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Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places |
Mountains of the Moon
Al-Idrisi map of 1154. Please note that on early Arabic maps of this type, South was placed at the top of the map. This map image has been turned upside down to aid the viewer. The Mountains of the Moon are in the 7 or 8 o'clock position, and appear upside down.
According to Ptolemy, the source of the Nile River was the Mountains of the Moon (also called Montes Lunae.) This was based on the story of Diogenes, who was blown off course while sailing to India, landed in Africa, and traveled inland for 25 days to the source of the Nile. The source was water from snowy mountains. The name may have referred to the fact that these mountains are always covered in snow, and many people in the region had not ever seen snow up close. These mountains were in actuality the Ruwenzori mountain range near Lake Victoria, which were explored in 1888 by the famous Henry Stanley, and given their African name.
The Mountains of the Moon are generally depicted as having 8 rivers flowing from the mountains into two small lakes (4 each.) Rivers from the 2 small lakes flow into a larger lake, from which the Nile flows.
