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Over a hundred million people cling to this precious waterway. A single strip of green cutting through an endless ocean of brown. A tape of life in the driest of deserts. It has been like this for thousands of years. Back when it gave birth to the first writing system, cities, kings, and incredible structures. All of this was nourished by this water. I came here because this river is changing. Modern states are now powerful enough to control it. Old rhythms are breaking down. So I want you to join me on a journey down this famous river. From the source to the delta. To meet the people who live along its shores. To hear
their story. And to see how they adapt to the changes here. And to remind all of us that every one of our lives depends on water. And in a changing world, it is important to ask: who owns it? Who controls it? And what will happen when she stops behaving as usual I'm heading to the sources of the Nile River here in the mountains of Ethiopia. We picked a group of musicians. This is a father named Maru and his two children.
This little family group is really an understanding of how much this river means to the people here. Wow, that was the most amazing van ride of my life. Just complete delight. So, this is the source of the Nile River. At least one of its origins. The Nile actually begins in two places. Another is near Uganda. The two branches then flow north before meeting here in Sudan. The lake I just arrived at in the mountains of Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile. Or, as it is called in the local language, Abbay.
Local residents collect water for the day. The village is waking up. Swim across this lake and you will see what has been happening here for centuries. Young people fish in boats made of papyrus-a special plant that gave humans the first forms of paper thousands of years ago. So, the boats are made of grass that grows right there, on that island. Oh, wow. I just saw a hippopotamus. Hippos simply live in this water. I know that hippos can be very dangerous to humans, but I'm told that these are good. So, Water is not just sacred, it is also their means of livelihood. This is how they
get their food. This is how they make a living. In a sense, it is their life force. There are many islands on this lake, which is the source of the Nile. And on these islands you will see many Christian monasteries. This place adopted Christianity much earlier than Europe, back in the 300s We find the elder of the island, the local priest. He is sitting under a tree and reading the Bible. We talked, and he says that he is 95 years old and has spent his entire life here, near the sacred springs.
Thank you very much for letting me visit your island. The community invited me for dinner and coffee today. These coffee beans were harvested right here on the island. How does it taste. Yes. Now they have lit a large fire, are preparing dinner, and are getting out the honey wine. There is a monastery very nearby. Half of these people are priests. This is the source of the Nile River, and it's incredible. I didn't expect to have to dance today. But soon I was completely drawn into the process. They dance with their shoulders, looking me straight in the eye and smiling.
And ultimately it makes me relax. I have never felt so free in my life I've been sitting here watching her make coffee for the last 45 minutes. It's been such a slow process, and now she's finally ready, even though it's six in the evening. Everyone drinks very strong coffee. Oho. She is very strong. I like it. It's like chocolate. Oh, wow. Maru, father, doesn't let me eat by myself. And I notice that he keeps missing my mouth. I thought it was just an inaccuracy, but then he did it again and again. Later I was told
that it was a gesture of respect. This is great. I feel like I'm on my honeymoon. Maru flaunted his ability to snap his fingers simply by clenching his hand. How does he do it? He stands up and spontaneously begins to improvise about their sacred river. With so much joy, tradition, and closeness, it's easy to forget that there's a civil war going on in this region. And I'm a foreigner, which means potential ransom. My local guide reminds me of this off-camera. He says it's getting dark and it's time to leave. Okay, I'll get ready.
Thank you. Ah, what a lovely group of people. From its source at Lake Tana, the Blue Nile descends from the Ethiopian Highlands. The sharp difference in altitude creates incredible landscapes. For most of its history, it continued its journey north directly into Sudan. But just last year, Ethiopia changed that. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, stretching almost 2 km across the Blue Nile, is a source of pride for Ethiopians. Unable to influence the operation of the dam, Egypt and Sudan are forced to watch from the sidelines. Egypt tried to stop the construction of this dam for reasons that we will understand as we move further downstream. This caused great tension between these
countries. They negotiated for years, but were never able to reach an agreement. Egypt has repeatedly called this dam an existential threat. But Ethiopia eventually built it, creating a huge reservoir where water is stored, which, when passed through the dam's turbines, generates enormous amounts of electricity-something most Ethiopians had previously lived without. This village is one of many in Ethiopia that has no electricity. But last year, they, like millions of Ethiopians, gained access to electricity for the first time, many of them thanks to a new dam. This dam is an extremely important event for Ethiopia. This is the first time they have truly harnessed the river as a national resource, and it is fueling a
powerful wave of electrification and development. But still, downstream countries are unhappy with this. The river then enters Sudan, where three important things happen. First, it joins the White Nile right here in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The second thing can be clearly seen from space The river changes: after falling from the lush highlands, it begins to flow lazily through a flat sandy desert. There is a drought here that I never imagined. The average rainfall here is 2.5 cm per year. That's less than an inch, and some years there's no rain at all. The third big thing you see as the river moves north through Sudan is these incredible structures. They were
built over 2,000 years ago by a civilization most people have never heard of-the Nubians. Their history is key to understanding the modern Nile. Welcome to Egypt, where the Nile is the entire country. I am on the border between Sudan and Egypt. I am excited about this leg of the journey because all my life I have heard about Egypt, ancient civilizations, pyramids, sphinxes, tombs and, of course, the Nile River. Who built all this? I'm ready to truly understand this: what it really looks like, how the modern country of Egypt depends on it, and how everything is changing. So, we are talking about 1200-1300 BC
It was built over 3,000 years ago by the Egyptian civilization. And one king in particular wanted to show a neighboring civilization, the Nubians, that Egypt was better. Egypt was more powerful. So he built it here, on the border between two civilizations, just as a show of force. It's hard for me to understand how these people built such ambitious structures so long ago. You know, back in school we heard about the Nile River as the cradle of the ancient Egyptian civilization, which built pyramids and majestic temples like this one. And I always wondered why. But now that I'm here, I think I'm finally starting to understand.
For most of human history, no one built civilizations. People moved in small groups. They went for food, but never stayed in one place. But then, in just a few places on Earth, people began to gather in huge groups and cooperate. The Nile was one of the first such places. Let's say you are a civilization that is lucky enough to settle in North Africa. The northern part of Africa has a slope to the north. Ethiopia is located high. The Mediterranean Sea is low. Water is flowing.
Every year, rains in the East African Highlands cause huge floods. This used to create a flood that would overflow the river here in the desert. This annual flood is everything. This is a whole explanation, the key to the whole story The magic happens when all that excess water recedes and people see that it has brought with it a bunch of crushed volcanic rock that it collected along the way, mostly from the Ethiopian mountains where I had just been. And it was a real miracle. It had exactly what the plants needed. Phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium-free fertilizer delivered on schedule every year in
the middle of the desert, where constant sun means all you have to do is throw a seed into the rich soil and everything magically grows. So while most farmers in the world prayed for rain, which sometimes came and sometimes didn't, in Egypt there was no rain, but there was this annual flood, which was a god to them-a god named Hapi. For it was not just a river overflowing its banks, it was Hapi arriving and bringing them the ingredients for life. They literally had a measuring cup for the Nile. Look at this. It just goes down, down, down. Greetings. This structure has a tunnel that leads from this well to the Nile River. And when the flood came every summer, it filled this place.
So if the flood was big, it meant a good harvest, and they actually set tax rates based on this giant well and the water level in it. You are one of the first civilizations on the planet that can grow more food than it actually needs. You end up with surplus people who have free time for other things. So why not make them build incredible monuments in your honor? Make yourself a god. This is exactly what the rulers of Egypt did. They had ideal conditions for the creation of a civilization that built magnificent structures.
The river gave birth to not one great civilization, but two. Upstream was Nubia, rich in gold, skilled archers, and its own writing system, which we still cannot decipher, so we know much less about this civilization than we do about Ancient Egypt. These two sister civilizations grew thanks to the same miracle: the flood that brought moisture and nourished their soil year after year Another thing I didn't tell you about this incredible temple is that it was n't actually built here. The ancient Egyptians built it in a different location, along what was then the banks of the Nile. But in the 1960s, the Nile, its floods, and the usual course of life changed forever. A 10-ton dynamite explosion initiated by Nasser.
This is Lake Nasser. And it is a symbol of how important water is to Egypt. They learned to control the water very well. And they became very sensitive to issues related to it. The British controlled the Nile for 75 years during the height of their empire. But in the 1950s, the young Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew British rule. He completely expelled the British. President Nasser needed something grand to declare: Egypt now belongs to the Egyptians. Something that would pave the way for the development of his country. So he chose a river: a huge dam would put an end to the floods that brought fertilizers from the upper reaches.
But in return, it would allow for the storage of water for years to come, electrify the country, and ensure its development and growth. And for the first time in history, he brought the Nile and its floods under human control- Egyptian control. When you build a dam, you flood an entire region with water. And this temple ended up in that region. So they moved the Egyptian temple, stone by stone, to a new location on the shores of a new, vast lake. As we sail through this vast artificial lake, our driver reminds us that although this temple survived the flood, much else was lost. Due to the construction of the dam, over one hundred thousand descendants of the Nubian people were forced to leave their homes when the water
rose, flooding their homes, temples, palm trees, schools, and fields. The government provided these Nubian settlers with housing in much more densely populated areas near the city, cutting them off from their five-thousand-year-old way of life , from the river and its healing flood. This is their story, and now it's underwater. It's a little hard to comprehend how far this river flows. These are waters that flow from Central African lakes and travel four thousand miles to make Egypt green. Johnny. Greetings.
Nice to meet you. Is this our boat? Is that him? Yes. Nice boat. So, this is our boat for the next leg of the journey. Good boat. Our team is expanding. Lemma. Lema is my producer. She grew up partly in Egypt. It's very hot, but we're in the mood for adventure. And I asked Ramzi to come from Lebanon to help me film this part of the river. Do I have to do this? You have to take off your shirt. Take off your shirt? I'm glad to see the boat is called "Real Dream." So, I think it's a good sign, good vibes.
Oho. Our crew consists of Lulu, a young Nubian who is studying to be a nurse, and our captain, Moharam. The river here is simply magnificent. I have seen so many faces of this river. I have to say, this is the most beautiful version of the Nile I have ever seen. And while I'm here feeling grateful, I need to thank some of you. This ambitious story would not have been possible without the support of our New Press contributors. They made it possible, period. You'll notice that there is no sponsor in this episode. A story like this requires a special kind of partner. So it was our participants who made this video possible. If you want to join them, it costs
five dollars a month or 60 a year at newpress.com. And to thank you, we have prepared a lot of materials, including a companion podcast, "The Human Factor," which I record after each episode. And if you can't support us financially right now, subscribing to this channel will make a bigger difference than you think. So, thank you, really. Everything is going well. We are moving on. We are moving along this river. All right, captain. We found a place to stay for the night. A dune lying next to a Nubian village. The same one that the government built for the displaced.
As the sun sets, I meet this Nubian on the dune. His name is Abu Yusuf. What about the dam? Well, when the dam came along, how did it change the lives of the Nubian people? Uh, it's like taking a fish out of water and throwing it into the desert. Abu Yusuf takes me down the river, showing me how to properly catch the current until it carries us onto this rock in the middle of the stream. And here, surrounded by the water that shaped his people, he talks about his homeland, swallowed by a dam, and everything that came after: the slow, constant pressure to stop being Nubian and become Egyptian.
He says that despite the fact that his people have lost their land and way of life, the only thing they still cherish is the river itself. The forces of modernization create winners and losers. Much is gained, but valuable and often irreplaceable things are lost. Woo! The current is carrying us down. I love Neil. She said it. Continuing along the river, we invite Abu Yusuf to join us.
We land on an extraordinarily green shore, and Muharram promises that we will not regret it. My God, look at this. It is incredibly green and fertile here. We arrive at the family home, and there is a man in a tree shaking it. Another man pushes and something falls from the tree. A lot of things fall. It 's Lulu who finally shows me. Yes. Oh, yes. A. Look at this. Delicious. Can I just eat this? Yes? Oh, okay. OK.
Dude, mangoes just keep falling from this tree Mm, this is incredibly delicious. This is simply incredible. I am surrounded by thousands of mangoes. Look, this guy is just stuffing his mango shirt. More mangoes fall from the tree. Mm. I can't stop eating mangoes. Mm. For me, Egyptian mango is very nostalgic. I filled all my pockets with mangoes. Oh my God. Okay, we're leaving with more mangoes than we can carry. This will be our food for the next few days-whole mangoes. Before leaving, they bring more mango nectar. Oh my god, thank you very much.
And we are back on the boat, with a few kilos of mangoes. Mango. Delicious, very good, very pleasant. During this stop, one of the farmers, who was picking mangoes from the tree, approaches us and says he is a chef. He asks if we want him to join. He could cook for us. We agree without hesitation. And that's how Midu becomes part of the team. We found a sand dune here on the river bank. Oh my god, this sand is so hot. What am I doing? Ai. Oh. So hot. Ai.
The sand is hot. Sand. We have camels everywhere here. Meed needs groceries for dinner, so we stop at the huge camel market on the riverbank. What is it? Camel meat. Camel meat? Camel meat. Wow. Midu buys fruit and onions. He's going to throw a real feast here. Honey, what are you cooking? I cook potatoes, eggs with tomatoes, a little cheese, and mix it all with a salad. Where are you from? I am from Nubia. Before the construction of the High Dam, my father and my grandfather told us this story, the story of Lake Nasser.
We lived there before. And then, after settling, he wanted to build dams He wanted to give us some land here in the city. And we told him, "No. We need to leave the past behind. We need a small plot to plant vegetables, because every Nubian family had a hectare or two." Yes. land. Do people still dream of returning to the village? No, that's over. It's all because of the dam Midu reveals to me something that is not easy to notice at first glance. The Nubians lost more than just their villages to the dam.
They lost agriculture, a special type of farming that gave people not only food, but also a calendar, a means of livelihood, songs, and an entire way of life for thousands of years. Do n't lie. Don't lie. I'm not lying. My village was flooded. But many years ago, everything changed on a whim. Yes. We don't need just any land. Yes. We need a plan. Since the dam stopped the flow of natural fertilizers from the Ethiopian mountains, agriculture here has become industrial. This is due to industrial chemical fertilizers and water pumped from the lake through artificial canals to farms deep in the desert, where farms never really belong. And when you drive here, you see something strange.
Barbed wire walls protecting these farms, checkpoints, armed guards in front of pumping stations. In most countries, you can only see this at the border, but here they protect the water like this. This shows how modern Egypt, with its population of over 100 million, perceives control of water as a matter of national security. The military uses engineering to control the river, guard it, and carefully distribute every drop. These army farms in the middle of nowhere seem like a violation of the laws of physics and biology, but they are the result of a deal made by modern Egypt to
control the river in exchange for a sense of supposed security. And now we understand why Egypt has so many claims against Ethiopia and their new dam. Because the country that controls the Nile upstream threatens more than just your water. It threatens your entire existence Mr. President, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Hidase hydroelectric power plant is an existential threat to Egypt. But for Mido, an evicted Nubian, all this is madness. I, I want to tell everyone: don't buy it at the market because we don't know how they grow it. Maybe some chemicals. Yes.
They add them to the water and to the soil. Here is the camel. Look at this. So good, cooked by Mido himself on the boat. I think we're selling our fish here, man Good. This is cool. Let's get settled. This is Johnny Joey. Johnny. Let's get settled. This Is Duvey. He lives on this boat. Every day, the same white bird, which he calls his friend, flies to him. I ask him about the river and the dam, and he says he'll tell me, but insists we do it over breakfast with the fish he just caught.
We are taking water straight from the Nile for our tea this morning. After talking, I learned that Duwei was not Nubian. He didn't lose his home and way of life to the dam, and that may explain his different perspective on it all. We are approaching the end of this river, where, after passing through the desert, it begins to approach the sea. The lifestyle of over a million inhabitants depends on the whims or moods of the Nile-a river that has nurtured Egypt since the beginning of time.
This is Cairo. The largest city in Africa. Over 20 million people live along the banks of this glorious river. And in this city you can see the whole history at the same time. Pyramids built thanks to the wealth from river floods 5,000 years ago. And along the water are the skyscrapers and bridges of the modern state, lit in part by electricity from the dam that stopped these floods. Ancient Egypt was built in harmony with the river. And modern Egypt was built by taking control of it. For millions of people, this river is everything.
They sing about it, bathe in it, fish, swim, drink its water, and cultivate the land along it. Entire civilizations grew because of it. Rhythms of life that have remained almost unchanged for millennia. At least until recently. And the people who live along this river, those who have the deepest memories of what it was like, still feel the pain of that price. For 5,000 years, this place lived thanks to floods. And now it has to learn to live without them Meanwhile, upstream, the fight for control of the water is just beginning. Okay, take it quickly. Turn off, remove the battery. Remove Oh, yes, the battery, exactly. Luckily, I have a spare.
