Some think that the Nile is the most important river in the world. It certainly touches us with its history and mystery, and its significance is not limited to the past. There is little doubt that success or failure in managing its precious waters will spell success or disaster for the peaceful development of north Africa in the 21st century. Egypt is and was the "Gift of the Nile", and its gifts of water and rich Ethiopian mud nutured a civilization that fluorished for almost 3000 years before the Roman Empire began. The Nile occupies an important part of Judeo-Christian tradition, as its banks witnessed the dramas of Joseph and Moses, and the Holy Family found refuge there from Herod. Until the Aswan High Dam was constructed, the Nile rose and flooded the Nile valley every summer, and ancient people wondered why the river would swell during the hottest and dryest time of the year. This wonder led naturally to the question about where the Nile originated.
The first question that Alexander the Great asked when he came to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Luxor was 'What caused the Nile to rise?'. Julius Caesar said that the one thing he most wanted to know about the world was 'Where was the source of the Nile?' The mystery of the source of the Nile was not solved until 1859, and these explorations and the controversy that surrounded them captured the imagination of the Western World for much of the middle part of the last century.