Canal of the Pharaohs facts for kids
The Canal of the Pharaohs was an ancient waterway in Egypt. It is also known as the Ancient Suez Canal or Necho's Canal. This canal was a very early version of today's Suez Canal. It was built a long time ago and used on and off until it was closed in 767 AD. It was closed for important reasons during a time of trouble.
Unlike the modern Suez Canal, this old canal connected the Nile River to the Red Sea. It did this by going through an area called the Wadi Tumilat. Work on the canal started under the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Some ancient writers, like Herodotus, say that the Persian king Darius the Great first opened the canal. However, other ancient writers, like Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, believed he did not finish it. Another idea is that it was completed later, during the Ptolemaic period, under Ptolemy II. During this time, engineers might have used canal locks to solve the problem of different water levels.
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Building the Canal: Egyptian and Persian Efforts
Historians believe that work on a canal connecting the Nile River to the Red Sea might have started very early. Some suggest it was as far back as the 12th Dynasty. This would mean pharaoh Senusret III (who ruled from 1878–1839 BC) might have begun it. The Greek historian Aristotle wrote about this. He mentioned that a king named Sesostris (likely Senusret III) tried to build a canal. But he found that the sea was higher than the land. This made it hard to connect the two without mixing salt water with the Nile's fresh water.
Another pharaoh, Necho II, who ruled from 610–595 BC, probably started digging the canal. Later, Darius the Great (who ruled from 550–486 BC) either re-dug it or finished it. Ancient writers do not all agree on when it was finally completed.
Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions are five monuments found in Egypt. They celebrate the building and completion of the canal by Darius I of Persia. These inscriptions were found along the path of the canal. In the late 1800s, French mapmakers found parts of Darius's canal. These parts were east of Lake Timsah and ended near the Great Bitter Lake.
Pliny the Elder, another ancient writer, also wrote about the canal. He said that Sesostris, an Egyptian king, wanted to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Nile. He also mentioned that Darius the Persian king had the same idea. Then, Ptolemy II later dug a large trench. It was 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep, and about 35 miles long. This trench reached the Bitter Lakes.
Greek, Roman, and Islamic Use
After Alexander the Great died, his general Ptolemy I Soter took control of Egypt. He became the first pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty. His son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, continued the canal work. He also faced the problem of different water levels. However, some historians say that Ptolemy II finished the canal. They believe his engineers invented a water lock around 274/273 BC. This lock helped keep the Nile's fresh water separate from the Red Sea's salt water.
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Later, the Roman emperor Trajan rebuilt the canal. He moved its starting point on the Nile further south, to what is now Old Cairo. He named it Amnis Traianus after himself. Parts of the huge stone walls that formed the entrance to Trajan's canal have been found. They are under the Coptic Church of Saint Sergius and the Coptic Church of Saint George. These walls are 6 meters (20 feet) thick and 40 meters (130 feet) apart. Where the canal met the Nile, Trajan built a harbor and forts. Emperor Diocletian expanded these forts in the 3rd century AD. He also built the Babylon Fortress.
The canal was hard to keep in good condition. By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 AD, it was no longer used and had fallen apart. Islamic writings say the canal was filled with mud. But it was reopened in 641 or 642 AD by 'Amr ibn al-'As, the commander of the Muslim army in Egypt. The new canal dug by Amr was further north. It joined the Nile near what is now the Sayyida Zaynab area of Cairo. This connection to the Red Sea stayed open until 767 AD. It was then closed to stop supplies from reaching Mecca and Medina, which were in rebellion. The part of the canal near the Nile, called the Khalij, was used as part of Cairo's water system until the late 1890s. Then, it was completely filled in and became Port Said Street.
What Happened After
After the canal closed, goods had to be carried by camel caravans over land. They traveled from Alexandria to ports on the Red Sea. Or they went along the northern silk route through the Caucasian Mountains. From there, goods were moved across the Caspian Sea and then to India.
When Portugal found a direct sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope, it changed trade. The Venetians and Mamluks thought about building a new canal. They hoped it would weaken Portugal's trade power. But the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim I ended these plans. Venice could not keep its strong position in Mediterranean trade.
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, a powerful Ottoman leader, also thought about building a new canal. This was between 1565 and 1579. He wanted to reduce Portugal's power in the Indian Ocean. He also wanted to connect the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. But the project was too expensive and was canceled.
During the Egyptian expedition, Napoleon Bonaparte learned about the ancient canal in 1799. His surveyor, Jacques-Marie Le Père, found parts of it. Napoleon thought about rebuilding the canal but decided not to.
More than a thousand years after the ancient canal closed in 767 AD, the modern Suez Canal opened in 1869. It once again created a direct sea route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
See also
- Ancient Egyptian trade
