M. A. YEMELYANOV-LUKYANCHIKOV Candidate of Historical Sciences Buganda, Cabarega, Ukerewe-these words give off the heady aroma of Inner Africa. Only a century and a half ago did the first European hear these names, which are closely related to the phenomenon of the longest river in the world - the Nile River. The search for its origins was still occupied by Egyptian and Greek civilizations, but the desire to understand where and how the great river was born reached its apogee in Europe of the XIX century. However, surprisingly, despite the fact that the origins were discovered in the depths of Africa, in the mass consciousness the Nile continues to be associated only with Egypt. In September 2007 I went to Uganda with like-minded people. Our team consisted of 13 Russian citizens (in addition to Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk were represented), one Latvian and two Ugandans-a virtuoso driver Isaac from Jinji and a translator Oliver, who knows, in addition to her native Lugisu, Luganda, Swahili and English. Part of the expedition, focused on exploring the historical, ethnic and natural diversity of Uganda, included trips to the source of the Nile and the Murchison Falls located downstream. Thus, we decided to "cross" our paths with famous Europeans-first of all with the routes of John Hanning Speke-who discovered the world of Inner Africa and studied the geography of the river, which fed a number of great civilizations. THE BACHWEZI RIDDLE As I stared out of the plane window at the cloud-shrouded outlines of the African land of Egypt, Sudan, and Northern Uganda, I felt a certain pride that we were not only flying from the place where the Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea, to its very sources, but also following the path of the legendary Chwezi ethnic group (Bachwezi), who in the area of 1300 They came from the north to the territory of modern Uganda. They seem to have originated from the great Ethiopian civilization of Aksum, and Egyptian frescoes show image ... Read more