FACTS ABOUT THE SUEZ CANAL

1. It is thought that Egyptian pharaoh Sensuret III had a canal built connecting the Red Sea to the Nile around 1850 B.C. Later, Persian Emperor Darius I constructed a similar east – west waterway.
2. In 1798, during his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon sent out a team of surveyors to explore the possibility of connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. They erroneously reported that the Red Sea was around 30 feet higher than the Mediterranean.  This would have required very expensive locks, so the idea was abandoned.
3. In 1854, French former diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps negotiated an agreement with the Egyptian viceroy and created the Suez Canal Company. French Emperor Napoleon III supported the construction, but the British government and public were opposed because of fear of what it would do to Britain’s domination of world trade.  Later in 1875, when the company was forced to sell shares to raise money, Great Britain bought 44% of them.
4. Construction began on April 25, 1859. At first, the digging was done by forced labor.  The Egyptian government used threats of violence to get about 30,000 workers.  They were paid low wages and worked under bad conditions.  In 1863, the use of forced labor was banned.  The company was had to switch to the use of machinery.  But this sped up the construction.  It still took ten years and the expense of $100  million was double the original estimate.
5. The canal connected Port Said on the Mediterranean to Suez on the Red Sea. It ran 102 miles.  There are no locks.  It reduced travel from London to India by about 4,500 miles and more than 20 days.
6. The canal was officially opened on Nov. 17, 1869. The night before there were fireworks and a banquet on the Egyptian Pasha’s yacht.  The day of, the canal was blessed by Muslim and Christian clerics.
7. Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi proposed a giant statue to be placed at the entrance to the canal. He was going to call it “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia”.  He was going to model it after the Colossus of Rhodes and envisioned it as also serving as a lighthouse.  There was no interest in it, but later he recycled the idea for the Statue of Liberty.

https://www.history.com/news/9-fascinating-facts-about-the-suez-canal

https://www.maritimeprofessional.com/blogs/post/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-suez-canal-15166

https://www.history.com/topics/africa/suez-canal