A unified kingdom was formed in 3150 BC by King Menes, leading to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs.
Why was the Nile River worshiped as a god?
The Nile was also an important recreational resource for the Egyptians. The river became known as the “Father of Life” and the “Mother of All Men” and was considered a manifestation of the god Hapi, who blessed the land with life, as well as with the goddess Ma’at, who embodied the concepts of truth, harmony, and balance.
What is the religion of the Nile River?
Below are activities to reduce air pollution:
- Control industrial emissions.
- Noise control.
- Control vehicles exhaust and in the following are the main achievements:
- Replacing the old taxis in Greater Cairo by new ones using natural gas. Examination of vehicles exhausts at traffic units.
Who is the god of Nile?
Hapi, The Nile God Hapi in the ancient Egyptian mythology is the god of the Nile River and the source of life of all the people, animals and plants around it. The excessive fascination with the power of Nile River and its blessings made them give him a great role in their myths. There are many old prayers for glorifying Hapi, the god of Nile, describing him as the reason for peace and life ...
What is the god of the Nile called?
What are 5 facts about the Nile river?
- It’s the longest river on Earth.
- There’s more than one Nile.
- People spent centuries searching for its source.
- It takes a strange detour in the desert.
- Its mud helped shape human history.
- It’s a haven for wildlife, too.
- It was home to a crocodile god and a Crocodile City.
Who is the god of the Nile?
Hapi (Ancient Egyptian: ḥʿpy) was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians.
What goddess ruled the Nile River?
Isis, Egyptian Aset or Eset, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word for “throne.”
Which gods are linked to the Nile?
The gods Khnum, Anuket, 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”.
Is Sobek the god of the Nile?
He was the lord of the crocodiles and was depicted with a crocodile head. Some ancient Egyptian sects believed that Sobek created order in the universe and the world when he arose from the “Dark Water” and that he was the creator of the Nile River. He was often associated with fertility.
Who is the main god of Egypt?
Amun-RaAs the gods of Egypt developed, they were combined during the New Kingdom to form Amun-Ra (or Amun-Re), the greatest god of Egypt, who brought sun, light, and creation daily to the entire world. Amun-Ra was the chief protector of the pharaoh that embodied him in the flesh as often literal living gods.
Who are the 9 main gods of Egypt?
Ennead - The nine gods worshipped at Heliopolis who formed the tribunal in the Osiris Myth: Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Set. These nine gods decide whether Set or Horus should rule in the story The Contendings of Horus and Set.
Who is the most powerful Egyptian god?
Isis - The most powerful and popular goddess in Egyptian history. She was associated with virtually every aspect of human life and, in time, became elevated to the position of supreme deity, "Mother of the Gods", who cared for her fellow deities as she did for human beings.
Who was the first god?
Brahma the Creator In the beginning, Brahma sprang from the cosmic golden egg and he then created good & evil and light & dark from his own person. He also created the four types: gods, demons, ancestors, and men (the first being Manu).
What is the name of the bull god of Memphis?
For Hapi-ankh, bull deity of Memphis, see Apis (deity). Hapi was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians.
What is the name of the god with a big belly and large drooping breasts?
Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians. Some of the titles of Hapi were "Lord of the Fish and Birds of the Marshes" and "Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation". Hapi is typically depicted as an androgynous figure with a big belly and large drooping breasts, wearing a loincloth and ceremonial false beard.
What animal was associated with Hapi?
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 Hapi there. Hapi often was pictured carrying offerings of food or pouring water from an amphora, but also, very rarely, was depicted as a hippopotamus.
Where did Hapi live?
He was thought to live within a cavern at the supposed source of the Nile near Aswan. The cult of Hapi was mainly located at the First Cataract named Elephantine. His priests were involved in rituals to ensure the steady levels of flow required from the annual flood.
What was the official measuring device used to predict the level of the flood?
At Elephantine the official nilometer , a measuring device, was carefully monitored to predict the level of the flood, and his priests must have been intimately concerned with its monitoring. Hapi was not regarded as the god of the Nile itself but of the inundation event.
Annual flooding of the Nile River
Ancient Egyptians interpreted the annual flooding the Nile as the coming of Hapi. In ancient Egyptian society, the Nile was everything. It was the cosmic life force and the home of gods. Whenever it flooded, it deposited fertile soil on the farms of the inhabitants along the river.
Importance of Hapi in ancient Egyptian religion
Egyptian god of the yearly inundation of the Nile | Image: Upper part of a statue of the Nile god Hapi. From Faiyum, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, c. 1800 BC. Neues Museum, Berlin
Hapi and the Elephantine triad of gods
Standing guard at Hapi’s residence, i.e. the source of the Nile, were Elephantine family of deities Anqet (also known as Anukis), Khnemu (also known as Khnum) and Satet (Satis). The Elephantine triad of gods were responsible for determining the appropriate amount of silt that would flow downstream every year.
Priests of Hapi and the Nilometer
Priests of Hapi were responsible for carrying out religious rituals that beseeched the gods to keep the annual flow of the Nile at a stable rate. They would use a device known as the nilometer to measure the water level in the Nile. The device also allowed them to predict the level of the flooding.
Consort of Hapi
According to some accounts, the vulture-headed goddess Nekhebet is believed to be the wife of Hapi. Nekhebet was a protective deity predominantly worshiped in the south, i.e. Upper Egypt. Her Lower Egypt counterpart was Buto, the cobra-goddess of protection in the North.
Association
Being a vegetation deity, Hapi was associated was revered as the one who nourished the cosmos and kept the universe from decaying. His association with ancient Egyptian god Geb, the deity of the earth, makes quite a lot of sense. The two deities were said to complement each other perfectly. It was even said that Hapi was a “friend of Geb”.
Depictions, symbols and epithets
In most depictions of Hapi, he can be seen sparsely dressed as an androgynous deity with large sagging breasts and a big stomach. This symbolizes his feminine side. For his attire, he was shown by ancient Egyptians with a loincloth and ceremonial false beard. The latter artifact was mainly reserved for Egyptian royals.
What is Sobek the Egyptian god?
What is Sobek? Sobek is the Ancient Egyptian Crocodile God of the Nile. It was believed that the Nile River was created from his sweat. Therefore, Sobek controlled the waters, and also the fertility of the soil. The Nile, by the way, was full of the aggressive and fearless creatures. It seems fitting that Sobek was revered by ...
What is the name of the city in the Greek mythology?
The Greek name for Sheydet is Crocodilopolis, which means “Crocodile City.”. The city is located within the region of Faiyem, and Sobek is also known as the “Lord of Faiyum.”. A special temple was built in Crocodilopolis and dedicated to Sobek.
Why was Sobek revered?
It seems fitting that Sobek was revered by the Egyptians for his virility and reproductive ability. Crocodiles are man eaters, so although Sobek was worshipped and appreciated for his gifts of vegetation from the fertile soil nourished by the impressive River Nile, he was also greatly feared.
How big do nile crocodiles get?
Real male crocodiles from the region have been known to grow to over 16 feet long , and weigh as much as 1600 lbs. The females, who guard the crocodile eggs, are smaller, but also treacherous predators. Nile crocs eat pretty much anything they can sink their sharp teeth into, including large mammals.
How did Sobek rescue the sons of Horus?
Sobek rescued the four sons of Horus by gathering them into a net from the waters where they had emerged from the bloom of a lotus flower. He was adopted into the divine Triad of Horus, which also included Isis and Osiris, the parents of Horus. Later, during the time of the New Kingdom, a god named Sobek-Ra emerged.
What is Sobek's role in the Egyptian pharaohs?
Sobek is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, the oldest sacred texts in the world. He was the protector of the Egyptian pharaohs and their armi es, and his strength and courage were their source for overcoming obstacles. He also protected them from evil, destructive magic and ill-willed sorcery.
What is the third Kane Chronicles book?
In 2012, the third novel in a series called The Kane Chronicles was published by Disney Hyperion. It’s a compilation of short stories based on Egyptian mythology and written by author Rick Riordan. In the story titled, “The Son of So bek”, a fictional crocodile, Petsuchos, aka the “son of Sobek”, terrorizes Long Island, New York. The protagonist is transformed from an ordinary crocodile into a creature with the powers of a monster after being adorned with a magical necklace.
The Vital Importance Of The Nile To Egypt
The River Nile starts with the rivers that flow into the large Lake Victoria in the heart of Africa. One of the best places in the world to go white water rafting is on the Nile just as it empties out of Lake Victoria in Uganda. In total, the Nile drains from and through eleven African countries.
How The Ancient Egyptians Saw the Nile
The ancient Egyptians thought that the Nile was a gift of the gods and thought about it as life itself.
Hapi - The God Of The Annual Flooding Of the Nile
Hapi was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile (not the Nile itself). It was this flooding that allowed the Egyptians to grow crops and survive. Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians and one of his titles was "Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation".
Overview
Hapi (Ancient Egyptian: ḥʿpy) was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians. Some of the titles of Hapi were "Lord of the Fish and Birds of the Marshes" and "Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation". Hapi is typically depicted as an androgynous figure with a big belly and large drooping breasts, wearing …
Mythology
The annual flooding of the Nile occasionally was said to be the Arrival of Hapi. Since this flooding provided fertile soil in an area that was otherwise desert, Hapi symbolised fertility. He had large female breasts because he was said to bring a rich and nourishing harvest. Due to his fertile nature he was sometimes considered the "father of the gods", and was considered to be a caring father who helped to maintain the balance of the cosmos, the world or universe regarded as an …
Iconography
Although male and wearing the false beard, Hapi was pictured with pendulous breasts and a large stomach, as representations of the fertility of the Nile. He also was usually given blue or green skin, representing water. 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 w…
Gallery
• Upper part of a statue of the Nile God Hapi. From Faiyum, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, c. 1800 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin
• Limestone slab showing the Nile God Hapi. 12th Dynasty. From the foundations of the temple of Thutmose III at Koptos, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Further reading
• Bonneau, Danielle (1964). La Crue du Nil: Divinité égyptienne, à travers mille ans d'histoire 332 av.–641 ap. J.–C., d'après les auteurs grecs et latins (in French). C. Klincksieck.
External links
• Hapi, God of the Nile, Fertility, the North and South
• Egyptian God - Hapi: Father of the gods
• Ancient Egypt: The Mythology - Hapi
Who Was The God Hapi?
Annual Flooding of The Nile River
Importance of Hapi in Ancient Egyptian Religion
Hapi and The Elephantine Triad of Gods
Priests of Hapi and The Nilometer
Consort of Hapi
Association
Depictions, Symbols and Epithets
Attributes of Hapi
A Symbol of Union
- Starting around the 19thdynasty, Egyptian painters and artists depicted Hapi as two identical people. In both hands they wielded two plants – representation of Lower and Upper Egypt. The two figures can be seen tying those two plants together. Hapi was therefore seen as a deity who united the two Egypts so to speak. Such depictions of him appeared ...
What Is Sobek?
Origin
Family of Sobek
Symbolic Influence
Modern Influence