Egypt and the Sudan have always been considered two sister countries. The River Nile flowing from its springs in the heart of the Dark Continent, and pouring its waters through Lower Egypt, into the Mediterranean, has connected inseparably the two regions since the earliest times. In their voyages of discovery and conquest, the Ancient Egyptians appear to have reached the junction of the Nile with Bahr Al Ghazal in the west (10°N. L. ), and ascended the Blue Nile, an eastern tributary, to its sources in Abyssinia. Through trade, migrations, occasional raids and more definite attempts at conquest, contact was maintained between the two countries.