Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths a...
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Hapi (Hep, Hap, Hapy) was a water and fertility god who was popular throughout Ancient Egypt. It is thought that his name was originally the predynastic name for the Nile. however, by the Dynastic period the Nile was known as "iterw" ("the river") and the word was used to refer to the god of the Nile (the name "Nile" derives from the Greek word "Neilos" which was a corruption of the Egyptian word "nwy", meaning "water"). He was worshiped throughout Egypt, but was particularly popular around Aswan and Gebel El-Silisila.
Hapi was the patron of Upper and Lower Egypt. In this capacity he was described as twin deities named Hap-Reset (Upper Egypt) and Hap-Meht (Lower Egypt). Therse deities were depicted either pouring water from a jug (representing the innundation) or tying together the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt (the papyrus and the lotus respectively) in a knot which resembled the hieroglyphic word "sema" ("joined"). This role, together with his connection with the Nile and the innundation, made him one of the most popular and powerful deities of Ancient Egypt and yet no temple has been discovered which was specifically dedicated to him.
Hapi was the patron of Upper and Lower Egypt. In this capacity he was described as twin deities named Hap-Reset (Upper Egypt) and Hap-Meht (Lower Egypt). Therse deities were depicted either pouring water from a jug (representing the innundation) or tying together the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt (the papyrus and the lotus respectively) in a knot which resembled the hieroglyphic word "sema" ("joined"). This role, together with his connection with the Nile and the innundation, made him one of the most popular and powerful deities of Ancient Egypt and yet no temple has been discovered which was specifically dedicated to him.
The gods Khnum, Anqet and Satet were the guardians of the source of the Nile who ensured that the correct amount of silt was left by the waters, but Hapi controlled the water itself. He was also associated with the Delta and given the epithet "Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes".
As a god of water, he was often associated with Nun (the personification of the primeaval waters of chaos in the Ogdoad theology from Heliopolis) and was described as the husband of Naunet (Nun´s wife and female aspect). Because the sun god (Ra or Atum) emerged from the waters of Nun on the first day of creation, Hapi was sometimes considered to be the father of the sun god and therefore the father of all life forms. It is probably because of these solar connections that Akhenaten did not reject hapi along with Amun and the majority of the other gods, instead describing him as an incarnation of The Aten
He was also associated with Osiris because of his link to the Nile and fertility. As a result, Isis was sometimes considered to be his female counterpart or his wife. The Pyramid Texts make it clear that many of the ancient goddesses (for example Mut) were linked with Hapi as aspects of Isis. He was also the husband of Nekhebet in Upper Egypt and Wadjet in Lower Egypt, both goddesses were at times associated with Isis.
Hapi was depicted as a plump man with large breasts and blue or green skin wearing the false beard of the pharaoh. The female breasts and his skin colour are a reminder that he is a fertility god, while the false beard reaffirms his link to the pharaoh. As the patron of Upper and Lower Egypt and so was often depicted as twin deities; Hap-Reset who wears the papyrus of Upper Egypt on his headdress and Hap-Meht who wears the lotus of Lower Egypt on his headdress. When he is depicted as a single god he often carries both the papyrus and lotus.
