What happened to The Ancient Suez Canal?

For centuries, there used to be an ancient canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Nile. However, this canal is long gone... What happened to it?

Special thanks to the fellow edutuber @AlMuqaddimahYT for helping me with this video's research.

Sound provided by:
Jonatan Järpehag "Cleopatra"
Andreas Waldetoft "Saladin Arrives At Jerusalem"

Sources:
Ball, Egypt in the classical geographers, p.130

A. J. Butler, The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion (Oxford, 1902), p. 227.

Starthern, P. (2013) "The Venetians" p. 175

Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians

Behind this video:
Scriptwriter and video editor: Know History
Researchers: Know History, Afonso Franca Gomes
Narrator: Calum Champion
Script Editor: Byron Lewis

#Ancient_History #Medieval_History #Egypt #Suez

[sacer]

I'm guessing a galley got stuck sideways, forcing it to close?

[PoliticswithPaint]

I had no idea that there was a canal there in antiquity. Well done, short and very informative!

[decus]

The construction and maintenance costs of the canal with ancient technology must have been absolutely tremendous.

[spidercollector]

The casual and superabundant use of I:R and now Ck3 assets in this guy's videos is hilarious to me

[neutronalchemist]

What's amazing is that the ancient Suez Canal, that few know, had been in use for MUCH longer than the current one. Thus with long interruptions, it had been in use for over 1200 years (over 1400 if Darius I already completed it).

[musiclover]

You didn't point out where the ancient canals were on those maps. It just looked like one, big delta area.

[HoH]

Very enjoyable to watch, and well-edited as well!

[wythore]

Dang it, you're portuguese? You have no trace of portuguese accent but glad to see a fellow tuga channel :D

[jaystrickland]

The theory I have read was that the original river was losing flow rate due to the shifting nile which made the canal navigable only during the rainy season. Trajon's river fixed this but made it prone to silting. So once the Roman empire entered decline they no longer maintained the canal. The various Muslim empires tended to be more focused on conquest so after the initial dredging they let the canal shut down.

[hashimbokhamseen]

I believe he closed it to make his new capital Baghdad more prosperous and important in terms of trade.

[rendom]

Always a good day when ya find a hidden history gem on yt

[jimaanders]

This is a very interesting topic.
I would like see maps that show the paths of the ancient canals in some detail.

[douglasturner]

It's such a logical move to have a canal there. Stands to reason any large power in history wanting more and easier lucrative trade with the east would do whatever possible to create that waterway.

[terrynewsome]

The nile likes to silt, and a couple good clasps of the governments budget on the maintenance of such a work does not help either.

[Asamations]

Excellent video Know History! I was aware of an ancient Suez canal route but didn't know anything about it and so it was interesting watching your video. Keep up the good work and it's great to see you grow!

[CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Dang it, was there an ancient Evergreen?

[joaopedroalves]

Gotta say, I LOVE how you use paradox's maps in your videos. They are beautifully made and can sometimes be better then traditional ones. Great video, cheers!

[paulmentzer]

The biggest problem with this canal is the prevailing wind is right down the northern half of the Red Sea. The Lanteen sail is an early Dark Age invention, but even with it, sailing against the wind in the narrow Red Sea was difficult. Thus it appears any ships moving North had to use oars and given the lack of Fresh Water on both sides of the Red Sea, difficult to row.
Thus the camel route from Aden to Mecca to Jerusalem then to Alexandria was more profitable. All of these cities had access to Fresh Water thus more then usable.
Technically ships are more profitable then camels, oxen or horses, but given the narrowness and prevailing wind, shipping North on the Red Sea was very marginal.
Thus the canal was built but I suspect was never profitable and that remain the case till the steam ship and became common.

[jamesnasmith]

Strange that the courses of these canals are not depicted.

[LookHereMars]

Fantastic video my friend really enjoyed this. 👍