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Mountains of the Moon (Latin, ''Montes Lunae'') is an ancient term referring to a legendary mountain or mountain range in east Africa at the source of the Nile River. Various identifications have been made in modern times, the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda being the most celebrated. The ancient Egyptians reputedly considered their origin to be from the Mountains of the moon, namely Central Africa, according to some scholars. == Ancient testimony == The first people to discover the sources of the Nile were the Africans who lived there. There are two sources of the Waters that constitute the Nile, namely, Ethiopia and Burundi. 85% of the water that flows into the Nile comes from Ethiopia and the other 15% from the Central African region, the area where the Mountains of the Moon are located. Europeans of the ancient world were long curious about the source of the Nile, especially Ancient Greek geographers. A number of European expeditions up the Nile failed to find the source. Eventually, a merchant named Diogenes reported that he had traveled inland from Rhapta in East Africa for twenty-five days and had found the source of Nile. He reported it flowed from a group of massive mountains into a series of large lakes. He reported the natives called this range the Mountains of the Moon because of their snowcapped whiteness. These reports were accepted as true by Ptolemy〔His ''Geographia'', (IV.8 ). reports “The Mountain of the Moon” (τὸ τῆς Σελήνης ὄρος) and its location. But William D. Cooley in an 1854 (monograph ) argued that the passage in question is a later interpolation.〕 and other Greek and Roman geographers, and maps he produced indicated the reported location of the mountains. Late Arab geographers, despite having far more knowledge of Africa, also took the report at face value, and included the mountains in the same location given by Ptolemy.〔Ralph Ehrenberg, ''Mapping the World : An Illustrated History of Cartography'' (National Geographic, 2005)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mountains of the Moon (Africa)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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