God Hapi - a symbol of the Nile

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Ancient Egypt is known for its rich mythology. One of the most revered and beloved Egyptian gods was Hapi. He was loved both in Lower and Upper Egypt. We will talk about it today. Let's find out why the Egyptians called the god Hapi the creator of grain and what power he personified.

Who is Hapi?

This is one of the oldest Egyptian gods. There is little information about his birth. His father is considered the primeval ocean Nun, who created most of the supreme Egyptian gods.

Hapi was the patron saint of floods. It was he who flooded the great river Nile, saturating the lands with fertile silt. He was also called "the lord of birds and marsh fish", "the lord of the river that carries plants." It is quite clear why the Egyptians glorified the god Hapi. The fact is that the African Nile River, flowing through the whole of Egypt, during the flood brought life-giving moisture to the Egyptian land.

Hapi is a caring, kind and generous god who gave water and food. That is why the ancient Egyptians loved him so much. In addition, he kept track of the cosmic balance.

The Egyptians identified the annual flood of the Nile with the coming of Hapi. After all, he took care that the arable landgave a rich harvest, and the meadows provided food for livestock. That is why the Egyptians called the god Hapi the creator of grain. During the flood of the Nile, sacrifices were made to him, and papyri with a list of gifts were thrown into the river.

Origin of name

The name Hapi (or Hapei) is still a mystery to historians. According to one version, this is how the Nile River was once called. However, at the same time, he was not the god of the Nile itself, but of its fertile power. According to another version, the word "hapi" is translated as "only current" (meaning the course of the Nile).

Lord of the River

Hapi personified the Great Nile. This river, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, originates in the afterlife of the Duat. Its sources are guarded by a serpent. It is at the first rapids of the river, in the Khenu cave, that Hapi lives.

The deity was often depicted in a pair with his wife. Most often it was the goddess Meret (translated from ancient Egyptian - "beloved"). At the same time, in Upper Egypt, Hapi had another wife - Nekhbet (the goddess of power of the pharaoh with the head of a kite). But the inhabitants of Lower Egypt preferred to see God in the company of the goddess Uto, who patronized the city of the same name in the Nile Delta. She was depicted as a red cobra.

What did Hapi look like?

The Egyptians represented him as a man with a small belly and bulging, almost feminine, breasts. He had skin with a blue or green tint. The hue of his skin represented the color of the river water, which changed with the seasons. The figurines of the god were painted blue, symbolizing the divine principle. Hapi was wearing only a loincloth. His head was crowned with a tiara (headdress of ancient kings). The symbols on the tiara varied. In the hands of the deity was a vessel of water.

Interesting fact: sometimes Hapi chose the guise of a hippo.

It is noteworthy that Roman and Greek artists represented God in a slightly different way. He was portrayed as a large man with a couple of extra pounds, curls with a beard. Next to him were traditionally a sphinx, a cornucopia and 16 children. The number of children also has a symbolic meaning - it was believed that the water level rose by 16 cubits during the flood of the Nile.

Hapis of Upper and Lower Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt were two different kingdoms. For a long time they fought among themselves and only centuries later united. It is noteworthy that the cause of one of the largest wars was the love of hippos. The pharaoh of one kingdom ordered another to destroy the pool of hippos, which his opponent was very fond of. This war lasted for centuries.

The gods of Upper and Lower Egypt were also often depicted differently. Moreover, they gave them different names. However, the ancient Egyptian god Hapi was honored in almost all Egyptian regions.

The inhabitants of Upper Egypt decorated his tiara with images of lotuses, lilies or even crocodiles. There were a lot of these predators in Upper Egypt.

The Hapi Tiara of Lower Egypt was decorated with papyrus and frogs. It is theywere the symbols of this area.

Hapi and Sebek

These two deities are very similar, despite the obvious differences in appearance. After all, if Hapi looked like a man, then Sebek was a deity with the head of a crocodile. More ancient cults painted him even in a crocodile body. True, such images are rare.

Sebek is one of the most ancient gods of Egypt. He commanded the water and controlled the flood of the Nile. That is, he practically competed with Hapi. That is why these deities did not have the same power in any of the Egyptian regions. Where the crocodile was revered, there was no place for the god Hapi. In these areas, Sebek not only lost its significance. He turned into a more uncontrollable, unpredictable and insidious deity.

Historians believe that ancient people identified the most dangerous creatures with the gods. Today, crocodiles kill hundreds of people a year, and in ancient times, there were probably much more victims of predators. The magical way to protect against the risk of being eaten by a crocodile is to make it a deity. In Middle Egypt, a huge temple complex dedicated to Sebek was even built. It contains thousands of mummified crocodiles that the Egyptians kept as sacred pets.

Conclusion

Today we found out why the Egyptians glorified the god Hapi. This deity is one of the most interesting characters in the mythology of the Land of the Pyramids. Hapi is the kindest and most generous of the huge pantheon of Greek gods, who, judging by the ancient papyri, did not particularly careabout mere mortals.