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The Nile: Histories, Cultures, Myths

Haggai Erlich and Israel Gershoni, editors
 
ISBN: 978-1-55587-672-2
$65.00
1999/308 pages/LC: 99-21066

"The achieved goal of this compelling work is to explore sociopolitical complexities from the perspectives of the three Nile Valley nations and the west."—Charles C. Kolb, Religious Studies Review

"The essays in this volume ... prove that the integrated study of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, in their mutual and external relations, yields fruitful results."—Heather J. Sharkey, African Studies Review

"This is an excellent collection."—David Owusu-Ansah, History: Review of New Books

"An important and useful book."—Harold Marcus

DESCRIPTION

Intercultural relations have revolved around the River Nile throughout recorded history: sharing the river's waters, Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sudanese have developed rich dialogues of mutual cultural enrichment, as well as misconceptions and conflicts. This volume represents a rigorous scholarly attempt to trace these complex relations, exploring the multifaceted representations of the Nile, both in the region and in the West, from early medieval times to the present.

Underlying the authors’ analysis is their recognition that the resurgent nationalism and sociopolitical revolutions of the present century have aggravated historical conflicts and often reinvented traditional images. Their hope is that reconstructing the continuum of the Nile's history, its changes, and its cultural reciprocity will enhance mutual understanding as the regional faces the acute water problems predicted for the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Haggai Erlich is professor emeritus of Middle East and African history at Tel Aviv University.

CONTENTS

  • Introduction—the Editors.
  • PEOPLES AND IDENTITIES IN MEDIEVAL TIMES.
  • The Spread of Islam and the Nubian Dam—D. Ayalon.
  • Ethiopia's Alleged Control of the Nile—R. Pankhurst.
  • Consolidation of Christianity Around the Source of the Blue Nile—P. Henze.
  • Did Jewish Influence Reach Ethiopia via the Nile?—S. Kaplan.
  • Arab Geographers, the Nile, and the History of Bilad al-Sudan—N. Levtzion.
  • THE NILE AS SEEN FROM A DISTANCE.
  • Up the River or Down the River? An Afrocentrist Dilemma—Y. Shavit.
  • Renaissance Geographical Literature and the Nile—B. Arbel.
  • The Legend of the Blue Nile in Europe—E. van Donzel.
  • The “Gondar Utopia”—J. Warmbold.
  • The Nile as a Gateway for Missionary Activity in Abyssinia—U. Chelati-Dirar.
  • OLD WATERS, MODERN IDENTITIES.
  • The Father of Rivers: The Nile in Ethiopian Literature—Bairu Tafla.
  • Brothers Along the Nile: Egyptian Concepts of Race and Ethnicity, 1895-1910—E.T. Powell.
  • Egypt, Ethiopia, and the "Abyssinian Crisis," 1935-1936—H. Erlich.
  • Geographers and Nationalism in Egypt: Huzayyin and the Unity of the Nile Valley, 1945-1948—I. Gershoni.
  • CONTEMPORARY VOICES.
  • The Aswan High Dam and Revolutionary Symbolism in Egypt—Y. Meital.
  • The Nile in Egyptian-Sudanese Relations, 1956-1995—G. Warburg.
  • Removing the Nubians: The Halfawis at Khashm al- Girba—I.H. Abdallah.
  • In Search of the Nile Waters, 1900-2000—R. Collins.
  • Conclusion: Historical Legacies and Present Concerns—the Editors.
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