Hapy, meaning runner, was a solar deity in Egyptian mythology, and the symbolisation of the annual flood of the Nile River, which deposited rich silt on the banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. From Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity by Samuel Sharpe (1863) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hieroglyphs are a system of writing used by the Ancient Egyptians, using a combination of logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements. ... A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun. ... Egyptian mythology (or Egyptian religion) is the name for the succession of beliefs held by the people of Egypt until the coming of Christianity and Islam. ... There is also Nile, a death metal band from South Carolina, USA. The Nile in Egypt Length 6 695 km Elevation of the source 1 134 m Average discharge 2 830 m³/s Area watershed 3 400 000 km² Origin Africa Mouth the Mediterranean Basin countries Uganda - Sudan - Egypt The...

His name means Running One, probably referring to the current of the Nile. Some of the titles of Hapi were Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes and Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation. He is ancient not only to us of the modern world, but to the Egyptians as well. In fact, hep, the root of Hapi's name, is probably an ancient name for the Nile. Since the river Nile provided the essentials for life in the desert, Hapi, as its patron, symbolized the fullness of life. The annual flooding of the Nile was sometimes referred to as the Arrival of Hapi.

Though obviously male, and with a beard, Hapi was pictured with full breasts, and a large belly, as representations of the fertility of the Nile. His skin was blue or green, and he was always adorned with marsh flowers such as the lotus and papyrus plants. Hapi was often pictured carrying offerings of food or giving libations of water from a vase, and attended to by river-spirits in the form of frogs and crocodiles. Very rarely Hapi was pictured as a man with a double-goose head, or as a hippopotamus. Hapi’s wives were thought to be Nekhbet and Wadjet.

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.