Hapi was the god of the Nile itself, the very incarnation of wealth and the symbol of the life-giving fertile mud over the fields. He dwelled in a cave near the first cata- ract where he was fed by crocodiles and frogs who wanted to assure themsel- ves that the Nile should not run dry and make them die.
He was never seen through an animal and always de- picted as a big fat man covered with (blue, black or green) mud from the river, offering fruits and carrying the symbols of the two Egyptian kingdoms: the Lotus and Papyrus. His festival was held in all parts of Egypt in the late summer when the flooding began, and his popularity was for obvious reasons constant through all times. His wife was the goddess Nekhbet.        Main text.