Days at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo: Hapi of the Nile Flood

Today, Egypt is officially celebrating Wafaa al-Nil or the Nile Loyalty Festival.

If you think this is a newly invented holiday, think again. Wafaa al-Nil is one of the oldest festivals still celebrated in Egypt today, alongside Sham El-Nassim. In fact, it is among the country’s most ancient traditions—dating back over 7,000 years.

Hapi and the River Nile generated by Sora 

The ancient Egyptians linked the festival to the annual inundation of the Nile, which typically began in mid-July and peaked between mid-August and early September. 

The date most often associated with it is August 15, when the floodwaters became clearly visible in Memphis (and later Cairo). The exact timing, however, depended on rainfall in Ethiopia.

Historical evidence traces the festival back as far as the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE), with inscriptions and temple reliefs depicting rituals dedicated to Hapi, the god of the Nile’s flood.

On this occasion, I’m sharing a couple of photos of Hapi from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Double Statues of the ancient Egyptian
King Amenemhat III
 as a Hapi at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo

Here are double statues of ancient Egyptian King Amenmenhat III of the Middle Kingdom's 12th dynasty as the ancient Egyptian deity of the Nile "Hapi" at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

Both figures wear elaborate wigs adorned with large braids, wide beards, and finely pleated kilts just like Hapi.

Amenmenhat III was impeccably carved with symmetrical features, depicted offering fish, birds, and aquatic plants.

The double statues were discovered at Tanis, the capital of the 21st dynasty in the Nile Delta's Sharkia governorate.

Inscriptions were added to the middle of the statues by King Psusennes I of the 21st Dynasty when it was moved to Tanis.
Here is Hapi from King Tutankhamun’s collection at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, before it was moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).

Hapis Alabaster Perfume Vase and Statues of King Tut with a harpoon
at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in 2015

Here we see the twin Hapis—symbols of the Nile’s bounty—gracefully adorning an alabaster perfume vase from the treasures of King Tutankhamun, crafted during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom.

The twin Hapis—one wearing the papyrus crown of the North (Delta) and the other the lotus crown of the South (Nile Valley)—together symbolize the unity of the Two Lands, a principle every pharaoh was meant to embody.

Hapis Alabaster Perfume Vase and Statues of King Tut with a harpoon
at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in 2015

Here is the alabaster perfume vase, its backside featuring none other than King Tut’s—or rather, King Nebkheperure, the throne name of Tutankhamun—inscribed within the royal cartouche.

The hieroglyphs combine the scarab beetle (khepri), the solar disk (Ra), and other symbols to form the meaning ‘Lord of the Manifestations of Ra.’ This title, carved into the delicate alabaster, not only proclaims the young pharaoh’s divine authority but also eternally links him to the cosmic power of the sun god, reinforcing his place in the cycle of life, fertility, and kingship that the twin Hapis themselves embody.

This clustering of divine names and symbols—Ra, Khepri, and Hapi—was no accident.

It served as a bold affirmation that Tutankhamun had turned away from the heretical path of his father, Akhenaten, who sought to elevate Aten as the sole god. 

By surrounding himself with a crowded pantheon, Tut signaled the restoration of Egypt’s traditional order: a world where the sun god Ra, the renewing power of Khepri, and the life-giving flood of Hapi all converged to legitimize his reign. In essence, every inscription and image proclaimed that the gods had returned, balance was restored, and the young pharaoh ruled under their collective blessing

Back to the ancient Nile festival—what we might call the “Nile Flood Festival”—was dedicated to Hapi, who was portrayed as an androgynous figure: a male body with female breasts and a rounded belly, symbolizing fertility and abundance.  

King Tutankhamen's Hapi alabaster vase at
the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in 2015

Hapi’s androgynous form can be seen more clearly on another alabaster vase from King Tutankhamun’s collection. Here, Hapi wore the lotus crown of the South (Nile Valley).

Hapi wasn’t just “a Nile god,” but the very embodiment of the annual inundation that renewed Egypt’s soil, ensured fertility, and sustained life. In funerary symbolism, this was tied to rebirth—just as the flood renewed the land, the king’s soul could be renewed in the afterlife.

King Tutankhamen's Hapi alabaster vase at
the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in 2015

Alabaster perfume vases often held scented oils and unguents, crucial in both daily temple rituals and funerary rites. By placing Hapi on these vases, it was like invoking the life-giving waters of the Nile to accompany the king in eternity, purifying and regenerating him forever.

Back again to the Nile Flood festival, Ancient Egyptian Communities marked the day with offerings—cakes, sacrifices, amulets, and statues—to ensure a generous flood.

 We will leave the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and head to the Temple of Luxor in Luxor, where we can see yet another two Hapis.

Hapi Engravings on Ramses II's colossal statue in Egypt's Luxor temple

Here are Ancient Egyptian engravings of the deity Hapi, the god of the Nile flood, carved at the base of the Colossal Statue of Ramses II of the New Kingdom‘s 19th dynasty in front of the Luxor Pylon, within Luxor Temple. 

The presence of two Hapis symbolizes the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

As for the hieroglyphs between them: this is a classic motif seen on many seated statues of New Kingdom pharaohs, especially Ramses II.

The inscription usually reads something like: “Uniter of the Two Lands, given life like Ra, forever.” Or, more formally: “The Hapis who unite the Two Lands, living forever.” This formula praises the king as a divine ruler who maintains ma’at (cosmic order) by keeping Egypt unified.

The twin Hapis are shown performing the “Sema-Tawy” ritual — literally, “binding the Two Lands” — a ceremony with both political and spiritual significance.

Even the throne itself often carries the Sema-Tawy glyph: a stylized windpipe and lungs bound together with papyrus and lotus stem. Far from being merely decorative, this was a powerful declaration of Ramses II’s legitimacy and divine role as the guardian of Egypt’s unity.

The celebration of the Nile Flood Festival endured through the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom, and even into the Greco-Roman era, when Egyptian traditions blended with Hellenistic influences.

Later, under both Christianity and Islam, the festival survived in a more cultural and social form. The overt religious rituals faded, but the August celebration remained, right into the modern Egyptian Kingdom and the Egyptian Republic.

In another time, I would share more photos and stories about the Nile, but it feels difficult to celebrate anything while a genocide is taking place just across the border, and while Egypt itself faces a vital challenge with the completion and operation of Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

What makes it even worse is knowing that the Trump administration once attempted to use the GERD crisis to pressure Egypt into accepting the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Still, I try to remain optimistic. Part of that optimism comes from the eternal bond between Egypt and the Nile. Nothing—inshallah—will stop the river from flowing into Egypt, not even a hundred GERDs. Perhaps that sounds naive, but history teaches us one lesson very clearly: you cannot tame the Nile.