The Dabus is a north-flowing tributary of the

Abay River Abay may refer to: People * Abay (name) Places * Abay District, East Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan * Abay District, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan ** Abay (town), the province's administrative center * Abay, Almaty, Kazakhstan * Abay, Aktobe, a villag ...

in southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The Dabus has a drainage area of about . The Dabus was formerly known as the Yabus, and local speakers still refer to it by that name, without distinction for the Yabus in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

that is a tributary of the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

Juan Maria Schuver Juan Maria Schuver (born Joannes Maria Schuver; 26 February 1852 – August 1883) was a Dutch explorer. The son of a wealthy merchant, as a young man Schuver travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa. At ...

was the first European explorer to determine that they were two separate rivers, and in 1882 proved false the rumor that these rivers flowed from the same mountain lake. It is important as a boundary both in cultural and political terms. According to Dunlop, who explored the region in 1935, the river is where "the Christian church of the

Oromo people The Oromo people (, pron. ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group native to the Oromia region of Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya. They speak the Oromo language (also called ''Afaan Oromoo''), which is part of the Cushitic language ...

gives place to the

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, and the Oromo greeting to the universal

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

politeness: 'Salaam Aleikum.' In contrast to the Oromo and Amhara dress, consisting of a shirt with close-fitting sleeves, jodpurs and chamma, they wear a white skull-cap, pugaree, flowing coat with loose sleeves and baggy trousers." In political terms, its course defines not only part of the boundary between the

Benishangul-Gumuz Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmos ...

and the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

s, but also the entire shared boundary of the

Asosa Asosa or Assosa is the capital of Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Asosa Zone, this town has a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation of 1,570 meters. History According to the Dutch explorer Juan Maria Schuver, who vi ...

and Kamashi Zones of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The Dabus has been a historically significant source for

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, where the local inhabitants have used

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

to recover the mineral.Quoted in Richard Pankhurst, ''Economic History of Ethiopia'' (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), p. 233.

References

Rivers of Ethiopia Tributaries of the Blue Nile Ethiopian Highlands Geography of Oromia Benishangul-Gumuz Region {{Ethiopia-river-stub

See also

References