The History of the Suez Canal: Egypt's Gateway Between Two Seas
The Suez Canal ranks among the most important waterways ever built, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and cutting the sea journey between Europe and Asia by thousands of kilometres. Ships that once sailed around the entire African continent now pass through Egypt in a matter of hours. The canal's story stretches back far beyond its official opening in 1869, rooted in ideas that Egyptian rulers explored thousands of years earlier.
Long before modern engineering, Pharaoh Necho II ordered the first known attempt at a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea around 600 BCE. The project stalled, and it fell to the Persian ruler Darius I to finish a working waterway roughly a century later. Ptolemy II later restored and extended the route, allowing boats to travel from the Mediterranean coast through the Nile Delta and into the Red Sea.
The ancient canal changed hands and purpose many times over the following centuries. Roman engineers under Emperor Trajan reopened it after it silted up, and following the Arab conquest of Egypt, the general Amr ibn al As restored it again to move grain to Arabia. Caliph al Mansur ordered it closed in the eighth century for strategic reasons, and the waterway gradually disappeared under sand, leaving only traces for archaeologists to study.
Interest in a direct sea link between the Mediterranean and Red Sea returned during Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign in 1799. French engineers surveyed the route but concluded, incorrectly, that the Red Sea sat about ten metres higher than the Mediterranean. That miscalculation convinced planners that a canal without locks was impossible, and the idea was shelved for decades.
The modern canal owes its existence to French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who secured a concession from Egypt's ruler Said Pasha in 1854. The Suez Canal Company formed in 1858 with French and Egyptian backing, and construction began the following year. Thousands of Egyptian labourers worked under difficult conditions through forced labour arrangements before international pressure pushed the project toward paid workers and steam powered machinery.
The canal opened on 17 November 1869, marked by an elaborate ceremony attended by European royalty, including Empress Eugénie of France, and hosted by Khedive Ismail of Egypt. At 193 kilometres long, it gave ships a direct route between Europe and Asia, reshaping global shipping almost overnight and turning Egypt into a strategic crossroads for world trade.
Egypt's mounting debts forced Khedive Ismail to sell the country's canal shares to Britain in 1875, giving the British government significant influence over the waterway. Britain occupied Egypt outright in 1882, partly to protect this vital trade route, and the canal remained under heavy British influence through both World Wars, serving as a critical supply line for Allied forces.
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956, triggering the Suez Crisis and a brief military conflict involving Britain, France, and Israel. The canal closed again between 1967 and 1975 following regional conflict, then reopened as a fully Egyptian operated waterway. A major expansion completed in 2015 added a parallel channel to ease congestion, and the canal made global headlines again in 2021 when the container ship Ever Given ran aground and blocked traffic for six days.
Travellers exploring Egypt beyond Cairo can combine a Suez Canal visit with a trip to Alexandria, itself shaped by centuries of Mediterranean trade. The Suez Canal Authority building in Ismailia and viewing points along the waterway give visitors a close look at ships passing between two seas. Many guests pair this excursion with things to do in Alexandria or explore the city's own Greek and Roman heritage, and those planning the route from the capital can check how to get from Cairo to Alexandria to build a full itinerary around Egypt's maritime history.
