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What land is it of which the prophet speaks? It is no doubt Ethiopia itself, a great kingdom in the olden time. For although he says "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," that is the Blue Nile, and the White Nile, and the Astaboras, the meaning is perhaps more accurately "beside" those rivers. In any event the ancient land of Ethiopia reached out to the south far beyond the confluence of those rivers in the mighty Nile, including probably all upper Egypt beyond Philae, Nubia, and the northern portion of modern Abyssinia. It was a fertile country, very rich in gold, ivory, ebony, frankincense, and precious stones. A country thickly inhabited by a stalwart well-formed race, "men of stature" the prophet calls them, who if they were black were yet comely. It was a mighty kingdom for many centuries, a rival of Egypt, sometimes its enemy, and apparently even its conqueror; a kingdom able to make war against the Assyrians, and a kingdom, too, carrying on a great trade by means of abundant merchandise with many people.

(A. Ritchie.)

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KJV: Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

WEB: Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;