As we know, the Jibâl al-Qamar (Montes Lunae), are the mountains within the African continent where the ancient geographers located the sources of the river Nile. Like other many ancient sciences, geography was not always understood without the help of mythology, and the Jibâl al-Qamar provides a good example of this.

Muslim geographers did not use proper mythological stories like the Greek tradition, but often they take use of symbols and allegories as seen in the literary genre of Arabic mirabilia ('ayâib). Geography not escape Islamic literary productions originated by Greek rationalism, as happens in the transmission of Ptolemy's Geography, known by the Arabs (c. IX) long before the Europeans (c. XV). This paper aims to deal with these topics on the sources of the river Nile: early mentions, main descriptions, mythology and surveys.

Key words:

Jibâl al-Qamar, Montes Lunae, early geography, Nile, Africa, cosmography