According to the Chronicle of the Pharaohs by Peter A. Clayton, under Necho II (610-595 BC) a canal was built between the Pelusian branch of the Nile and the northern end of the Bitter Lakes (which lies between the two seas) at a cost of, reportedly, 100,000 lives. However, over many years, the canal fell into disrepair, only to be extended, abandoned, and rebuilt again. After having been neglected, it was rebuilt by the Persian ruler, Darius I (522-486 BC), whose canal can still be seen along the Wadi Tumilat. According to Herodotus, his canal was wide enough that two triremes could pass each other with oars extended, and that it took four days to navigate. He commemorated the completion of his canal with a series of granite stelae set up along the Nile bank.

This canal is said to have been extended to the Red Sea by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC), abandoned during the early Roman rule, but rebuilt again by Trajan (98-117 AD). Over the next several centuries, it once again was abandoned and sometimes dredged by various rulers for various but limited purposes. Amr Ibn el-As rebuilt the canal after the Islamic takeover of Egypt creating a new supply line from Cairo, but in 767 AD, the Abbasid caliph El-Mansur closed the canal a final time to cut off supplies to insurgents located in the Delta. Of course, over time, ships grew in size and so the ancient attempts to connect the two seas would not have worked anyway today.

The first efforts to build a modern canal came from the Egypt expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte, who hoped the project would create a devastating trade problem for the English. Though this project was begun in 1799 by Charles Le Pere, a miscalculation estimated that the levels between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea were too great (estimating that the Red Sea was some ten meters higher than that of the Mediterranean Sea) and work was quickly suspended.

Then, in 1833, a group of French intellectuals known as the Saint-Simoniens arrived in Cairo and they became very interested in the Suez project despite such problems as the difference in sea levels. Unfortunately, at that time Mohammed Ali had little interest in the project, and in 1835, the Saint-Simoniens were devastated by a plague epidemic. Most of the twenty or so engineers returned to France. They did leave behind several enthusiasts for the canal, including Ferdinand de Lesseps (who was then the French vice-consul in Alexandria) and Linant de Bellefonds

In Paris, the Saint-Simoniens created an association in 1846 to study the possibility of the Suez Canal once again. In 1847, Bourdaloue confirmed that there was no real difference in the levels between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and it was Linant de Bellefonds that drew up the technical report. Unfortunately, there was considerable British opposition to the project, and Mohammed Ali, who was ill by this time, was less than enthusiastic.

However, Pasha Said was very open to European influence, and in fact, was a childhood friend of Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, who ended up founding the La Campagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez (Universal Company of the Maritime Suez Canal) in 1858 to build the canal. This was a private company, which would build the canal under an agreement allowing it to operate the canal for 99 years, after which it would revert to Egyptian government ownership.

The pilot study estimated that a total of 2,613 million cubic feet of earth would have to be moved, including 600 million on land, and another 2,013 million dredged from water. The total original cost estimate was two hundred million francs.

When at first the company ran into financial problems, it was Pasha Said who purchased 44 percent of the company to keep it in operation. However, the British and Turks were concerned with the venture and managed to have work suspended for a short time, until the intervention of Napoleon III. Excavation of the canal actually began on April 25th, 1859, and between then and 1862, the first part of the canal was completed. However, after Ismail succeeded Pasha Said in 1863, the work was again suspended. After Ferdinand De Lesseps again appealed to Napoleon III, an international commission was formed in March of 1864. The commission resolved the problems and within three years, the canal was completed. On November 17, 1869 the barrage of the Suez plains reservoir was breached and waters of the Mediterranean flowed into the Red Sea.

The total original cost of building the canal was about $100 million, about twice its original estimated coast. However, about three times that sum was spent on later repairs and improvements.

The completion of the Suez Canal was a cause for considerable celebration. In Port Said, the extravaganza began with fireworks and a ball attended by six thousand people. They included many heads of state, including the Empress Eugenie, the Emperor of Austria, the Prince of Wales, the Prince of Prussia and the Prince of the Netherlands. Two convoys of ships entered the canal from its southern and northern points and met at Ismailia. Parties continued for weeks, and the celebration also marked the opening of Ismail’s old Opera House in Cairo, which is now gone.

The canal had a dramatic effect on world trade almost from the time it was opened, and even on world politics. Now, it was much easier for European nations to penetrate and colonize Africa.

Because of external debts, the British government purchased the shares owned by Egyptian interests, namely those of Said Pasha, in 1875, for some 400,000 pounds sterling. Yet France continued to have a majority interest. Under the terms of an international convention signed in 1888 (The Convention of Constantinople), the canal was opened to vessels of all nations without discrimination, in peace and war. Nevertheless, Britain considered the canal vital to the maintenance of its maritime power and colonial interests. Therefore, the provisions of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 allowed Britain to maintain a defensive force along the Suez Canal Zone. However, Egyptian nationalists demanded repeatedly that Britain evacuate the Suez Canal Zone, and in 1954 the two countries signed a seven-year agreement that superseded the 1936 treaty and provided for the gradual withdrawal of all British troops from the zone.

By June 1956, all British troops had departed and Egypt took over the British installations. Nevertheless, various conflicts caused the closure of the canal for intermittent periods. Unfortunately, between the Suez Crisis and later wars, the canal was damaged extensively and was not operated for several year after 1967. However, on June 5th, 1975, the canal was again opened, and since then has been updated and enlarged.

The canal stretches over 100 miles (163 kilometers) from Port Said and the Mediterranean Sea to Suez and the Red Sea and, along with other such projects, changed the face of maritime world trade. The famous canal (Translated from Arabic as Qana al-Suways) of the modern era is one of the greatest engineering feats of modern record. At its narrowest point, it is about 300 meters wide (197 feet) at the bottom. It is wide enough to allow ships having a a maximum draft of 16 meters (53 feet). The canal can accommodate ships as large as 150,000 dead weight tons fully loaded.

The Canal is really not wide enough to allow two way passage of ships, but there are several passing bays, and areas where ships may pass each other in the Bitter Lakes and between Qantara and Ismailia. There is also a railway that runs the entire distance of the canal.

The Suez Canal has no locks, because the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez have roughly the same water level. Actually, the canal does not stretch continuously from one sea to the other. It really consists of two parts each flowing into the Bitter Lakes which lies between Port Said and Suez, and it also uses the waters of Lake Manzilah and Lake Timsah.

Three convoys transit the canal on a typical day, two southbound and one northbound. The first southbound convoy enters the canal in the early morning hours and proceeds to the Great Bitter Lake, where the ships anchor out of the fairway and await the passage of the northbound convoy. The northbound convoy passes the second southbound convoy, which moors to the canal bank in a by-pass, in the vicinity of El Qantara. Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) reported that in 2003 17,224 ships passed through the canal. The canal averages about 8% of the world shipping traffic. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots. The low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ship’s wakes.

Improvements are planned to allow supertanker passage though the canal by 2010. Presently, supertankers can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat and reload at the other end of the canal.

For tourists, the Canal Zone makes an interesting visit, though one need not, and really cannot traverse the whole of it except by ship. Outside of an ocean cruise, visiting the Canal is easiest at Suez. It can in fact be a very easy day tour, as Cairo is only about an hour and a half away. On the other hand, it could also be visited as part of a little longer tour, also taking in the Eastern Desert Monasteries and some other site seeing.

Not so bad was it. If someone could send me the Cliff notes I would be much obliged. Herpes doesn’t allow for to much learning.

Okay, three days there at the kickoff to Ramadan (for repentance no eating and drinking from 5am to 5pm also no sex.) The place was a ghost town,even at night. Lots of kids playing though, but the town itself gave me the creeps. Extremely nice tourist office though. The canal itself wasn’t what I expected but I was seeing it at the entry/exit part in the middle of the city. I guess you would have to take the road out to the middle of the desert and then be able to see the narrow swath of water with sand on both sides. Oh well, dreams crushed.

Whooohooo, next stop, Dahab.

Oh yea, I almost forgot, I switched teams. Well, we’ll have to see for how long though. No not sexuality, hamburgers. I went to Hardees (Carls JR in the states), and they had this thing called the Mega Burger. Wow. A big ass meat burger the size and thickness of the buns and big as a plate, cheese, and mushroom sauce. That was it. It was amazing. I had it every day and I forgot all about McDonalds.

So that was it for Cairo. My next stop was up north to Alexandria, home of Alexander the Great, and my first look at the Mediterranean Sea.

Having the train take me there was nice and convenient even though there were a lot of buses as well. The Metro even had a connection which dropped you right off at the entry way to the station. Three hours later in my airconditioned second class seat and we were there.

Stuff is a bit more pricey there since it is a bit more of an upscale location, but I still dug out a cheap/nice place for a few days, right off the Corniche (road/sidewalk that lines the bay.)
Alexandria
The achievements of the Greeks in the ancient world, by no means few, may have reached their peak in the city of Alexandria. No less a ruler than its namesake, Alexander III of Macedonia (Alexander the Great), Alexandria dominated the eastern Mediterranean world culturally, politically, and economically for more than nine hundred years, the latter three hundred of which it competed with even the eastern capital of the Byzantine Empire, the famous Constantinople. Few cities in the world can claim success of this magnitude for close to millennium, and even fewer still flourish to this day. Part of the reason for Alexandria’s success was its location, both geographically as well as politically. Situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, it was the true bridge between Europe and Africa while still being a world all to itself. It was largely separate from the political upheavals of the Hellenistic kingdoms, and then later shaded by the Pax Romanum, as well as being quite far from the chaos of the barbarian invasions that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Freed from many of the fetters that chafed against its peers, and enriched by both maritime trade and its Greek intellectual tradition, Alexandria soon earned the title “Queen of the Mediterranean.”

Part of Alexandria’s power and majesty came from its status as the new capital of Egypt. In 320 BC it replaced Memphis as the seat of rulership for the Ptolemaic dynasty and it remained so throughout the Byzantine period. The rest was largely due to its monopoly on the papyrus industry for the entire Mediterranean world, as well as its hold on the manufacture and export of medicines, perfumes, jewelry, and art. Additionally, many materials and goods prized by the ancient world from the east came into Alexandria and were exported from there.

The arrival of the Greeks brought an unprecedented amount of change in Egypt as they overlaid the existing society with that of their own. At first glance, the Grوco-Macedonian period seems to lack the romance and awe of the Pharaohs who came before, but it was during this time, between Alexander’s conquest and the Arab takeover of Alexandria in AD 642 that Egypt made some of its most significant contributions to the classical world, as well as absorbing its influences. Change came in many sectors of Egypt and Egyptian life. A new system of roads and canals was created which, coupled with the Nile travel already mastered by the Egyptians, resulted in the ability to move goods and people all over the Nile Valley and the Delta like never before. Better travel resulted in better communications across Egypt, which in turn resulted in greater military security as well as the faster spread of new cultural and social patterns.

Alexander the Great took Egypt from the Persians in 332 BC and made it a part of the the Greek Empire. In the first part of 331 BC, shortly after being crowned Pharaoh in Memphis, he sailed northwards down the Nile and there, prompted by a dream, he began his most lasting contribution to civilization. On the natural harbor near Rhacotis he built a fortified port and named it, in a moment of egotism, Alexandria. Alexander then connected the island of Pharos, located in the center of the bay, to the mainland with a 1,300-meter causeway, the Heptastadion. Thus two great harbors were created for his city and towering over it all, the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Yet Alexander, true to his nature, did not say long enough to see a single building built of his new city. Instead, he traveled to Siwa and then back to Memphis before setting out on his conquest of Asia. He never returned, dying in Babylon at the age of 38.

Following Alexander’s death, his generals divided the Empire, each setting up their own kingdoms. One of them, Ptolemy, took Egypt as his share and made Alexandria his capital, ruling as Ptolemy I Soter and thus established the last dynasty that would rule Egypt with the title of Pharaoh. He brought Alexander’s body with him to be buried in the city, reuniting the famed conqueror with the city that bore his name. For the next two-and-a-half centuries, the Ptolemaic dynasty of the Greeks would successfully rule Egypt, mingling Hellenic traditions with the mighty legacy of the Pharaohs.

It was under the Ptolemaic Dynasty that Alexandria truly became the cultural and economic center of the ancient world. Egypt was ruled from Alexandria by Ptolemy’s descendants until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. The early Ptolemies raised the quality of Egyptian agriculture by reclaiming cultivatable land through irrigation and introduced crops such as cotton and better wine-producing grapes. In addition, they increased the wealth of their population by increasing foreign trade, making more luxury goods available to more people. In return, Egypt enriched their lives as the new rulers absorbed their adopted culture. Egypt had enchanted the Ptolemies, as it had all its foreign rulers before them. Ptolemy and his descendants adopted Egyptian royal trappings and added Egypt’s religion to their own, worshipping the gods of Eternity and building temples to them, and even being mummified and buried in sarcophagi covered with hieroglyphs.

This adoption of Egyptian culture was really the secret to Ptolemy’s rule (and that of his descendants). Alexander came and left, burning with the desire to bring the rest of the world under his influence, but Ptolemy saw a need to become one of the people he intended to rule. Indeed, the famed Satrap Stele, on which is carved a decree from Ptolemy from the same period as his installation as ruler reads, “I Ptolemy, the satrap, restore to Horus, the avenger of his father, the territory of Patanut [Egypt], from this day forth for ever…” In addition to showing respect for the Egyptian religion and beliefs (something previous conquerors had failed to do), this inscription reminded the people exactly who it was who had liberated Egypt from the Persian Empire, thus ensuring much support for the new ruler and the dynasty that would follow him.

This was quite literally a golden age for the citizens of Alexandria, and for Egypt as a whole. Although Alexander never lived to see its glory, it nevertheless became the racial melting pot he is said to have wanted for his capital city. Ptolemy decided early on that Alexandria would be not just another port capital, but the home of a new age in Greek science and art. It may seem surprising to find such an impulse in a military man, but Ptolemy was more than just another general. He was a great writer of histories, including detailed accounts of Alexander’s campaigns, and this love for learning did not die with him. Ptolemy’s son and heir, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, for instance, had a passion for science, and Ptolemy III as we shall see, was a manic collector of books. The Greeks had long had a tradition of enlightened rulers, and despite being on foreign soil, the Ptolemies would be no exception. Ptolemy invited scholars and artists from all over the known world to come to Alexandria, not to be mere court window dressing, but to foster the learning culture of Alexandria. The arrival of many of these learned people, and later the successors they found amongst the citizens of their new home, resulted in one of the most famous images of historic Alexandria: the Library.

The Library at Alexandria was conceived largely as an attempt to bring together in Alexandria the whole of the earlier Greek science, art, and literature. Ptolemy I, though respectful as he was of the Egyptian culture, nevertheless believed the Greek culture to be superior in many respects, and thus the preservation of it in Alexandria was of utmost importance. The models for this project may very well have been the research center created by Aristotle at the Lyceum, as well as Plato’s Academy. Between these two centers of learning, later joined by the Library, something very close to the modern university was being created, for these centers did not just archive information, they made it accessible to those who sought it, and in return, added to it. And add to it they did. At one point the Library held close to fifty thousand books, not much when compared to the university libraries of today, but for the ancient world it is an astonishing number.

It was the mission of the librarians, as well as of those rulers who supported it, to rescue and archive all Greek knowledge and to obtain copies of every known work. Stories abound about Ptolemy III Euergetes I, grandson of Ptolemy I, who seized cargoes of books from ships docked at Alexandria, had copies made of each volume, returned the copies to the shipmasters and kept the originals for the library. He also borrowed the complete works of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles from the Athenian collections and never returned them. Yet this is not to say that the Ptolemies hoarded knowledge. The libraries were open to all those who could read and who wished to learn. And learning was easy indeed thanks to the widespread teaching of the Greek alphabet. With only thirty symbols, as compared with the multitudes of hieroglyphs, virtually anyone could learn it, and almost everyone did. A new age of learning had dawned, and Alexandria stood at the bulwark of it.

The eventual fate of the Library is unknown. A significant portion of it is said to have been destroyed during Julius Caesar’s war against Pompey, though how significant this portion was, or even the size of it, is not certain. The Library may have perished during the 270s, along with the palace quarter. At the very least, it does not appear to have existed at the time of the Arab conquest in the seventh century AD. Stories do abound, as they always will, that part of the library was rescued and remains hidden, waiting to be discovered.

For the next three centuries the Ptolemaic Dynasty would hold sway over Egypt, surviving both family feuds and external conflicts while living an unusual combination of Hellenic and Egyptian life. And under them Alexandria grew mighty and prosperous, the center of an empire that extended around the coast of Syria to the Aegean Sea. In fact, if Alexandria had been any more prosperous, it might have replaced Rome as the center of the world, as Rome was neither as strategically located nor as culturally diverse. But all this is not to say that Alexandria was a city completely at peace with itself. With the large numbers of people and cultures coming through the city, it was inevitable that conflict would arise. Certainly racial tensions, by no means an invention of the twentieth century, played a strong part. Additionally, a number of more tradition-minded Egyptians resented the presence of the Greeks, nations brought their feuds with them to the streets and businesses of Alexandria, and there was always the wildly unpredictable Alexandrian Mob to lend spice to things.

Little by little however, the glory days of the early Ptolemies came to an end. The later successors to the throne did not live up to the standards set by their forebears and moreover, internal strife took its toll. The Egyptians grew more restless year by year and finally, beginning in 206 BC, Upper Egypt openly rebelled. Suppressing these revolts took more out of the treasury than the Ptolemies could afford and this, combined with the less-than-sound foreign policy of the later Ptolemies, brought Egypt increasingly under the influence of Rome.

Whew, that was even tiring copying and pasting sorry if you read through that whole thing and don’t like the Romans.

I spent my time there pretty much relaxing and wandering through the beautiful city. I would rank it as a top 5 of the most beautiful cities that I have seen on my travels. It did have a weird edge to it that kind of turned me off. I’m not sure what, but I think because there were no beaches that were really close and accessible. Down the way were the beach resorts and the whole north coast line is full of beach, but just the city which was built around the cove doesn’t have any. Oh well, it was spectacular at night time. All the old time cafes were another huge plus. I think it was as close to Europe as I had ever been. They had a McDonalds, but no Hardee’s if anybody else cares. There were guys out fishing every day so that was a big plus for me as I am just as fine watching people fish as I am doing it. Women were a lot less restrained as it is a different culture than anywhere else in Egypt. The main museum which I wanted to see was actually being renovated, so no museums, add Alexandria to my ignorance list as I didn’t even read the stuff I cut and pasted above. Oh yea, the Bibliotecha. Best damn library that I have ever seen. Very photogenic and pretty awesomely designed. Too bad they don’t have a lot of books for it though so the shelves are kind of sparse. They had roasted corn on the Corniche so that was a good change. Thats about it I think. I spent three nights there and it was a good decompression after Cairo.

I was originally planning to visit the Siwa Oasis that borders with Liberia (?). Whatever country on the west of Egypt with that whacked out ruler with the psycho hair and aviator sunglasses. Anyways, I just couldn’t be bothered with it to bus it eight hours to the west through the desert to see the desert when I have been in the desert for the last two months, then bus it eight hours back to where I started and then eight hours again in the other direction for my next destination. It would have been a two weeker easily so I just said forget it. I am getting tired of Africa and am not going to waste my time on repetitious stuff that doesn’t interest me. Plus, after a short stop in Suez, I was going to Dahab.

I got recommended a hostel by Snarky and headed straight there so I could drop my bags and get situated. I spent the day getting familiarized with the area and drinking juice. Back at the hostel I met up with an Aussie guy just finishing his contract in London. He was doing some sight seeing before heading home so we made plans to visit the Giza Pyramids and share the cost of a cab out to some outlying areas for the following day.