HAPI

in ancient Egyptian religion, personification of the annual inundation of the Nile River. Hapi was the most important among numerous personifications of aspects of natural fertility, and his dominance increased during Egyptian history. Hymns were composed in his honour, but he had no temples or formal cult, except at the narrows of Jabal al-Silsila in the south, where shrines were built and offerings were cast annually into the river's rising waters. Hapi was represented as a fat man with swelling, pendulous breasts, dressed in a belt suitable to a marsh dweller or servant. This form, which was originally common to many personifications, became identified increasingly closely with Hapi.