If one doesn’t understand the past, misinterpretation of the present is unavoidable. Apt in the context of river Nile that courses 6,800 kilometres across 11 countries, historical knowledge becomes critical to fathom the hydro-political transformation the region is currently going through. From Herodotus to Flaubert and from Alexander to Napolean, the waterscape that cuts across the sprawling desert under a cloudless sky and a scorching sun was as much an inexplicable wonder as an ideal subject of divine benevolence. However, it was only during the nineteenth century that the Nile’s geography was systematically mapped.
Having established himself as an acknowledged water historian, Terje Tvedt has condensed 7,000 years history of one of the greatest rivers in an immensely readable volume that is insightful, engaging and reflective. The Nile is a historical travelogue that begins in Egypt, at the mouth of the great river, and moves upstream along its banks tracing the source of its twin streams - the Blue Nile from the Ethiopian highlands and the While Nile from Lake Victoria - before the two merge at Al Mogran in Sudanese capital Khartoum. The author submits that it is only ‘by following the river up from place to place, as slowly and systematically as the river’s own heartbeat, that its secrets can be uncovered and its role and significance for society’s development can be understood’. The Nile emerges as a wellspring of knowledge, the history of human evolution and development in the region through its flowing waters.
Written in a non-fiction story telling style, the narrative has been built on the characters and the events in history - from Caesar to Cleopatra, to Churchill and Mussolini, and to Abiy Ahmed and Donald Trump – who all sought the control and use of the Nile. In the course of its chequered history, the river has remained a perpetual object of political intrigues and power struggles. The colonial march of subjugation of the natives upstream of the river contributed to shifting the goalpost of contention along the river - from the Aswan Dam in Egypt to the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia. Over the years, each country sharing the river course has sought to emulate the Egypt’s model of development at an ecological cost to its free-flowing waters. Embedded in its contested basin are seeds of a probable 'world war on water'. It is for the geopolitical developments in the region to allow the river to ‘let live’ and avoid such dreadful future.
The Nile makes for a fascinating read. It is a travelogue enriched with ancient and colonial history that has transformed the region in which most governments in the river basin have drawn plans to control, tame and harness the river. One wonders if the finite natural resource can satisfy everybody’s needs at any time? Tvedt, a professor of geography at the University of Bergen, is an unrivaled communicator who has kept the interests of a wider readership in mind while unfolding the biography of a river which is lifeline for over half a billion people. Through the story of the Nile, the author opens a window to the historically, socially and politically diverse countries of the region - Sudan, Kenya, Burundi, Eriteria and Ethiopia. Without getting hold on the history of the region, understanding its present predicaments may remain elusive.
The contribution of the Nile to origin and growth of civilization is unparalleled, it nourished the earliest humans who wandered out of Africa and peopled the earth. No one would disagree that the river has played a crucial role in the histories of the countries through which it flows, even if its importance is somewhat exaggerated in determining the political outcomes. Presenting a multidimensional and pluralistic perspective on the historical water course, Tvedt wonders if competing interests of member countries will cause hydrological anarchy or the impending threats propel the governments to collaborate for the Nile hydro-solidarity?
The Nile is an ambitious undertaking, vast in scope and expanse. It is a welcome addition to growing literature on the Nile, and is highly recommended for all those interested in how rivers shape history, politics and culture. It is a magnificent work which could easily become a classic.
by Terje Tvedt
I B Tauris, London
Extent: 380, Price: £ 30.
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