The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ^?; transliterated: ʿAbbay but pronounced Abbai, Arabic: النيل الأزرق‎ an-Nīl al-Azraq) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river becomes one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The upper course of the river is called the Abbay in Ethiopia, where many regard it as holy.