Lesser Abbay (ግልገል ዓባይ, Gǝlgäl Abbay) is a river of central
Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains of
Gojjam, it flows northward to empty into south-western
Lake Tana at . Tributaries of the Lesser Abbay include the Ashar, Jamma, Kelti and the Koger. It was regarded as the true source of the
Nile for a long time and the Jesuit priest
Pedro Paez visited it in 1618. The name Lesser Abbay means Lesser Nile, as Abbay is the name for the
Blue Nile.