The Nile River

• 16 / 5 / 2023

The Nile River is a historical river flowing in northeast Africa, and is the longest river on the continent of Africa and the longest river in the world, although there is disagreement originating from some research indicating that the Amazon River is slightly longer. The length of the Nile River is about 6,650 km (4,130 MI), and its watershed covers eleven countries called the Nile Basin countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic. The Nile River is the main source of water in Egypt and Sudan in particular, Egypt depends on the Nile for about 97% of irrigation and drinking water.

 The White Nile is the source of the Nile itself or the most distant source, while the Blue Nile is the source of most of the water in the river, containing 68% of water and silt. The White Nile is longer than the Blue Nile and originates in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, while the farthest tributary of the White Nile is still not precisely known, it is located either in Rwanda or Burundi.  The White and Blue Rivers meet North of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The Nile flows through the Sudanese desert to Egypt in a northerly direction and passes through the city of Cairo, located on the large river delta (Nile Delta), then the river crosses the cities of Damietta and Rashid and finally empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Today most of the population of Egypt's cities lives along those parts starting from the Nile Valley north of Aswan.

The Nile River has an ancient history, as one of the oldest civilizations in the world arose on its banks, the civilization of the Pharaohs, dating back more than 5,000 years. This civilization (in addition to the Sudanese Kingdoms) has depended on the river since ancient times, when agriculture was its main distinctive activity, especially in Sudan and Egypt, and therefore the flooding of the Nile was of great importance in the life of ancient Egypt and Nubia as well. At the time of the Pharaohs, the flood was associated with semi-sacred rituals, so they held celebrations of the fulfillment of the Nile in the joy of the flood. They also recorded these ceremonies in the form of inscriptions on the walls of their temples and tombs and on the pyramids to show how much they revered the flood. In the Islamic era, the governors also paid attention to the flood and designed the "Nile scale" to measure the flood accurately, and this scale still exists today in the "Al-Rawda island" in Cairo.

Explorers were punished one after another for discovering the sources of the Nile, and the various expeditions failed to determine the source of the river, as these trips were fraught with danger. Herodotus visited the city of Aswan and reached as far south as the first waterfall, but he made a mistake when he claimed that the sources of the Nile may have been in the west near Lake Chad, and then followed by Emperor Nero, who sent expeditions to explore the sources of the White Nile, but they turned back after it turned out that moving forward entailed many dangers. As for the Arab geographers, they talked about the Nile and its sources in some detail in their books, including Idrisi, who stated that the Nile River originates from a large lake in the south, the historian Taqi al-Din al-maqrizi, Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Salam Al-munufi, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz Al-Bakri, the first Muslim geographers in the Maghreb and the Caspian and others.

The Nile was an inspiration for poets, writers, and writers who dedicated chapters to it in their books and compositions. Many legends and myths were woven around the river, the most famous of which is the fairy tale of the Nile Bride of the Pharaohs, who was adorned and then received into the Nile as an offering to the god Hapi, and then married to the God in the other world.

In the late eighties, the Nile Basin countries experienced a drought as a result of the weak Nile flood, which led to water shortages and a major famine in Sudan and Ethiopia, but Egypt did not suffer from the effects of that problem, due to the large water supply in Lake Nasser behind the High Dam. The Nile has been coveted by the colonial powers since the nineteenth century, as many agreements have been signed between the Nile Basin countries to divide water, agreements that the majority of the Nile Basin countries reject and consider it an unfair agreement dating back to the colonial era.

Naming,
The ancient Egyptians called the Nile River in the ancient Egyptian language the name "Etro a" means (the Great River), and the linguistic origins of the word Nile indicate that it is of Greek origin "Nilos" Neilos (Greek: Vειλος), and Homer also called the river Aigyptos (Greek: Αιγυπτος), which is one of the origins of the European terms for the name of Egypt (Latin: Aegyptus). However, others have spoken of Phoenician origins of the word, derived from the Semitic word "NAHL", which means (stream or river).

As for the Sicilian historian Diodore, he mentioned that the river was called "Apgeptus" before it was called "Nilus", and then this name was given to it in memory of a Greek king named" Nilus", who ascended the throne of the country and dug canals and canals. As for the Hebrews, they called him "shahkor", which in Hebrew means "black".

A papyrus dating back to the Roman era was found in which the word "Nilus" appears used as a masculine proper name, and this papyrus preserved today in the Egyptian Museum is a written contract of sale between a man named "Nilus" and another named "Isidorus". Yaqut al-Hamawi mentioned in his book (Dictionary of Countries) that the Nile of Egypt is the Arabization of Nilus from Rumiyah.

The Egyptian scientist Ramadan Abdo sees in his encyclopedic study entitled "The Civilization of ancient Egypt" that the word Nile is derived from a deep Egyptian origin from the phrase "na Etro" which means (river with branches), the Egyptians also called the riverbed "habit Ente Etro", and they called the branches of the Nile in the land of Egypt "Etro nokemet" which means (branches of the Black Earth).

As for Dr. Fateh Rahman Hassan, in his book (The Nile in Sudanese Poetry), he says that the name of the river was (Hapi), i.e. the river god, as he was sometimes called (Pi Yuma), i.e. the river and some refer the name to the Persian pronunciation (Nile), which means blue, and some of them refer the name to the Phoenician word (palm) or the Hebrew word (bees), both of which mean the river.

There is another opinion quoted by Dr. Salah al-Din al-Shami, who believes that the name of the Nile comes from the Coptic word (Ayala), which was used to express the Great Big River after adding the syllable (NI) as an identification tool for the combination as used in the Coptic language, and this means that the name appeared according to this opinion, consisting of two syllables, namely (I Ayala) and becomes in the normal pronunciation (nyalo), the Greeks added the syllable (OS) to it to become nyalas and then deleted the word was also given to another river and two villages in Kufa and Yazd, which indicates that the word was common and common, but later it was limited to the Nile River.

While some historians agree that the word the Nile is of Nubian origin, and that it goes back to the word "ni", which is still used by the Nubians to describe the river and means "I drink", Nubians usually say "nila Tun Nilus", which means " I drank from a drinking place

History
Pharaonic era,

A limestone slab shows the God of the Nile flood Hapi. He was found in the temple of Thutmose III.
The first Pharaohs sanctified the Nile because of its importance for life for everyone living in the land of Egypt and erected for him a god of good and happiness, whom they named Hapi. The ancient Egyptians believed that the" Nile flood " occurs when the Blue Nile is filled with tears of ISIS grieving over the death of her husband Osiris. It is also found in some ancient Egyptian texts that the Nile begins to flood at the beginning of the Egyptian year, which corresponds to the appearance of the star Sothis (or sothis) in the summer of the ancient Egyptian year. Agriculture flourished around the Nile River, especially in the delta area with fertile soil, which was formed by the confluence of the Nile tributaries, which led to the accumulation of layers of rich soil on its banks, which the ancient Egyptians were aware of and knew its benefits and exploited it in agriculture. The Pharaohs were waiting for the Great Flood that happened once a year, recorded its days, and monitored the rise and fall of its water level, which was associated with the value of taxes collected from farmers, when their fields were covered with water and silt, their agricultural season was beginning, so they built dams around the river and dug canals for irrigation, such as the long canal from which the river water was drawn to the Fayoum region known as "Bahr Yusuf", they knew the "shadouf" and used it to transport Nile water and irrigate the lands of distant regions.

The ancient Egyptians used to consider the Nile the first resource for their lives and livelihoods, so if the flood was delayed, the temples were filled with people performing prayers and supplications, and then offerings were made to the gods in the hope that the Nile will provide them with its usual flood. A stone witness translated by the German archaeologist "proksh Pasha" stated that there was a seven-year famine in Egypt, but it cannot be confirmed that this incident is the same one mentioned in the Torah and the Koran that occurred during the reign of the Prophet Joseph. The King addresses the men of his court in the translated text, saying: "I, The King, am sad for my throne, and my heart is full of gloom because the Nile was delayed from its usual flood for seven years, so the fruits of the earth became scarce, the greenery dried up, and everything on earth became impossible, I think a lot about the past, and I pray with you to Imhotep to grant us all intercession and relief from its flood quickly."

Akhenaten, one of the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty, composed a beautiful religious hymn in which he addresses the god Aten and sings it on the Nile River, saying: You created the Nile in the earthly world
An inscription found in the Tomb of Ramses III (Tomb 11) in the Valley of the Kings shows Hapi (in the center).
And you take it out on your own, so people keep it

Oh my god, everyone when weakness seeps into them

Lord of every house, you shine for them

You are the one who created Nella in heaven

To get down on them and their

The flood falls on the mountains like a roaring sea

Watering their farms in the middle of their homes

Pharaohs during the reign of King Senusret III dug a canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea named the Sizostris Canal, which is the name of one of the Kings of ancient Egypt in 1874 BC, and then it was re-dug during the reign of King Seti I, who took over the rule of Egypt in 1310 BC, succeeding his father Ramses I, the founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and the canal continued to work sometimes and close sometimes, and then King Nacho II re-dug it in 610 BC.

It is noteworthy that in the Pharaonic era, there was no God of the river, but there was a God who personified the flood, which is "my love" or "my love". The Pharaohs did not worship the river in its abstract form but sanctified it as the main reason for the prosperity and fertility of the land in the country. In Roman times, the river became a God, Nilus.

The Greek era and the Ptolemaic era,

A statue of the God Nilus (the God of the Nile) in the Roman civilization. Vatican Museums
After the arrival of Alexander of Macedon to Egypt and the founding of the Ptolemaic state, a large number of merchants and scientists visited Egypt, and many of them frequented the Upper Nile, but they did not go further than the meeting point of the blue and White Nile. The Greek geographer Eratosthenes was the first to study the course of the Nile with some accuracy, accurately described the Nile River, and noted the presence of lakes from which the river originates. He was followed by the historian Strabo, who circumnavigated Egypt, reached the first waterfall, and penetrated a little beyond it, but did not mention any more information than his predecessors. Ptolemy, who is one of the greatest geographers in the era of the Roman Empire, accurately described the course of the Nile up to the city of Meroe, and Ptolemy made the meeting point of the White Nile with the blue at 12° latitude instead of 15.10°, which was probably an easy mistake for a geographer at that time, but at the same time he made the sources of the Nile farther south than he thought.

The Ptolemies and the Romans developed methods for measuring the water level of the Nile. One of these methods was a portable instrument, which was an inserted stick made of inches, placed longitudinally in the Nile to measure the flood level, and then evolved into a ladder, on the inner walls of which the flood measurements were engraved with arms. The Ptolemies erected temples on the river bank and provided them with Nile scales, and inscriptions were found in the temple of Philae showing the timing and time of the flood when taxes were calculated based on the level of the Nile flood.

It is noteworthy that in 2014, Egyptian Minister of antiquities and Heritage Mamdouh Damaty announced the discovery of the remains of a city under the Nile River under a layer of silt south of the city of Rashid in the north of the country dating back to the Roman era. This city is a distinctive model that reflects the mechanisms of Hellenistic-Roman city planning in the Delta.

Islamic era,
The Abbasids were the first to establish the Nile scale at the southern tip of Al-Rawda island in Cairo, and this scale is the second oldest Islamic trace in Egypt, as it dates back to the year 861 during the reign of Caliph al-Mutawakkil Ali Allah, who was keen to follow and measure the river level this scale was the second scale established in that spot, Osama bin Zaid Al-tanuki in the succession of Suleiman bin Abdul Malik established the first scale in 715 (197 Ah) but the Nile waters washed it away. (See Nile scale in kindergarten).

The Caliph entrusted to Allah the mathematician and astronomer "Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Kathir al-farghani" to build the scale in Fustat, so he supervised it and completed the construction process, then "Abdullah bin Abdul Salam Bin Abi Al-Raddad" took over the task of measuring the water level of the Nile, and this position remained inherited in the family of Abi Al-Raddad even after the end of the era of the Mamluk Sultans.

It is noteworthy that many scales built by the Egyptians before and after Islam were destroyed as a result of river floods, while the Nile scale underwent many restorations in subsequent eras.

The measurement of the Nile flood was important, based on it, taxes were determined for the next agricultural year. The scale is known by several names, including: "Hashemite scale", "grand scale", "new scale" and "kindergarten scale". if the Nile reaches 16 arms, this is considered a sign of the river's loyalty and marks the beginning of the celebrations. The meter continued to perform its task until recently with the construction of the High Dam, which blocked the floods from the Egyptian territory.

During the Fatimid era, the celebration of the feast of the fulfillment of the Nile was different from the Pharaohs, the first celebration of the Nile holidays (which was called the feast of riding the Gulf) was held in the city of Ain Shams in the month of Dhu al-Qa'dah in 362 AH (corresponding to August of the year 973). if the Nile water rose sixteen arms, which is the appropriate height to irrigate the land, the Fatimid caliph rode in his grandiose procession. The custodian of the order of the scale would throw himself into the basin of the scale and hang in his column with his legs and left hand and then perfume him with his right hand, meanwhile, the reciters would take turns reading the Quran and the celebration would end and the Caliph would return to the palace. The Fatimids continued to celebrate this holiday in their reign until 401 Ah.

Before the Fatimids took over the government, it was called every day for the Nile water to rise, but the Fatimids issued an order to abolish this custom so that prices would not rise, and the state kept the news of the flood from the people until the meter recorded that the Nile water had risen to sixteen arms, and after that, the Caliph goes to the meter celebrating the loyalty of the Nile.

As for the Ayyubids and Mamluks, Al-qalqashandi and Al-maqrizi mentioned that Saladin was riding the Gulf (i.e., the Nile River) to synthesize the scale with perfumes on the 17th of the month of Rabi ' al-Awwal, and the custom of celebrating the holiday continued until the Mamluks era. Al-Zahir Barquq also attended this celebration himself in 785 ah, and Al-Zahir Baibars was also interested in these celebrations. The manifestations of luxury and grandeur surrounding the celebrations of the fulfillment of the Nile (flood) remained until the late Mamluk era, and in 905 Ah Sultan Tuman Bey went to open the dam and distributed sweets, fruits, and a scattering of silver to the masses of spectators, and it was a famous day, and the year 922 ah was the last of the Mamluk celebrations of the feast of the fulfillment of the Nile despite the ongoing war against the Ottomans at that time.

In the Ottoman caliphate, the feast of the loyalty of the Nile began with the head of the Janissary holding a conference by order of the governor or pasha to know how many arms the Nile water rose or fell, feasts are held seven days and nights, and on the seventh day the Pasha is invited to the island of the scale, and after finishing eating, the Pasha distributes luxurious trinkets to the banqueters and the head of the Janissary, and Janissaries are held for them a great feast is served in forty places, incense is burned and drink cups are distributed. After the afternoon, all the great scholars, imams and the greatest sheikhs of Egypt come, and a luxurious feast is held for them, and the AL-micas island mosque is filled with countless common people and grants are distributed to them.

Modern times,
As a result of the enormous possibilities offered by the Nile River, it was coveted by the colonial powers in the XIX century. European countries controlled the Nile Basin countries at that time; while Britain controlled Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, Germany controlled Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, and Belgium 

After the First World War ended, the German colonies were divided between Britain and Belgium; Britain got Tanzania, while Belgium got Rwanda and Burundi, and Ethiopia remained an independent state. With the end of British control over Egypt and Sudan in the Fifties of the twentieth century, the Nile River agreement was signed in 1959 to divide the Nile waters, which the majority of the Nile Basin countries reject and consider an unfair agreement dating back to the colonial era.

As for the Israeli ambitions in the waters of the Nile River, they are not the result of the current circumstances, but date back to 1903, when the Zionist movements tried to contact and exert pressure on the British government (sovereign over Egypt at that time) to send technical missions, to conduct studies on the possibility of withdrawing part of the waters of the Nile River to Sinai, and then drag this water to the Negev to develop it and build Jewish colonies in it. The Zionist movements led by Theodor Herzl also offered to lease the Sinai Peninsula for 99 years and supply the Negev desert with the waters of the Nile, but the Egyptian government firmly rejected these pressures.

Although the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty did not address the issue of Water, Israel was looking forward to draining quantities of water from the Nile River up to about 800 million cubic meters, which is equivalent to 1% of the discharge of Nile water. In Israel's eyes, this amount does not mean much to Egypt, while it means a lot to Israel, which wanted to draw water through a canal passing under the Suez Canal, and this amount could irrigate 2.16 million dunums of land in the Negev. Israel took advantage of its rapprochement with Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and exploited this relationship in order to threaten Egypt's share of water, because 85% of Egypt's water needs originate from Ethiopia. Egypt's share of Nile water reached 55.5 billion cubic meters, which increased to 70 billion cubic meters in 2000, which constituted a water deficit of 14.5 billion meters, while Sudan's share was 18.5 billion cubic meters. Sudan was aiming to increase the area of the agricultural patch from 4.5 million acres to 9 million acres, and this requires 14.8 billion cubic meters, bringing the water deficit of Egypt and Sudan to 38 billion cubic meters of water.

Historically, secret British documents revealed that the British assessment of the ongoing water crises between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan concluded in 1990 that discouraging Ethiopia from implementing projects could harm Egyptian interests, something Egypt should realize that achieving it is unrealistic.

During the decade of the Eighties (between 1980-1990) Egypt faced a big problem due to the drought in the Nile Basin, which led to a shortage of water in Lake Nasser, where water collects behind the High Dam, but in 1988 and 1989 floods occurred at a significant rate, saved the country from a real crisis. British experts have alerted to alarming facts that the most likely probability is that fluctuations in the flood level will increase and not decrease and that the average water flow in the Blue Nile (the main source of the Nile River water) is likely to decrease, in addition to climate change, and the resulting temperature rise, will lead to increased water loss by evaporation.

Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser on a visit to the High Dam, which is under construction
In June 2020, a study entitled "The Nile River" was prepared, which was included in the British foreign policy documents, the study was based on two important consistent facts, the first is that 86% of the Nile water comes from the Ethiopian highlands, and the second is that Egypt is almost completely dependent on Nile water, and according to the British study, "in years of drought, the Renaissance Dam could become a potential strategic weapon upstream.

Recently, one of the worst crises related to water security among the Nile Basin countries has emerged, namely, the Renaissance Dam crisis, which Ethiopia has established on the Blue Nile and insists on filling and operating, for it is a vital project that will contribute to enhancing its ability to generate electricity, as well as advancing economic development. The president of Ethiopia, Sahlourak Zoudi, stressed the importance of this issue, considering that it is an existential issue for the country, adding that: "Ethiopia was deprived of the right to develop projects in the Nile River, because of internal and external challenges. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the second filling of the Renaissance Dam will benefit Sudan by reducing the size of floods, and that his country harnesses the Nile River to meet its needs, and does not worsen the downstream countries. Egypt and Sudan considered this dam a threat to the two countries ' share of river water, on which they rely mainly for drinking and agriculture. Egyptian Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty said that Cairo has proposed 15 different scenarios for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam over the past years in a way that meets Ethiopian requirements without causing tangible harm to the downstream countries, but the Ethiopian side rejected all these proposals. It is noteworthy that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has warned against compromising Egypt's share of the river's water, considering that what Ethiopia is doing individually may drag the region into a state of instability. This is what many observers and politicians understood that Egypt may use military force if necessary to resolve this conflict if the Ethiopian side is intransigent and rejects all proposals.

The Nile and Arab geographers,
Arab geographers and historians have dealt with the Nile River in their books and devoted chapters to it that speak in some detail about its course and source, so the traveler Ibn Battuta, who set off from Tangier heading to the pilgrimage, described the Nile River in his book: (the masterpiece of the theorist in the oddities of the mysteries and wonders of travel) saying: "the Nile of Egypt prefers the rivers of the Earth on the Nile, and there is no river in the land that is called a sea other than it, Allah said if I fear it, I will throw it into the yam and he called it Yama, which is the sea, and in the correct Hadith: "The messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) arrived on the night of Isra to Sidra Al-Muntaha, and when it has four rivers in its origin: two apparent rivers, and two internal rivers, Jibril (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked about it, and he said: "the Internal is in Paradise, and the two apparent are the Nile and the Euphrates,"and also in the hadith:"the Nile and the Euphrates, and they and they are all rivers of paradise.""

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi also wrote the book (the image of the Earth), in which he mentioned his accurate perception of the Earth with its mountains, rivers, and seas, quoted Ptolemy's ideas about the Nile and said that it originates from the mountain of the Moon, drew a map of the Nile, and talked in his book about the sources of the Nile, its course and estuary. Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz Al-Bakri, the first Muslim geographer in the Maghreb and the most famous in Cordoba, wrote the book (The Owner and the Kingdoms), in which he talked about the connection of the Nile River with the country of Niger.

Al-Qazwini mentioned in his book (The Wonders of Creatures and the Strang of Existence) that there is no river in the World longer than the Nile because it is a month's march in the land of Islam and a month's march in the land of Nubia and four months in desolation until it comes out in the land of the moon beyond the equator. Shams al-Din al-Gujri also composed a system of one hundred and twenty verses of poetry, in which he describes the Nile, its virtues and advantages, explains its conditions and wonders, where it begins and where it ends. Ibn Aybak Al-dawadari, an Egyptian Mamluk historian, mentioned in his book (Durr Al-Tajan) that from the beginning of the Nile River to its end forty-two degrees and two-thirds of a degree, each degree is sixty miles, so its length will be eight thousand six hundred and twenty-four miles and two-thirds of a mile.

The search for the source of the Nile,

The explorer John Henning Speke is from the Victorian era and was the first to reach Lake Victoria in 1858.
The upper reaches of the White Nile remained unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans largely due to their failure to penetrate the wetlands of Southern Sudan, and various expeditions also failed to determine the source of the river. The Greek historian Agatharchides stated that in the time of Ptolemy II, a military expedition succeeded in reaching a sufficient distance along the course of the Blue Nile and determined that the floods that were occurring in the summer were caused by heavy monsoon rainstorms in the Ethiopian highlands, but he did not name any Europeans in ancient times who managed to reach Lake Tana (the source of the Blue Nile).

In 460 BC, Herodotus visited the city of Aswan and reached as far south as the first waterfall, and came to the conclusion that part of the Nile water comes from Ethiopia, but he was mistaken when he claimed that the sources of the Nile may have been in the west near Lake Chad. During the reign of the Romans, the incursion beyond the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile was a risky adventure at that time, and no one tried to take such a step, until the Emperor Nero came and had a passion for science and a love of exploration, so in 66 he sent two of his army officers on two expeditions to Nubia to explore the headwaters of the White Nile. The expedition traveled to the south until it reached the area of dams and swamps, and then turned back after it was found that going ahead involved many dangers (see Nero's exploration of the Nile River).

In the middle of the second century, the Greek scientist Ptolemy drew his famous map of the Nile, in which it appeared as a spring from two lakes in the south of the equator in which water collects as a result of melting ice over the mountains of the moon (currently the Rwenzori Mountains). As for the sources of the Nile, Ptolemy stated that there are two Great Lakes from each of which a river comes out and the two rivers unite at a latitude of 2° North, which is a very accurate value because the Nile outlet from Lake Albert is located at a latitude of 2.15 ° North. Ptolemy explained the difference between the tropical Lakes from which the White Nile originates and Lake Tana, which he named "Chloe" and said that the Blue Nile originates and he named "estabs", he also pointed to the presence of towering mountains in the south of the sources of the Nile he called "mountains of the moon".

The Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentioned in his book (Al-Mushtaq's Journey in Penetrating Horizons) that the Nile River originates from a large lake in the south, and he drew the first geographical map of the Nile River that had its destiny and place in the works of later European explorers. Al-Idrisi says in the description of the Nile River:"....And on this section of the Nile, the second section of the Nile passes from the east to the farthest Morocco and on this section of the Nile all the countries of Sudan or most of them, and these two sections have their exit from the Moon Mountain, the first of which is sixteen degrees above the equator, and that is the principle of the Nile from this one of these two streams is three rivers, so it passes through all of them until it flows into the Too big.....»

The historian Taqi al-Din al-maqrizi also mentioned in his book (sermons and consideration by mentioning plans and monuments) in describing Egypt that the Nile appears on earth near the (valley of the moon) close to the equator. As for the most important Arab historians who made a diligent effort to find out correct information about the sources of the Nile, Imam Ahmad Bin Muhammad ibn Abd al-Salam Al-munufi, who wrote a book entitled (The New Flood in the News of the Happy Nile) in which he talked about the sources of the Nile, its origin, length, width, characteristics and how to know its increase and decrease and the territories narrated from it.

Europeans tried to discover the source of the Nile in the XIV century when the pope sent monks as envoys to Mongolia and passed through India, the Middle East, and Africa, and the monks have stated that they concluded that the source of the Nile is located in Abyssinia (Ethiopian Empire). Later in the xv-xvi centuries, some travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. The traveler James Bruce claimed to be the first European to reach the source of the Nile, however, modern writers attribute this access to the Jesuit "Pedro Baez". Baez's description of the source of the Nile was a long and clear narrative of Ethiopia, published in full only in the early twentieth century, although it appeared in the works of Baez's contemporaries such as "Athanasius Kercher" and"Johann Mikael fan slip".

The modern exploration of the Nile basin began when the Ottomans led by the Ottoman governor "Muhammad Ali" and his sons arrived in northern and central Sudan in 1819, Muhammad Ali sent his famous scientific expedition led by the French engineer "Gallardo" who traveled to Khartoum, and said in his memoirs that the sources of the Nile begin from the "mountains of the moon".

These discoveries remained continuous from 1821 onwards. The Blue Nile was defined as the river that originates from the foothills of Ethiopia, the White Nile is the river that originates from a place close to the Sobat River.

Three expeditions led by Officer Selim kabudan made three expeditions between 1839 and 1842, and two reached the point about 30 km (20 mi) from the current port of Juba, at which point the ground level rose and became steep, which made the exploration task very difficult. His travels paved the way for further scouting expeditions, although he did not reach the equatorial headwaters of the Nile. The importance of his travels proved that the White Nile is the main Nile, and that there is a long stream coming from the South, different from the Blue Nile, which meets the White Nile after leaving Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

The British explorer John Hanning Speke (1827-1864) is famous for being the first to arrive at Lake Victoria from Europeans and the first to identify it as the source of the Nile and it was in 1858. Speck went on three expeditions to Africa, the first two of which he made with the explorer Richard Burton (1821-1890) who, like Speck, was an officer in the Indian Army. The first expedition was in early 1855, when speck and Burton traveled from Aden to Somalia and from there headed south to East Africa. The two men parted ways during the expedition, so speck began exploring the area south of" Bandar Gori " while Burton continued his march to the city of Harar.

Painting in Uganda. Refer to the source of the White Nile
Speck joined Burton again on a second, larger expedition than the first to the Great Lakes region of Africa, and the two men left Zanzibar (in present-day Tanzania) in June of 1857 and arrived at Lake Tanganyika in February of 1858. Both men contracted malaria, but Speck recovered and completed his march north to the southern tip of a giant lake he named Victoria after the then Queen of Britain, "Victoria".

Speck described the two expeditions in his memoirs, which he published in two parts, namely (Memoirs of Adventures in the Somali Lands) and(memoirs of a Trip on Lake Tanganyika). Each of their parts consists of five chapters. Speck's diary dated the third of August 1858 tells of his first vision of the lake, which he could not fully comprehend its enormous size, said: "From now on I do not doubt that the lake under my feet is the fountain of life of the exciting river, the source of which was the subject of speculation and the goal of many explorers.

Speck undertook a third expedition (this time without Burton), to prove his claim that Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile. Speck set off on his journey from Zanzibar in September 1860 in the company of 176 men, and on the twenty-eighth of July 1862, speck reached the point where the Nile River originates in Lake Victoria, it was named Ripon Falls. Speck returned to England by way of Cairo, and published a book (Memoirs on the discovery of the source of the Nile) in December of 1863. Then the book (What led to the discovery of the source of the Nile) was published the following year. Speck wanted to emphasize that he was the discoverer of the source of the Nile, which was disputed by many, including Burton, between whom Speck had a bitter feud.

Later, in the period from 1864 to 1866, the English traveler Samuel Baker discovered "Lake Albert" and wrote a book called it (Albert Nyanza), in 1874 the American Shaye Long discovered "Lake Kyoga", and in 1888 the English traveler Henry Stanley discovered "Lake Edward".

Geography,
The Nile River has been the lifeblood of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, most of the population settled and almost all the cities of Egypt were built along its course, starting from the Nile Valley located north of Aswan. However, the Nile ran further west through what is today Wadi Al-Hmeimim and Wadi Al-Maqar in Libya until it reached the Gulf of Sirte. With the rise in sea level at the end of the last Ice Age, the current that is today known as the "North Nile" caused the capture of part of the Nile near Assiut, this climate change also led to the emergence of the Sahara desert around the year 3,400 BC.

While previous studies have suggested that the Nile River originated in the Miocene epoch and that it took its current course only about 6 million years ago, recent studies indicate that the Nile River was organized in its current steady course about 30 million years ago, a much longer period of time than previously thought.

The modern Nile River is a composite formed as a result of the connection of several basins independent of each other with rivers that arose during the rainy era that followed the retreat of the last glacial juice snows almost 10 thousand years ago. Before that period, the Nile consisted of several basins that formed internal lakes that were not connected, and these basins overflowed over its sides and connected with neighboring basins in Rainy times.

Characteristics,
The Nile is the longest river on earth with a total length of about 6,670 km (4,130 Mi) between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea.  The drainage basin of the Nile River covers an area of 2,900,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to about 10% of the area of the continent of Africa, its width reaches an average of about 756 meters, and the amount of precipitation over its basin is approximately 2,000 billion cubic meters per year. Compared to other rivers, the Nile carries little water (approximately 8% of the water carried by the Congo River, for example). In its course from upstream to downstream, the Nile penetrates 35 degrees of latitude, which led to the Nile flowing in several regions and crossing various natural areas from tropical regions to tropical regions to steppes and grasses to the desert to the Mediterranean Sea in addition to the territory of Abyssinia. The part of the Nile located between the city of Khartoum and the city of Aswan is called (the Nubian Nile).

The White Nile originates from Equatorial East Africa, the Blue Nile originates from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and the White Nile unites with the Blue Nile in the north of the city of Khartoum, both the White and Blue Rivers are located on the western side of the East African Rift.

Lake Victoria is sometimes referred to as the main source of the waters of the White Nile, and this lake feeds many rivers, the most important is the Kagera River, which has a length of 670 km, and is the longest tributary of the lake, this river originates from two areas, the first is close to the east of Lake Tanganyika at a latitude of 4° South, which is the southernmost point from which the Nile draws its water, and the river here is called the Nuovo River, the other tributary of the Kagera River is the Nyabarongo River and originates near Lake Kivu and the muvempiro mountains, and then runs first to the North and then to the southeast it meets the ruvovo River south of the equator and finally empties into Lake Victoria. The city of Gish Abay, located in central Ethiopia, is described as the "Holy Land" from which the first drops of the Blue Nile River originate.

In 2010, an exploration team arrived at a place believed to be the main source of the rukarara River (a tributary of the Mojo River, which in turn is a tributary of the Nyabarongo River), and by making a route up the steep mountain slopes of the Nyungwe forest, the team found a surface flow of incoming water from a distance of several kilometers, and this flow was considered a new source of the Nile, giving the Nile a new length of 6,758 km (4,199 Mi).

The Nile carries about 110 million tons of silt per year, most of which comes from the Abyssinian plateau. These silt quantities have a significant impact on the basin countries, leading to renewed soil fertility on both banks in some areas and reducing the storage capacity of reservoirs and dams along the Nile. For example, the Sennar reservoir lost 50% of its storage capacity by 1975. Because of silt, it is not possible to close the doors of reservoirs during the flood period to reduce sedimentation and avoid backfilling Lakes by silt.

In Uganda
The Nile River emerges from Lake Victoria at Ripon Falls near the city of Jinja in Uganda, this part of the river is known as the "Victoria Nile". The "Victoria Nile" after Ripon Falls runs very fast between a lot of rocks and small islands, its course is surrounded by many streams and cliffs, it is deep, high-sided, fast-flowing, non-navigable to a distance of 60 km, and both sides are surrounded by dense forests.

And 75 km from Ripon Falls, the "Victoria Nile" reaches the town of namasgali and approaches Lake Kyoga, turning there from a narrow - flowing fast-flowing river into a slow-flowing river with a width of about 600 meters and an average depth of 2-3 meters. After the town of namasgali, the Nile flows in a swampy stream for 50 km until it reaches Lake Kyoga, where the swamps increase and it becomes impossible to reach the river from the shore.

About 10 miles after the "Victoria Nile" enters Lake Kyoga, it meets on its left the Sze boa River, a small tributary that follows from the highlands north of Lake Victoria and then descends north to Lake Kyoga and its marshy course. It is noteworthy that the height of the "Victoria Nile" decreases from 1135 meters at its exit from Lake Victoria to 1072 meters at its mouth in Lake Kyoga, that is, its rate of descent is approximately equal to one meter per kilometer.

Kyoga Lake is connected from the north to Lake kuwania, which is also penetrated by the "Victoria Nile" at its western edge, exits from it and runs for 17 km, then suddenly changes direction to the north in the form of an acute angle and connects to the Kafu River, which is a tributary of the "Victoria Nile" originates at the eastern edge of Lake Albert and connects to the "Victoria Nile" at the south of the port city of Masindi .

The "Victoria Nile" continues its March after the city of Masindi and turns to the North and makes a large semicircle towards the East and North until the Karuma falls, then the "Victoria Nile" continues to flow west until it reaches the Murchison Falls and there the Nile Narrows and descends at a tremendous speed and falls from a high altitude of about 40 meters, and because of the force of the fall the water spray flies into the air to hundreds of meters and the sunlight decomposes and forms a rainbow, and at the bottom of the drop countless crocodiles.

The Victoria Nile continues its course after Murchison Falls and becomes 100-500 meters wide, swamps reappear, then the river finally reaches the northern shores of Lake Albert and flows into it, forming a large river delta there. Although Lake Albert itself is located on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Uganda, the "Victoria Nile" is not a border river at this stage, then the river leaves Lake Albert and continues to flow north through the territory of Uganda, this part of the river between its exit from Lake Albert and near the city of Namuli in South Sudan is known as the "Albert River".

In 2018; Uganda commissioned the Isemba Dam built on the Victoria Nile drainage, approximately 45 km north of Jinja city in order to generate electricity with a capacity of 183 MW.

In South Sudan

An aerial photo of the Nyabarongo River, a tributary of the Nile River that flows from the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda
After the exit of the" Albert River " from Lake Albert, it continues to march north through the territory of Uganda for 316 km until it enters the border of the territory of the Republic of South Sudan in an area located just south of the city of Namuli. This part of the river after the city of Namuli and within the territory of the Republic of South Sudan is known as the "mountain sea", and there it meets another river, the Achua River, just south of the city. The Bahr el Ghazal (a river 716 km (445 MI) Long) joins the Bahr el Jabal to form a small lake known as Lake No. The river exits Lake NU and meets the Sobat River, which originates from the Abyssinian plateau, forming the White Nile, which was so named because of the presence of white silt suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves rich clay deposits that serve the soil as fertilizer. ( In Egypt the Nile has stopped flooding since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970). Part of the mountain sea branches off (called the Giraffe Sea) and then unites again with the White Nile.

The flow rate of the mountain sea water in the city of Mongala in South Sudan is almost constant throughout the year and averages about 1,048 cubic meters / s (37,000 cubic feet / s). After Mongala, the mountain sea enters the immense swamps located in the dam region of South Sudan. More than half of the Nile water in this swamp is lost due to evaporation and transpiration, the average flow rate of the White Nile water at the tails of the swamps is about 510 cubic meters / second (18,000 cubic feet / second). The source of the White Nile in Malakal contributes every year to about fifteen percent of the total flow of the Nile.

The average flow of the White Nile in Lake Kawaki in Malakal, located just below the Sobat River, is about 924 cubic meters / s (32,600 cubic feet / s); the peak flow is about 1,218 cubic meters / s (43,000 cubic feet / s) in October and the minimum flow is about 609 cubic meters / s (21,500 cubic feet / s) in April. This fluctuation in the flow of the White Nile is due to the significant difference in the flow of the Sobat river whose minimum flow is about 99 cubic meters / s (3,500 cubic feet / s) in March while the peak flow is over 680 cubic meters / s (24,000 cubic feet / s) in October. During the dry season (January to June) the White Nile contributes approximately 70% - 90% of the total Nile drainage.

In Sudan

The third Nile waterfall in the Republic of Sudan near the town of Abi Fatima
The White Nile continues its course and enters the Republic of Sudan near the city of Al-ranak, located in South Sudan, and flows north to Khartoum. There it meets the Blue Nile in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods of Khartoum (Muqrin neighborhood), which also includes one of the oldest botanical gardens on the continent, the "National Botanical Garden".

The White Nile flows over six waterfalls known as the Nile Falls, five of which are located in Sudan and the sixth is located in Egypt. The White Nile cuts the sixth waterfall in the subluqa area (also called the subluqa gorge) north of Khartoum 60 km at the town of wad Ramli, and then continues to flow north until it reaches the obaidiya area north of Berber, and in this area the Atbara River connects to it 327 km from Khartoum, and a few kilometers after obaidiya the fifth waterfall (called obaidiya waterfall) begins.

The Nile River in Sudan, the photo shows the Omdurman bridge
The river resumes its march north for 100 km and becomes steep until it reaches the city of Abu Hamad, where it is intercepted by majarat island, which is about 30 km long, at which point the river changes its direction and turns towards the south-west, then the river goes until it reaches Shree Island and after this island begins the fourth waterfall (merui waterfall), which is part of the river course with a length of 110 km and the river here is also very steep.

In Ethiopia

The waterfall of the Nile River near the city of Bahr Dar in Ethiopia
Lake Tana in Ethiopia is considered the source of the Blue Nile. The Nile River leaves the lake (in Ethiopia it is called the Abay River) and flows south for 30 km (19 mi) from Lake Tana and then enters a 400 km (250 Mi) Valley. This valley poses a huge obstacle to travel and communication between Northern and southern Ethiopia. This canyon was first referred to as the "Great Canyon" in 1968 by a British team that was the first to successfully trace the course of the river from Lake Tana to the end of the canyon. This valley was later called the"great Nile Valley". The Blue Nile waterfalls (it is one of the largest tourist attractions in Ethiopia) are located at the beginning of the Valley.

The river turns through northwestern Ethiopia before it is fed by numerous tributaries between Lake Tana and the Ethiopian - Sudanese border located on both the right and left sides of the river. Those tributaries on the left side include: Wanka River, bashilo River, wolka River, wanchit River, Gama River, mugir River, gudir River, Aguel River, NEDI River, didisa River, DABUS River. As for the tributaries located on the right side of the river, they include: hendsa River, Tule River, abaya River, sad River, Tami River, Cha River, Chita River, Sohi River, Moga River, Gula River, tamcha River, Bashat River, katlan River, Jiba River, chamuga river, water river and Beles River.

Mountain sea,
The water of the mountain sea spreads over a large area due to the lack of slope, swamps are spreading and the stream widens as it approaches Lake NU, the water of the mountain sea descends over the Fula Falls (or Viola) in South Sudan, the total annual discharge of water is estimated at 30 billion cubic meters per year, the mountain sea loses about half of this amount due to evaporation and transpiration. The total area of the Bahr el Jabal marshes is about 7,200 square kilometers and contributes 14% of the Nile water.

Giraffe sea,
It is the name given to the watercourse located east of Bahr el Jabal in Jonglei state in South Sudan. The length of the river is 290 km and the water flow rate from it is 180 cubic meters / s. This river is characterized by a lot of bends, meanders, and difficult terrain, and swamps abound in its South. In 1910, Egypt dug two channels connecting the Sea of the Mountain and the sea of Giraffe about halfway between them, to divert part of the water flow from the Sea of the Mountain to double the volume of water in the sea of Giraffe, which accelerated the flow of water to Egypt, thereby reducing the water lost due to evaporation and transpiration in the swamps.

Bahr el Ghazal,
It is also called the Ghazal River, which is one of the rivers in South Sudan, located in an area called by the same name (Bahr el Ghazal), and novels indicate that it was named after the name of the river. Its length is 716 km and the area of its basin is estimated at 530 square km.

The White Nile,
The term "White Nile" refers more broadly to all the rivers flowing from Lake Victoria and up to the merger with the Blue Nile in Khartoum. Or it can be said that the White Nile is a description of a part of the river located between Lake NU and Khartoum. The relatively insignificant contribution of the White Nile is attributed to the loss due to evaporation in the area of dams.

Atbara River,
It is a river located in northeast Africa, originating from the highlands of northwestern Ethiopia from a place about 50 km north of Lake Tana and 30 km west of the city of Kunder in Ethiopia. The river flows for 805 km (500 Mi) towards the North and meets the Nile at the city of Atbara in Sudan (17.677 degrees north 33.970 degrees east) at a distance of 310 kilometers north of Khartoum. The Atbara River contributes about 13% of the water in the Nile River, and this percentage rises to 22% in the flood season, it is the last tributary of the Nile River before it enters Egypt and reaches the Mediterranean Sea.

During the rainy season (generally from June to October) the level of the Atbara river rises by about 5 meters (18 feet) above its natural level, which leads to the formation of a formidable natural barrier separating the northern and central regions of Amhara State in Ethiopia. There are several important tributaries of the Atbara River, including the Setit River (known in Ethiopia as the Takazi River), the shinfa River (which originates from the west of Lake Tana), and the large Angerib River (sea of Peace), which originates from the north of the city of Kunder.

Little is known about the geological history of the Atbara River and there are indications that at the time of the Middle Pleistocene epoch (500,000 years ago) the river carried large amounts of water and that it was running at an altitude of more than 25 meters at its current height.

In 1964 the Sudanese government built the Khashm Al-qurba dam on the Atbara River in order to provide water for agriculture.

Sobat River,
It is a tributary of the White Nile and is the southernmost among the eastern tributaries. It meets with the White Nile near the hill of Duleep near the city of Malakal in the Republic of South Sudan. In the flood season, the Sobat River is in a great rush, carrying with it white-colored sediments, it is they that give the White Nile its name. The length of the river is about 750 km, the area of its basin is estimated at about 187 thousand square km, and the flow rate from it is 800 cubic meters / second. The Subat River has two main tributaries, the BARU River and the Pibor River . The Sobat River is formed by the confluence of the BARU river heading west and the Pibor river heading north, and after the confluence of the two rivers and the formation of the Sobat River, this river penetrates the Sudan – Ethiopia border, and meets the White Nile 350 km from the confluence of the Pibor and Baru rivers. The Sobat River contributes about 14% of the Nile River's water.

The Blue Nile,

Lake Tana was shot from Space in April 1991.
The Blue Nile contributes (68%) of the nutritious water to the Nile River, but this water reaches it only in summer during the seasonal rains on the Abyssinian plateau, which is known as the Nile flood, while it does not form the same percentage on the rest of the year when the water is low.

The Blue Nile originates from Lake Tana located in the highlands of Ethiopia in the east of the African continent, which feeds it with only 7% of its income on average and is fed by a number of tributaries with the remainder. The Blue Nile meets the RAHD and dander rivers inside Sudanese territory, and it is called Abay (Amharic: አባይ) while it is called the "Blue Nile" after crossing the Ethiopian-Sudanese border. Bearing its Sudanese name, the Blue Nile continues on a 1,400 km (850 Mi) long path until it meets the other branch of the "White Nile" in the city of Muqrin in Khartoum, forming together from that point (passing through the territory of Egypt and up to the mouth in the Mediterranean Sea) what is known as the Nile.

Gash River,
It is the most important river that originates from the Abyssinian plateau in the far northeast, and it extends in Eritrea its waters do not reach the Nile, but end in the eastern plains of Sudan near the city of Kassala, however, the Gash River is one of the rivers of the Nile Basin. The Gash River in the years of heavy rain reaches the Atbara River and connects with it.

The QASH river flows on a vast plain called the QASH Delta, whose lands are characterized by high fertility in the region, whose people depend on seasonal agriculture such as growing cotton, wheat, citrus fruits, mangoes, bananas, peanuts, corn, vegetables, and onions.

Economic importance,
The Nile is of great importance in the economies of the Nile Basin countries, in the field of Agriculture, Farmers in the Nile Basin countries rely on its water to irrigate their crops. The most famous of these crops are: cotton, wheat, sugarcane, dates, legumes, and citrus fruits.

The Nile River also carries about 110 million tons of silt per year, most of which comes from the Abyssinian plateau. These silt quantities have a significant impact on the basin countries, where the fertility of the soil on the two banks is renewed in some areas.

Fishermen also rely on the Nile fish available in it, which is one of the favorite foods of many people of these countries. Many species are widespread, such as tilapia, common carp (carp), crucian carp, Whitefish (zebra), Shearwater, tiger fish, Ray, eel, IndiGo puffer, thunderhead, dugong, and others.

As for tourism, Sudan and Egypt are famous for one of the types of Tourism called "Nile tourism". The felucca, carrying tourists and visitors to the country, sails between the third and fourth dams in northern Sudan, Juba and Kosti in South Sudan, Giza, Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan in Egypt, and always sees increasing numbers of luxury cruise ships crossing the Nile waters on their trips to the North and South. Nile cruises are gaining increasing popularity among tourists, and their types vary from simple trips and luxury trips, trips on a steamship with rotating wheels and other trips on the back of antique wooden boats, and others on modern ships or floating hotels, in addition to the spread of tourist restaurants along the banks of the river offering many varieties of Fish and seafood. Statistics for 2010 indicate that Egypt's income from Nile tourism amounted to two billion US dollars out of a total tourist income of 14 billion US dollars.

Environmental challenges,
Approximately 150 million tons of industrial waste are dumped into the Nile every year, according to the report of the Egyptian Ministry of Environment for 2018. Another challenge facing the Nile is the rising water level of the Mediterranean Sea due to global warming, which threatens the penetration of seawater into the Nile Delta, which is considered the most fertile agricultural area in Egypt. In total, the size of the agricultural sector could be halved by 2060.

Nile crocodile,
The Nile crocodile, or "Nile crocodile", is widespread in a wide range of parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and lives in various types of freshwater environments such as lakes, rivers and marshes, and has the ability to live in salt water. It inhabits brackish lakes, sedimentary deltas, and sometimes in the sea near the shores. This crocodile was a sacred symbol, it was worshiped in the name of the god "Sobek", especially in Kom Ombo and Fayoum. Mummified crocodile mummies discovered showed that this crocodile was worshiped in almost every corner of Egypt.

The Nile URL,

It is the second largest Nile reptile after the Nile crocodile, and it is called by another name, the "water iguana". Its length is more than two meters, and its weight is more than 15 kg. The Indigo wart is similar to the "Mosasaurs", which became extinct 65 million years ago. Today it lives on the edges of the tare and the Nile River, spreading in Tare Nag Hammadi, dashna, and Nilha north of Qena.

Nile turtle,

It is called the African soft-shelled turtle and is also known as the Nile Tersa (scientific name T.triunguis), lives along the Nile River in sandy areas, and has great adaptability in both salt and fresh water. After the construction of the Aswan dam, it completely disappeared from the Nile of Egypt, and currently, it abounds in Sudan and at the source of the Nile.

African frog,
It is called the Indigo frog or "mud frog", some call it the" Egyptian Toad", and Egypt is the primary habitat of African frogs. It lives in quiet areas with abundant water. Most of those frogs that live in the Nile are poisonous and dangerous.

Dice snake,

It is also called The "combed Natrix" (scientific name: Natrix tessellata), it lives on the banks of rivers and lakes, and in Egypt, it lives on the banks of the Nile and the tributaries scattered from south to North. The water dice snake spread in Egypt after the construction of the Aswan Dam more than a century ago, and it can also be found near the Suez Canal Zone and Fayoum.

Nile dogfish or tigerfish,
It is also called the Nile dog, tiger fish, or ordinary carp, and the"piranha of Africa", after piranhas that live in the Amazon River and Latin America, is one of the largest fish that makes its home in the Nile River, characterized by strong jaws, sharp teeth that help it eat meat, and it is often reported that some people have been attacked by it. Some poachers have documented her attacking large-sized animals such as crocodiles.

This fish lives along the Nile River, although it is more endemic to Lake Nasser behind the High Dam and reaches huge sizes, sometimes weighing more than 45 kg, and its length is almost 150 centimeters.

Marble lungfish,

It is known as a "salamander" fish, a type of fish that breathes dissolved oxygen in water, its gas bladder mutates into something like a lung, and it also breathes atmospheric air, so aquarists believe that this species of fish is the first land vertebrate. They reach a length of about a meter and feed on some other fish species, such as tilapia.

Pufferfish,
Known as the pufferfish, it is a genus of fish belonging to the puffer family. It can inflate its stomach into the shape of a ball, by swallowing amounts of water or air quickly, when danger approaches it, so it avoids predatory fish. The length of one fish varies only between 5 and about 60 centimeters. They live in isolated areas of the Nile River, and usually in slow-flowing waters, whether fresh, salty or very salty, they lay their eggs side by side near the bottom of the river.

Rough girls,

It is known as the "Anum" fish, also called the "MEZ", "jelman" and"bouiza" fish, (scientific name Mormyrus niloticus). It is one of the fish widespread in the countries of the Nile River Basin, and there are a number of species, differing among themselves according to The Shape of the mouth and body, it is a nocturnal fish, that swims near the bottom of the Nile, and it is also an aggressive fish that loves isolation and does not swim in groups. The length of this species of fish reaches about 70 centimeters.

Nile perch,

It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, reaching a length of about two meters and weighing up to 200 kg. These fish need a high oxygen content in the water, live in less polluted areas such as Lake Nasser, and are known as predators and aggressive cannibals.

According to this treaty, the emperor of Ethiopia "Menelik II" pledged not to establish or allow the establishment of any facilities on the Blue Nile, Lake Tana, and the Sobat River, which could stop the flow of their waters to the Nile River.

Despite some voices calling for the degradation of this convention because it is a colonial legacy, however, this convention is considered valid from the point of view of international law, as the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties concluded in 1978 on international inheritance and treaties confirms in Article No. 11 and 12 that the conventions specific to the definition and drawing of international boundaries or it was described by Breuning in 1963.

The agreement between Britain and the independent state of the Congo was concluded on May 9, and under this agreement, the Congo undertakes not to erect any construction on the Smeliki River, a tributary of the Nile, or near it that may reduce the volume of water flowing into Lake Albert, except in agreement with the Sudanese government.

The 1925 agreement between London and Rome

Britain and Italy exchanged notes, according to which the Italian government recognized the advanced hydraulic rights of Egypt and Sudan. The two countries agreed not to establish any construction that would lead to a change in the flow of the waters of the Ethiopian tributaries of the Nile.

The agreement was based on another tripartite agreement concluded in 1906, according to which Britain recognized that a large area of Ethiopia falls within the sphere of influence of Italy.

1929 Nile waters agreement between Egypt and Britain

The 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain (which was acting on behalf of Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania) stipulated that no irrigation, hydroelectric or any other measures shall be carried out on the Nile and its branches or on the lakes from which it originates, whether in Sudan or in the country under British administration, without prior agreement with the Egyptian government, which would reduce the amount of water reaching Egypt or modify the date of its arrival or reduce its level in any way that harms Egyptian interests. the agreement also stipulated Egypt's natural and historical right to the waters of the Nile. Egypt was allocated an annual quota of 48 billion cubic meters of water and Sudan 4 billion cubic meters of an average annual production estimated at 84 billion cubic meters.

The 1934 agreement between Britain and Belgium

This agreement stipulates that Britain and Belgium undertake, if they divert any quantities of water from a part of the river that lies entirely within the Tanganyika or Rwanda - Burundi borders, to return this quantity without any perceptible decrease to the riverbed at a certain point before the river enters the borders of the other state or before it forms the common border between the territories of the two states.

Nile Waters Convention, 1959

This agreement was signed in Cairo in November 1959 between Egypt and Sudan, which is complementary to the 1929 Agreement and is not null and void, and includes the full control of the Nile waters connecting both Egypt and Sudan in light of the new variables that appeared on the scene at the time, namely the desire to establish the High Dam and Upper Nile projects to increase the revenue of the river and the establishment of several reservoirs in Aswan. This agreement, for the first time between Egypt and Sudan, set the amount of water at 55.5 billion cubic meters per year for Egypt and 18.5 billion for Sudan.

Letters exchanged between Egypt and Uganda in 1991

These letters referred to the mutual memoranda between Britain and Egypt regarding the construction of the Owen Dam power plant in Uganda, indicating Uganda's recognition of its obligations contained in these letters, and therefore it should not question the extent of The Binding of these letters, considering that they were signed during the colonial era, as Uganda in 1991 (as an independent and sovereign state) confirmed and explicitly recognized the validity of its obligations contained in the mutual letters.

The general framework of cooperation between Egypt and Ethiopia for 1993

This cooperative agreement confirms the parties ' refraining from carrying out any activity related to the Nile waters that could significantly harm the interests of the other party. This agreement also stressed the need to protect and preserve the Nile waters, cooperate, and consult on joint projects in a way that helps to enhance the level of water flow and reduce losses from it.

Nile Basin Initiative 1999,
The first attempts at cooperation between the Nile Basin countries were launched in 1993 through the establishment of a joint working memorandum between these countries to take advantage of the potential provided by the Nile Basin. In 1995, the Council of Ministers of Water of the Nile Basin countries requested the participation of the World Bank in the proposed activities, and subsequently, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Fund, and the Canadian International Development Authority became partners to activate cooperation and establish mechanisms of action between the basin countries.

In 1997, the Nile Basin countries established a dialogue forum to reach the best joint mechanism for cooperation among themselves. Later, in 1998, the countries concerned, except Eritrea, met to establish a joint mechanism among themselves. in February 1999, an agreement officially called the Nile Basin Initiative was signed in Tanzania by representatives of these countries, and it was activated later in May of the same year.

Cooperation Framework Agreement 2010

The upstream countries signed this agreement while Egypt and Sudan opposed it, it is based on the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization, and the disagreement between the downstream and upstream countries in the Nile Basin was on 3 items, namely: acquired historical rights, prior notification to the downstream countries, voting method.

Principles of the Renaissance Dam Document 2015,

This document was signed in March 2015 by the three countries (Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia) in Khartoum in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his former Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Desalegn. This agreement specifically concerns the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as it includes a paper that includes 10 principles to which the three countries are committed on the Renaissance Dam, and includes a package of basic principles that preserve in their entirety the water rights and interests of the Nile Basin countries.

Accidents,
In April 2015, a boat carrying more than 500 tons of phosphate sank in the Nile waters in Qena governorate (southern Egypt), prompting the Egyptian authorities to lift the state of environmental emergency. The boat collided with the Dandara bridge, which led to the sinking of its cargo into the Nile.
In July 2015, a tourist boat sank after colliding with a commercial boat in the Nile River in Egypt, resulting in the deaths of 36 people, including about 20 children.
In August 2018, the Sudanese authorities announced that 23 people, including 22 schoolchildren, were killed as a result of the sinking of a boat carrying them in the Nile River north of Khartoum.

The Nile in literature and heritage,
Expeditions to discover the source of the Nile in the years 1768-1773: a book published by James Bruce discoverer of the source of the Nile in five volumes. The work gained great popularity, but other travelers attacked it and doubted its credibility. James Bruce wrote the book Twelve years after his return from Africa the great accuracy of everything related to his Abyssinian travels made his book an important source.
The Nile is the life of a river: it is by Emil Ludwig released in 1935. The book does not deal with the geography of the Nile or the history of its peoples at length but mentions short chapters of what the writer saw, such as animal species and ethnic neuroses. The author recounts the conditions of the Nile in Egypt through the eyes of its peasants, who lived closer to the Nile at all times.
The Discoverers of the Nile: by Tim Gill. In this book, The author explains the nature of the great difficulties faced by the discoverers in their project to discover the source of the Nile and the magnitude of those difficulties.

The Nile River: a book by the late scientist Muhammad Awad Muhammad, which is an indispensable book on the Nile Basin and water issues in Egypt and Africa, and the author says that it was visible to all the inhabitants of Egypt, and to others who contacted them and contacted them, and that the civilization of Egypt's largest source is the Nile, which resulted in all the wealth and prosperity of Egypt.
The Nile River, its origin and the use of Its Waters in the Past and the Future: by Dr. Rushdi, the researcher in this book recounts the history of the origin and formation of the Nile, as well as explains the manifestations of the exploitation of its waters, ancient and modern.
The Nile in the Reign of the Pharaohs and the Arabs: a book published in 1926, by Antoine Zaki. The author believes that the life of the Egyptians and their destinies have been associated since ancient times with the Nile River, they settled on its banks founding a major civilization, in which agriculture played the largest role, and its stable nature shaped the collective behavior of the Egyptians, which was manifested in their glorification of the Nile to become a "god of growth" that prevents drought and.
The chapters of the book came to explain how the White Nile (a tributary of the Nile River) was discovered, and how many geographers who visited the sources of the Nile tried to get SURE information about the source of the river. The author explained that Herodotus was constantly frequenting the Upper Nile, but he did not win anything about the mystery of the sources of the Nile.
Death on the Nile and Crime in the Nile Valley: two novels by the famous English writer Agatha Christie. The atmosphere of Agatha Christie's trip on one of the Nile ships inspired her to write the first chapters of the novel (Death Over the Nile), which was published in 1937.
Poetry and singing

Mosaic panel depicting a landscape along the Nile, Early III century
It was not strange that poets and singers from the Nile took an inexhaustible spring of beautiful meanings and images. He inspired poets with the most eloquent poetic images, which later became an essential companion to many Arabic songs. "The ancient Egyptians realized the importance of the Nile in their lives and gave it to their most beautiful daughters to keep it flowing and giving," says the lyric poet Sayed hijab, pointing out that what was stated in the Book of the Dead was declaring that the deceased was innocent of many things, including that he did not pollute the Nile.

Perhaps the poem "The Nile", composed by Riad al-sunbath for Umm Kulthum, which is one of Ahmed Shawky's poems, is the cycle of songs sung for the river, and Shawky also has a wonderful song in Egyptian slang, which is "the Nile is a brown sweet, a wonder for the color Dahab and alabaster..", Mohammed Abdulwahab also presented the song "The Immortal River" by Mahmoud Hassan Ismail, at the beginning of which he says: "Musafer is increased by imagination, magic, fragrance and shadows".

The poet Eman Bakri believes that the Nile is the lifeblood, the source of the imagination of poets and creative people, poets associated with it and made it their inspiration emotionally and rationally, and the poet Fatima Naout says: "I am over forty years old, and it has never happened that I have passed the Nile until now without being amazed by its beauty, especially at night, it is no wonder that it has become an inspiration for many poets and writers to write songs about it. As for the Iraqi poet Sarah Talib al-Suhail, she wrote in the last Diwani (A tear on the threshold of Baghdad): "The two rivers Nila and Euphrates meet".

Many Arab historians and poets have addressed the Nile River in their poems, including Taqi al-Din al-maqrizi, who described the Nile River saying:

The writer Medhat al-jayyar says: "The Nile is the only name for this historical river when translated into any language; that is why the Nile River was distinguished by a peculiarity in expression, and the Egyptian classical or colloquial song spotted the Nile, its side and banks the greatest observation so that the common people call this river the Nile sea; due to its breadth, which resembles the sea. There is a song sung by the late artist Sheikh Imam, which is from the words of the poet Ahmed Fouad Najm, who says at the beginning of it: "Thirsty, girls, show me the way," and then the poet explains that this way is the Nile River, as Mohammed Abdulwahab sang "the Nile is Najashi," and the poet Mahmoud Hassan Ismail wrote "O Waheb the mole of time," and Umm Kulthum sang Shawqi rhyme: "from what ERA in the villages flowed.. Recently, the Egyptian singer Shirin sang the song "What a Drink from her Nile", and Mohamed Mounir sang the song "Bride of the Nile" to his mistress, whom he describes as the Bride of the Nile.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir and Ibn Dhahira narrate about the historian Al-Hasan ibn zulaq one of the many legends told by Arab and Muslim historians about the Nile after they arrived in Egypt. One of the rulers of Egypt sent several men to the course of the Nile to look for its source, so they walked until they reached a high mountain the water was coming down from above, and it made a resounding sound because of which one of them hardly hears the words of its owner, then one of them climbed to the top of the mountain, and when he arrived, he danced, clapped and laughed, then he went on and did not return, and his companions did not know what he was doing, then another went up and did the same as the first, then the third went up and said: Tie a rope in the middle of me, and if I arrived and did as they did, they pulled him to them, and it was said that he was mute and did not answer and died from his watch, and the people returned and did not know anything about the matter.

Professor of Islamic history at Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Amr Munir Abdul Aziz, narrates that when Arab historians and geographers translated Ptolemy's book about the Nile into their language, they added things that were not true and were marred by myths and legends, as evidence of their agreement that the river originates from the mountains of the moon behind the equator from ten eyes in the earth that meet in ten tributaries that meet each five of them to pour into a lake and then six rivers come out of the two lakes to meet again in one lake and there the Nile originates. In the context of the obsession that dominated the Arabs to uncover the sources of the Nile, Ali Sadr Al-Din al-MaAl–Dindani Ahmed, known as Ibn Masum (1642-1707), mentioned in his book (The Journey of Ibn Masum Al-Madani: Salwa al-Gharib and the example of Al-Araib) that a group ascended the Moon Mountain to surround the source of the Nile, and they saw an Ajaja Sea (a hundred voices are heard) Black as night, a White River runs through it like the Nile.

As for the Pharaohs, there is one of the most famous legends associated with the feast of the fulfillment of the Nile, which is that the ancient Egyptians were offering a beautiful girl to the Nile god known as the God (Habi) or (Hapi) on his feast, she was adorned and then received into the Nile as an offering to him, and the girl marries the God in the other world, but in one of the years there were only, after which she returned the daughter to the king, who had been deeply saddened and sick over the parting of his daughter.

Egyptian antiquities expert Ali Abu Dashish says that according to legend, it was customary to throw a wooden bride to the God of the flood every year on the feast of the fulfillment of the Nile, pointing out that there is no explicit text in history that tells that the ancient Egyptian was offering a human sacrifice (i.e. the bride of the Nile) to celebrate the occasion of the fulfillment of the Nile, explaining that it is just a legend woven by the creative imagination of the ancient Egyptian in appreciation of the status of the Nile. Nevertheless, this legend lived in the imagination and conscience of the Egyptians, was taken up by writers and writers, appeared in the cinema, and is still echoed today.

As for the aquatic creatures that live in the Nile river, they had a share of the Egyptian popular belief, Al-Suyuti mentioned in his books (Hassan lecture on the history of Egypt and Cairo) "the fish of the sea Sheikh", a fish in the image of a human with a long beard and be near Damietta, which is omiRivernous, if seen in a place indicative of drought, death, and sedition, it is said that Damietta falls asleep when it comes. He also mentioned the Thunder fish that if caught in the fisherman's net, his hands and legs still tremble until he throws it or dies, namely towards the arm.

Dr. Qasim Abdu Qasim also mentioned in his book (The Nile and the Egyptian Society in the Era of the Mamluk Sultans) that the legends and myths reported by writers and historians of Islamic Times showed the area of the sources of the Nile as an imaginary land in which gold, silver, copper and iron bars sprout, and a sea of peat runs in it emitting unpleasant odors that eliminate everyone who approaches the area where there are magnetic stones that attract and eliminate everyone who looks at them.

In Islamic sources,
Abu Muhammad Al–Hasan ibn Zulaq (919-997) mentioned in his book (on the history of Egypt and its virtues) that the Nile flows from under the Sidra Al-Muntaha, and that if he investigated its effects, he would find in the first flow the leaves of paradise. Al-Suyuti narrated: "When Allah created Adam, he represented to him the bright and Western world, and when he saw Egypt, he saw a fertile, easy land with a flowing river, its material from paradise, into which the blessing descended and mercy mingled, so he called for the Nile with blessing, he called in the land of Egypt with mercy, and blessed the Nile and its mountain seven times". He narrated another story: "When the Nile came down in the time of Pharaoh, people asked him to conduct it for them, but he answered them on the pretext of his dissatisfaction with them and his anger at them, and when they threatened him to take another god other than prostrating to God and stuck his cheek to the ground and began to grovel to God to conduct the Nile, so God conducted it as never before, Pharaoh went out to his people and told them that I conducted the Nile for you, be proud of him prostrating".

The Nile flood and its causes were a fertile environment for the imaginations of historians who tried to give the Nile a sacred character. Ibn Dhahira (1422-1487), a Hanafi jurist, mentioned in his book (the outstanding virtues in the Beauties of Cairo): "Allah commands all rivers and eyes to supply the Nile with their water at the time of its increase, and if people have enough land and agriculture, Allah commands the Nile River to return as it was". Perhaps this perception in the minds of the writers resulted from the fact that the Nile River rises in summer, that is, at a time when the waters of other rivers known to them are running low.

As Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Qurashi, known as the "son of Light", said in his book (Landmarks of the Bagpipes in the Rulings of the Hisbah): "The popular conscience thought that the Nile descended on the wings of Angels and that Gabriel descended the Nile and the Euphrates on his wings, the Nile was on his left wing, and the Euphrates on his right wing, and some of the virtuous said: This is evidence that the water of the Nile is lighter than the water of the Euphrates, because the heavy thing of his habit is carried on the right side, and the light on the left side".