The Canal of the Pharaohs, also called the Ancient Suez Canal or Necho's Canal, is the forerunner of the Suez Canal, constructed in ancient times and kept in use, with intermissions, until being closed in 767 AD for strategic reasons during a rebellion. It followed a different course from its modern counterpart, by linking the Nile to the Red Sea via the Wadi Tumilat. Work began under the pharaohs. According to Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions and Herodotus, the first opening of the canal was under Persian king Darius the Great,[1][2][3][4] but later ancient authors like Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder claim that he failed to complete the work.[5] Another possibility is that it was finished in the Ptolemaic period under Ptolemy II, when engineers solved the problem of overcoming the difference in height through canal locks.[6][7][8][9]
- ^ Shahbazi, A. Shapur (15 December 1994). "DARIUS iii. Darius I the Great". Encyclopedia Iranica. New York. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Briant, Pierre (2006). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbraun. p. 384 & 479. ISBN 978-1-57506-120-7.
- ^ Lendering, Jona. "Darius' Suez Inscriptions". Livius.org. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ Munn-Rankin, J.M. (2011). "Darius I". London: Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ Schörner 2000, p. 31, 40, fn. 33
- ^ Rappoport 1904, pp. 250-253
- ^ Moore 1950, pp. 99–101
- ^ Froriep 1986, p. 46
- ^ Schörner 2000, pp. 33–35