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Canal of the Pharaohs -

The Egyptian Pharaoh Senusret III may have started work on an ancient canal connecting the Red Sea and the Nile around 1850 BCE. It's also believed that the Pharaoh Necho II began work on a similar project. The Persian conqueror Darius I achieved some success by constructing a waterway wide enough that two triremes could pass each other. The canal was supposedly finished in the 3rd century BCE during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Known as the "Canal of the Pharaohs," it's said that Cleopatra herself may have traveled on it.

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Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) -

In the late 18th century, Napoleon Bonaparte demonstrated an interest in finding the remnants of this long-forgotten waterway. He even dispatched a team of surveyors to the region to investigate the feasibility of cutting the Isthmus of Suez and building a canal to connect the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

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Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805–1894) -

Fifty years later, the French renewed their interest in the idea of building a desert waterway. Planning for the Suez Canal officially began in 1854, when former diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps (pictured) negotiated an agreement with the Egyptian viceroy Mohamed Sa'id Pasha to form the Suez Canal Company (Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez).

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Feasibility study -

Plans had earlier been drawn up in 1847 by French engineer Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds (1799–1883), after he had carried out a technical survey on the feasibility of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez.

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Blueprints -

Linant de Bellefonds' pilot study was examined in detail by Austrian railroad pioneer Alois Negrelli (1799–1858). Negrelli's engineering expertise proved invaluable and after he drew up calculations and blueprints (pictured), the project was given the green light. Unfortunately, Negrelli would die of suspected food poisoning just weeks before the establishment of the Suez Canal Company, and just half a year before the works on the canal project were to officially begin.

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Construction commences -

Despite objections from the British government, who saw a canal in the region as a threat to their commercial and maritime supremacy, construction began on the shore of the future Port Said on April 25, 1859. Pictured are laborers excavating into the clay using only picks and shovels.

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Forced labor -

The Egyptian government initially supplied most of the labor. Thousands of Egyptian fellahs, or peasants, were employed on low pay and under threat of violence to dig the early sections of the canal by hand. Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any one time.

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Slow progress -

Progress was painfully slow. As well as the considerable logistical challenges posed by the project, hundreds, then thousands, succumbed to injury or disease, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.

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Banned -

Construction was further delayed after Egyptian ruler Ismail Pasha abruptly banned the use of forced peasant labor in 1863. Faced with a severe reduction in manpower, Lesseps and the Suez Canal Company were compelled to use several hundred custom-made steam- and coal-powered shovels and dredgers to dig and widen the canal.

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Technical innovation -

The Suez Canal project was always going to be a catalyst for technical innovation, and it was in Egypt that machines replaced manual labor on a grand scale.

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Dredgers and excavators -

The dredgers and excavators in operation during the construction of the canal provided the project the boost it needed. The machinery consisted of channel-dredgers, where heavy buckets scraped away sand and clay and emptied the waste material into a metal gutter to be deposited on to the bank.

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A feat of engineering -

Long-gutter dredges were used at the canal's broadest points. The gutters could be up to 60 m (196 ft) long. Once deposited on land, excavated material was spread out by teams of workers to reinforce the canal bank.

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The canal is completed -

The excavation of the Suez Canal took 10 years to complete. Of the 75 million cubic meters (approximately 247 million cubic feet) of sand eventually moved during the construction of the main canal, some three-fourths of it was handled by heavy machinery.

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Inauguration -

The Suez Canal opened under French control in November 1869. The inaugural ceremony began at Port Said on the evening of November 15 and was conducted with great pomp and ceremony. A grand banquet was hosted by Mohamed Sa'id Pasha. Guests included French Empress Eugénie and the Crown Prince of Prussia. A firework display illuminated the town. Empress Eugénie's arrival at Port Said meant that officially the first ship to navigate through the canal entrance was her imperial yacht, the L’Aigle.

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First to navigate the canal -

HMS Newport, a British navy ship, was the first to enter the Suez Canal proper and sail its waters. She had navigated the canal under cover of darkness the night before the opening ceremony. The vessel would later survey the waterway on behalf of the Admiralty. She's seen here renamed the Svyataya Anna in 1912. The S.S. Dido by the way, was the first vessel to pass through the Suez Canal from South to North.

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Muslim and Christian celebration -

The following afternoon there were blessings of the canal with both Muslim and Christian ceremonies, a temporary mosque and church having been built side by side on the canal bank.

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Procession of steam and sail -

On the morning of November 17, a fleet of ships entered the canal for an inaugural procession of steam and sail.

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Ismailia -

On November 18, the fleet made its way to Ismailia, the scene of more celebrations, including a military "march past" and more feasting. The town is located approximately halfway between Port Said to the north and Suez to the south.

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Tribute to Lesseps -

A monumental statue of Lesseps was carved by Emmanuel Frémiet and originally stood at the entrance of the Suez Canal. His outstretched hand indicated that the way was now open to the East.

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Statue -

The statue stood from November 17, 1899 to December 23, 1956. It was later moved to stand in the Port Fouad shipyard, then it was relocated in October 2020 to the Suez Canal International Museum in Ismailia.

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The cost of the canal -

Political turmoil in the region negatively impacted the construction of the canal. Egypt was ruled by Britain and France at the time, and there were several rebellions against colonial rule. The fact that machinery also had to be deployed to complete the project meant that the total costs of building the Suez Canal swelled to US$100 million, more than double the original estimate and a colossal amount of money at the time. Pictured is the English steamship SS Malabar in the canal.

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Only for steamships -

In the first few years of its operation, only steamships were able to use the canal. Sailing vessels reported difficulty navigating the narrow channel in the region's capricious winds.

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A world trade route opens -

Marine traffic was unusually light in the months following the canal's inauguration. But the waterway soon had a profound effect on world trade and played a key role in the colonization of Africa by European powers.

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Suez Canal Authority -

The grandiose headquarters of the Suez Canal Company in Port Said were built in 1893, and today house the administration offices of the Suez Canal Authority. The Authority's head office, however, is located in Ismailia.

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And what did Lesseps do next? -

Elated by his triumph in Egypt, Lesseps attempted to repeat this success with a effort to build a Panama Canal at sea level during the 1880s. Beset from the start by financial problems and a workforce devastated by epidemics of malaria and yellow fever in the area, the planned Lesseps Panama Canal was never completed. Instead, the project was bought out by the United States, and was completed in 1914.

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The Suez Canal today -

Today an average of 60 ships pass through the Suez Canal every day. Shipping tolls allow Egypt to rake in around US$5 billion annually.

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Strategic location -

Ships using this vital waterway include military vessels, which take advantage of the canal's strategic location. Pictured is the USS America aircraft carrier.

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Expansion -

The canal, however, is still hampered by its narrow width and shallow depth, which are insufficient to accommodate two-way traffic from modern tanker ships. The Suez Canal Area Development Project announced in 2014 an ambitious plan to deepen the canal and create a new 35.5-km (22 mi) lane branching off the main channel. This new lane was opened in 2016, the first phase of the US$8.5 billion project. However, the canal still experiences major issues from time to time. 

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Traffic and blockages -

A giant container vessel famously became wedged across the canal in March of 2021, blocking traffic for five days. It took 800 people to release the ship which had become grounded and reportedly caused close to US$1 billion in financial losses. Six months later, another ship became stuck and blocked the canal, although this time the issue was resolved after 15 minutes. These incidents are causing concern, as any slight delay on the canal seriously impacts world trade. 

Sources: (History Facts) (Lesseps Association) (History)

See also: The fascinating past and present of the Panama Canal

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