Hapi – Conceptualizing the Nile Flood in Egypt from the Old Kingdom to the Greco-Roman Period

• Applicant: Dr. Jan Tattko
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468601182

The ancient Egyptian god Hapi was the embodiment of the inundation of the Nile, the annual event that was fundamental to all life in Egypt. He was the guarantor of the fertility of the soil and thus the basis of life and prosperity of Egypt. From the Egyptian perspective, the world order itself was in jeopardy, if the Nile flood did not materialize. If the inundation was too low or too high, it had catastrophic effects on the country. The natural phenomenon consequently dominated the ancient Egyptian understanding of the world. Hapi's importance in ancient Egyptian belief stands in contrast to the nature of research undertaken about him in Egyptology. There remains even now no monographic study on the god that evaluates the Egyptological source material in a way that does justice to the subject. The present study is dedicated to Hapi as the god of the inundation and the ancient Egyptian theological conceptions of the Nile flood associated with him, on the basis of Egyptian texts and representations. As a characteristic, the project will not only present the theological aspects of Hapi as a god, but also give insights into the physical, hydrological and economic aspects of the natural phenomenon of the inundation from an ancient Egyptian perspective.Diachronically, the sources taken into account reach from the pyramid texts, which first decorated the walls of the royal pyramids of the Old Kingdom, to the inscriptions of the Egyptian temples of the Greco-Roman period. The intention of the study is to derive the Egyptian conceptions of the Nile flood in their development by the comparative examination of the evidence. The focus lies on the late temple inscriptions which have been frequently neglected in egyptological research. However, the temple texts are by far the most valuabe source for Hapi, the god of the inundation, since they expand on earlier data and concepts, adding further details to them.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants