Egypt and the Nile

The Portuguese, Ludolf, and Le Grand: The Nile Myth is Shattered

The arrival in Ethiopia of the Portuguese diplomatic mission, in 1520, and the publication, in 1540, of Alvares’s report on it, represented an important development. It vastly expanded European knowledge of the country, and led to its steady demystification. European interest in the diversion of the Nile accordingly began to wane. Speculation tended thereafter to …

King Lalibala and the River Nile in Early Medieval Times

Ethiopia and Egypt, linked, but also divided, by the Nile, were in contact since the dawn of history. They were mutually inter-dependent. Egypt’s prosperity depended on Nile water – and silt – from Ethiopia. This occurred, most conveniently for agriculture, in the summer. Christian Ethiopia depended on the Coptic Church of Egypt, whence the Ethiopian …