| Hapi in hieroglyphs | ||||
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Hapy was a deification of the annual flooding of the Nile in Egyptian mythology, which deposited rich silt on its banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.[1] His name means Running One, probably referring to the current of the Nile. Some of the titles of Hapy were, Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes and Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation. He is typically depicted as a man with a large belly wearing a lioncloth, having long hair and having pendulous, female-like breasts.[2] The annual flooding of the Nile occasionally was said to be the Arrival of Hapy.[1] Since this flooding provided fertile soil in an area that was otherwise desert, Hapy, as its patron, symbolised fertile lands. Consequently, although male and wearing the false beard, Hapy was pictured with a large belly, as representations of the fertility of the Nile. He also was usually given blue[2] or green skin, resembling that of Nu, representing water. 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.[1]
It may be the case that originally, Hapy (or a variation on it), was an earlier name used for the Nile itself, since it was said (inaccurately) that the Nile began between Mu-Hapy and Kher-Hapy, at the southern edge of Egypt where the two tributaries entered the region (its sources are two lakes, one of which is Lake Victoria). Nevertheless, Hapy was not regarded as the god of the Nile itself but of the inundation event.[1] He was also considered a "friend of Geb" the Egyptian god of the earth,[3] and the "lord of Neper", the god of grain.[4]
Other attributes varied, depending upon the region of Egypt in which the depictions exist. In Lower Egypt, he was adorned with papyrus plants and attended by frogs, present in the region, and symbols of it. Whereas in Upper Egypt, it was the lotus and crocodiles which were more present in the Nile, thus these were the symbols of the region, and those associated with Hapy there. Hapy often was pictured carrying offerings of food or pouring water from an amphora, but also, very rarely, was depicted as a hippopotamus.
When pairing of deities began to occur in the Egyptian pantheon, occasionally a token wife, named Meret (simply meaning beloved), was given to him. However, more usually, since the Nile was tied to the land, later, Hapy was said to become the husband of the patron of the land, which in Upper Egypt was Nekhbet, and in Lower Egypt was Wadjet. After a while, he became identified with Nun, a paired deification created for the primordial waters, Naunet, in the late Ogdoad cosmogony. Thus, Hapy gained her as wife also, since Nu was created to make a pair for Naunet.
He was thought to live with a cavern at the supposed source of the Nile near Aswan.[5] The cult of Hapy was mainly located at the First Cataract named Elephantine. Here, many temples were built that were dedicated to him. His priests were involved in rituals to ensure the steady levels of flow required from the annual flood. At Elephantine the official nileometer, a measuring device, was carefully monitored to predict the level of the flood, and his priests must have been intimately concerned with its monitoring.
During the Nineteenth dynasty Hapy was 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 a hieroglyph meaning "union".[2] This symbolic representation was often carved at the base of seated statues of the pharaoh.[2]
The Hymn to the Flood says:
- Lightmaker who comes from the dark
- Fattener of herds
- Might that fashions all
- None can live without him
- People are clothed with the flax of his fields
- Thou makest all the land to drink unceasingly, as thou descendest on thy way from the heavens.
The name Hapy can be spelled either Hapy or Hapi, but not to be confused with Hapi, one of the Four sons of Horus.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. p.106 Thames & Hudson. 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. p.107 Thames & Hudson. 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8
- ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. p.105 Thames & Hudson. 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8
- ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. p.117 Thames & Hudson. 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8
- ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. p.108 Thames & Hudson. 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Hapy. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. |