian God Hapi was known as 'Hap-Reset'. They were depicted together, pouring water from 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 ancient 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), God Hapi became husband to Nun's wife, the Primeval Goddess Naunet of the Ogdoad. He was also linked with Lord Osiris - another water-related Fertility God - and thus Nekhbet and Wadjet were also seen as a form of Goddess Isis, Osiris' wife. It has been said that the ancient Egyptians had no clue how or why the Nile flooded each year. They believed that the Gods Khnum, Satet, and Anqet 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. Lord Hapi was in charge of the waters that flowed during the floods. During the yearly flood, the ancient Egyptians would throw offerings, amulets and other sacrifices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to God Hapi. Lord Hapi was thought to come with the (the 'Arrival of Hapi') with a retinue of Crocodile Gods and Frog Goddesses, and the sacrifices were given in the hopes that the flood would not be too high, nor too low. If the inundation was too high, many homes would be destroyed (the ancient Egyptians built their homes and even palaces out of mud brick, which was easily washed away in a large flood). On the other hand, if the flood was too low, there would not be enough water for the fields and cattle - ancient Egypt would be in drought. During the yearly flood, statues of Lord 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 God Hapi completely as he did with the other Gods. Instead, he tried to suggest that God Hapi was an incarnation of the Aten (Akenaten's god, the sun disk). There are no known temples of God Hapi, but his statues and reliefs are found in the temples of other deities. He was worshiped throughout the land of ancient Egypt, but especially at Swentet (Aswan) and Gebel El-Silisila.