The Suez Canal (the first one)

History marks as a great achievement the completion of the Suez Canal, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Ocean in 1867. The canal meant that ocean-going ships could travel from the Mediterranean to the Orient without going around Africa. However, the first Suez Canal was built in about 600 BC, by the Egyptian pharoah Nikau II. It ran from about the mid point of the modern canal straight west, and connected to the Nile River. Nikau II did not complete the canal, but 75 years later the Persian King Darius I completed the canal after conquering Egypt.

It gradually filled with silt, and was restored several times in the centuries that followed. It was wide enough for two large oared ships to pass along side each other, and was 140 km in length. The historian Herodutus recorded that 120,000 workers died in its construction. It was in use until about 800 AD, for a total life of 1400 years. We’ll see if the modern version lasts that long.