Cataracts of the Nile

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A cataract is a large waterfall. There are six classical cataracts of the Nile between Aswan and Khartoum, counted upstream. The First Cataract is in modern Egypt; the rest are in Sudan.

• The First Cataract is near Aswan ([24.078° N 32.878° E])
• The Second Cataract was in Nubia, now submerged in Lake Nasser
• The Third Cataract is around Tombos / Hannek
• The Fourth Cataract is in the Manasir Desert and will be flooded by the Merowe Dam from 2006 onwards
• The Fifth Cataract is near the confluence with the Atbara ([17.677° N 33.970° E])
• The Sixth Cataract is where the Nile cuts through the Sabaluka pluton near Bagrawiyah ([16.88° N 33.66° E])

These were the main obstacles for boats sailing on the Nile in antiquity. There are many minor cataracts not included in the count. The cataracts are described by Winston Churchill in The River War (1899), where he recounts the exploits of the British trying to return to Sudan between 1896 and 1898, after they were forced to leave in 1885.

See also

• Geography of Egypt
• Geography of Sudan
• Seven rapids of the Dnieper

External links

• http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/geoscience/remsens/Nile/cataracts.html

 

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