Editing Blue Nile (section)

== History ==
[[File: Completed new Sebara Dildiy bridge.jpg|right|thumb|Suspension bridge over the Blue Nile River. It is the only pedestrian cable bridge over the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.]]
[[File: Bridges across the Blue Nile Gorge.jpg|right|thumb|Blue Nile Gorge in Ethiopia.]]
The Egyptian fear that Ethiopia might block the Blue Nile was a major factor in the long and complex Ethiopian-Egyptian relationship. While Egypt relied on Ethiopia for its waters, Ethiopia depended on the [[Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]] for patriarchal authority and the appointment of its metropolitan. This interdependence has shaped events since the 11th century. For centuries, the threat of blocking the Blue Nile was an effective strategy in ensuring the appointment of Egyptian metropolitans. However, in practice, neither a diversion nor large-scale use of the river’s waters was ever attempted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=27}}</ref>

An early crisis emerged during the reign of Zagwe King [[Gebre Mesqel Lalibela]], whom the Egyptians suspected of attempting to divert the river, even though his kingdom never extended to the Blue Nile. It was Emperor [[Amda Seyon I]] who first occupied the Blue Nile basin and began spreading Christianity there.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=27}}</ref>

The Emperors of the Solomonic dynasty, particularly [[Dawit II]], [[Yeshaq I]], and [[Zara Yaqob]], continued asserting Ethiopia's control over the river as a diplomatic tool. They also reinforced this concept in religious terms, identifying the Blue Nile with the biblical Gihon and adapting the Tammera Maryam to legitimize their authority over the waters. Medieval European myths about a powerful Christian Ethiopia aiding in the destruction of Islam further elevated the significance of the Blue Nile in Ethio-Egyptian relations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=27}}</ref>

The first European known to have seen the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the river's source was [[Pedro Páez]], a Spanish [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] who reached the river's source on 21 April 1618.<ref>R. E. Cheesman, ''Geographical Journal'', '''71''' (1928), p.&nbsp;361</ref> However, the Portuguese João Bermudes, the self-described "Patriarch of Ethiopia," provided the first description of the Tis Abay River Falls in his memoirs published in 1565, and any number of Europeans who lived in Ethiopia in the late 15th century such as [[Pêro da Covilhã]] could have seen the river long before Páez, but not reached its source. The source of the Nile proper was also reached in 1629 by the Portuguese Jesuit missionary [[Jerónimo Lobo]] and in 1770 by the Scottish explorer [[James Bruce]].

Although European explorers contemplated tracing the course of the Nile from the Blue Nile's confluence with the White Nile to Lake Tana, the Blue Nile Canyon has discouraged all attempts since [[Frédéric Cailliaud]]'s attempt in 1821. The first serious attempt by a non-local to explore this reach of the river was undertaken by the American W.W. Macmillan in 1902, assisted by the Norwegian explorer B.H. Jenssen; Jenssen proceeded upriver from Khartoum while Macmillan sailed downstream from Lake Tana. However, Jenssen's boats were blocked by the rapids at [[Famaka]] short of the Sudan-Ethiopia border, and Macmillan's boats were wrecked shortly after they had been launched. Macmillan encouraged Jenssen to try to sail upstream from Khartoum again in 1905, but he was forced to stop {{convert|300|mi|km|sigfig=1|order=flip|abbr=on}} short of Lake Tana.<ref>Alan Moorehead, ''The Blue Nile'', revised edition (New York: Harper and Row, 1972), pp.&nbsp;319f</ref> [[Robert Ernest Cheesman|Robert Cheesman]], who records his surprise on arriving in Ethiopia at finding that the upper waters of "one of the most famous of the rivers of the world, and one whose name was well known to the ancients" was in his lifetime "marked on the map by dotted lines", managed to map the upper course of the Blue Nile between 1925 and 1933. He did this not by following the river along its banks and through its impassable canyon but by following it from the highlands above, travelling some {{convert|5000|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} by mule in the adjacent country.<ref>Cheesman, pp.&nbsp;358–374.</ref>

In the 1950s and 1960s, several kayakers paddled parts of the canyon. In 1968, at the request of [[Haile Selassie]], a team of 60 British and Ethiopian servicemen and scientists made the first full descent of the river from Lake Tana to a point near the Sudanese border led by explorer [[John Blashford-Snell]].<ref>Snailham, Richard. 1970. ''The Blue Nile Revealed''. London: Chatto and Windus.</ref> The team used specially-built [[Avon Inflatables]] and modified [[Royal Engineers]] [[assault boat]]s to navigate the formidable rapids. Subsequent rafting expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s generally only covered parts of the river canyon.

In 1999, writer Virginia Morell<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0792279514.asp|title=Blue Nile: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery - Bookreporter.com|website=bookreporter.com|access-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608171628/http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0792279514.asp|archive-date=8 June 2011}}</ref> and photographer Nevada Wier made the journey by raft from Lake Tana to Sudan, publishing a documentary about their journey afterwards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0012/feature1/ |title=Blue Nile @ nationalgeographic.com |publisher=Ngm.nationalgeographic.com |access-date=27 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006021132/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0012/feature1/ |archive-date=6 October 2012 }}</ref> In 2000, American and National Geographic reader, Kenneth Frantz, saw a photo taken by Nevada Wier for ''National Geographic'' which would lead him to found the charity [[Bridges to Prosperity]]. This photo showed a bridge broken during World War II, with 10 men on either side of the broken span pulling each other across the dangerous gap by rope. This historic bridge was built by Emperor [[Fasilides]] in approximately 1660 with Roman bridge technology brought to Ethiopia by Portuguese soldiers during the battle with the Muslim invaders in 1507.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite book|last=Baynes|first=Thomas Spencer|title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, Volume 1|year=1838|publisher=Henry G. Allen and Company|edition=Ninth|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TKcMAAAAYAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TKcMAAAAYAAJ/page/n76 65]|chapter=Abyssinia}}</ref> In both 2001 and 2009, Bridges to Prosperity volunteers travelled from the United States to repair the broken bridge across the Blue Nile and later built a new [[suspension bridge]] not susceptible to flood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bridgestoprosperity.org/ |title=Envisioning a world where poverty caused by rural isolation no longer exists |publisher=Bridges to Prosperity |access-date=27 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112041000/http://www.bridgestoprosperity.org/ |archive-date=12 January 2013 }}</ref>

On 28 April 2004, geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown, became the first known people to navigate the Blue Nile in its entirety. Though their expedition included several others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to remain on the expedition for the entire journey. They chronicled their adventure with an [[IMAX]] camera and two handheld video cameras, sharing their story in the film ''[[Mystery of the Nile]]'' and in a book of the same title.<ref>Richard Bangs and Pasquale Scaturro, ''Mystery of the Nile''. New York: New American Library, 2005</ref>

On 29 January 2005, Canadian Les Jickling and his teammate New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first fully human-powered transit of the entire Blue Nile and the Nile in the Sudan and Egypt. Their journey of over {{Convert|5000|km|mi|abbr=on}} took five months and traveled through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. They recount that they paddled through civil war conflict zones, regions known for bandits, and encountered multiple hazards and rapids.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.uvic.ca/torch/torch2005s/dept_alumni_4.htm|title=Department - Alumni Association|website=web.uvic.ca|access-date=1 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202121003/http://web.uvic.ca/torch/torch2005s/dept_alumni_4.htm|archive-date=2 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>