Well documented. Several independent sources across different periods. In the record from the very beginning.
Hapy ḥpj
the ape-headed one, north
Part of the Four Sons of Horus.
Overview
Hapy is the baboon of the four, and he takes the north.
He protects what Budge calls "the small viscerae of the body" [budge-1904] — the vaguest of the four assignments, and the vagueness appears to be in the source tradition rather than in the reporting.
A warning before anything else. There are two unrelated gods called Hapi in Egyptian religion: this one, a son of Horus, and Hapi the Nile-god, the personification of the inundation. Budge's index lists them as separate headings — "Hapi (Nile)" and "Hapi (son of Horus)" — and the corpus keeps them apart as hapy and hapi. Any search of Budge for "Hapi" returns both, mostly the river.
Attestation history
Old Kingdom. Hapi is one of the four "children of Horus" who, Budge writes, "played a prominent part in connexion with the deceased in the Pyramid Texts" [budge-1904]. At Pepi I l. 672 the deceased is said to become one of the four.
Unlike his three brothers, Hapi is not separately listed with a line reference in Budge's Pyramid Text god-roster — Amset appears at Teta 60 and 197, Tuamutef and Qebhsennuf at Teta 60. Whether that is a real absence or an omission in Budge's selection is an open thread, and this entry does not assume either.
Book of the Dead. He stands with his brothers on the lotus before Osiris in the judgment scene, where Budge describes him plainly: "the second, Hapi, the head of an ape" [budge-1904]. Twenty-nine funerary boats were dedicated to a list of gods beginning "Mestha, Hapi, Tuamutef, Qebh-sennuf" [budge-1904].
With Nephthys. His protecting goddess speaks in the first person: "I hide the hidden thing, and I make protection for Hapi who is in me" [budge-1904].
The Souls of Pe. "The Souls of the city of Pe were Horus, Mestha, and Hapi" (Book of the Dead ch. cxii) [budge-1904] — pairing him with Imsety in the Delta half of that scheme. See the Souls of Pe and Nekhen.
What the texts say
The four are one system, and it is unusually tidy. Each son takes a cardinal point, a set of organs, a head, and a protecting goddess:
| Son | Direction | Organs | Head | Goddess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imsety (Mestha) | south | stomach, large intestines | man | Isis |
| Hapy | north | small viscera | ape | Nephthys |
| Duamutef (Tuamutef) | east | heart and lungs | jackal | Neith |
| Qebehsenuef | west | liver, gall bladder | hawk | Serqet |
Budge gives the directions and organs in vol. I and the heads from the judgment scene of the Papyrus of Ani in vol. II [budge-1904].
Nephthys hides things. The four protection formulas are each characteristic of the goddess speaking, and Nephthys's is the most in keeping with her: I hide the hidden thing. She is elsewhere the sister who conceals and mourns; here concealment is the protective act, and the organ is protected by being hidden rather than defended.
An arm. Budge: "the two arms of the deceased were identified with Hapi and Tuamutef" [budge-1904]. The dead person's arms are these two gods.
Iconography
A mummiform figure with the head of an ape — a baboon, in the Egyptian repertoire the animal of thoth and of the dawn chorus. Best known as a canopic jar lid [budge-1904].
The ape head raises a question the sources do not answer: the baboon is elsewhere strongly associated with Thoth and with wisdom, and there is no evident reason for it to guard the smaller organs of a corpse. Recorded as unexplained.
Cult and practice
No temple. His practice is the canopic jar, one of a set of four, and boats dedicated in funerary ceremony [budge-1904].
The record
Every claim above traces to a row here. Source, exact place in that source, and what it actually supports.
| Source | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, on the followers of Horus | Hapi as god of the northern cardinal point, one of the four children of Horus in the Pyramid Texts |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, citing Pepi I l. 672 | the deceased becoming one of the four |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, on the Four Children | Hapi protects the small viscera; represents the north |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, on the four protecting goddesses | Nephthys: "I hide the hidden thing, and I make protection for Hapi who is in me" |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* I, Book of the Dead ch. cxii | the Souls of Pe: Horus, Mestha and Hapi |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* II, judgment scene, Papyrus of Ani | "the second, Hapi, the head of an ape" |
[budge-1904] | *Gods of the Egyptians* II, on funerary boats | twenty-nine boats dedicated to a list beginning Mestha, Hapi, Tuamutef, Qebh-sennuf |
Sources
[budge-1904]— Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (1904), vols I–II. Public domain, archived insources-texts/. Budge caveat applies (04-BIBLIOGRAPHY.md). The Pyramid Text line numbers, Book of the Dead chapters and the organ assignments are transcription and reporting, which is where Budge is most reliable.[sethe-1908]— Sethe, Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte (1908–22). Public domain. Verify the Teta and Pepi I loci.[wilkinson-2003]— Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses. In copyright; cited only.
Open questions
- Establish whether Hapy has a Pyramid Text line reference. His three brothers do; he does not appear separately in Budge's roster. Check Sethe — a genuine absence would be a real asymmetry in a scheme that is otherwise rigidly symmetrical.
- Two gods, one name. Confirm that the funerary Hapy and the Nile-god Hapi are etymologically unrelated, and record the finding in
05-TRANSLITERATION.md. Every automated search of Budge conflates them. - Explain the ape head if a source can be found; the baboon's association with Thoth makes it the least obvious of the four choices.
- Pin down "the small viscerae" — the phrase is imprecise and may be Budge rather than the tradition.
- Get a museum reference for an ape-headed canopic lid with a secure date.
Cite this entry
Research grade: ●full — Multiple attestations across periods.
"Hapy", The Egyptian God Corpus,
graded full, retrieved 2026-08-10.