| Atbarah River | |
|---|---|
 Upper Atbara and Setit Dam Complex Hydroelectric Power Plant | |
 Atbarah River Basin (Interactive map) | |
| Location | |
| Countries | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | |
• location | Discharges into theNile |
• coordinates | 17°40′41″N33°58′25″E / 17.6781°N 33.9735°E /17.6781; 33.9735 |
| Length | 805 kilometres (500 mi) |
| Basin size | 69,000 square kilometres (27,000 mi2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 374 m3/s (13,200 cu ft/s) |
TheAtbarah River (Arabic:نهر عطبرة;transliterated: Nahr 'Atbarah), also referred to as theRed Nile and / orBlack Nile, is a river in northeastAfrica. It rises in northwestEthiopia, approximately 50 km north ofLake Tana and 30 km west ofGondar. It then flows about 805 km (500 mi) to theNile in north-centralSudan, joining it at the city ofAtbarah (17°40′37″N33°58′12″E / 17.677°N 33.970°E /17.677; 33.970). The river'stributary, theTekezé (Setit) River, is perhaps the true upper course of the Atbarah, as the Tekezé follows the longer course prior to theconfluence of the two rivers (at 14° 10' N, 36° E) in northeastern Sudan. The Atbarah is the last tributary of the Nile before it reaches theMediterranean.
For much of the year, it is little more than a stream. However, during the rainy season (generally July to October), the Atbarah rises some 18 ft (5 m) above its normal level. At this time, it forms a formidable barrier between the northern and central districts of theAmhara Region of Ethiopia. Besides the Tekezé, other important tributaries of the Atbarah include theShinfa River which rises west of Lake Tana, and theGreater Angereb which has its source north of the city ofGondar.
The earliest surviving mention of the Atbarah is byStrabo (16.4.8), who called the riverAstaboras (Greek:Ασταβόρας).[1] Other ancient authors mentioning the name includeAgatharchides, who called itAstabaras (Greek:Ασταβάρας),[1] andPtolemy (Geography 4.7).[2]Richard Pankhurst and others have argued that the name should be understood as "River of the Boras people", whereasta can be related to Proto-Nubianasti "water",[1] while-boras can be linked to a number of Roman allusions to a tribe named the Bora (Bera), who lived nearMeroe,[3] and another tribe named theMegabares (Greek:Μεγάβαροι in Eratosthenes and Strabo,Latin:Megabarri inPliny the Elder).[1]Pliny the Elder provides a slightly different etymology of Astaboras, stating that "in the language of the local people" the name means "water coming from the shades below" (N.H. 5.10).
In April 1898 a majorbattle was fought beside the river during theAnglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan 1896–1899 betweenMahdist forces and an Anglo-Egyptian Army under the command ofLord Kitchener, which resulted in the destruction of the 20,000-strong Mahdist detachment.[4]
In 1964, the river was dammed by theKhashm el-Girba Dam nearKassala in Sudan to provide irrigation to the newly built town of Halfa Dughaym in an otherwise fairly arid region and to resettle the Sudanese population driven away by theAswan High Dam (Sad al-Aali) in Egypt, which flooded 500 km of the Nile Valley in southern Egypt and northern Sudan.[5]
Construction on a $1.9 billion twin dam project about 20 km upstream from the confluence of the Upper Atbara and Setit rivers, theRumela and Burdana dams, began in 2011 and was inaugurated by PresidentOmar al-Bashir in February 2017.[6]
Average monthly flow (1912–1982) of the Atbarah measured approximately 25 km upstream of its mouth, measured in m3/s:[7]
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