What happened to The Ancient Suez Canal?
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- Опубліковано 16 кві 2021
- 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
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...
A. J. Butler, The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion (Oxford, 1902), p. 227.
books.google.pt/books?id=cGdj...
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...
Starthern, P. (2013) "The Venetians" p. 175
Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians
Twitter: / knowhistoryyt
Patreon: / knowhistoryyt
Discord: discordapp.com/invite/CmyatuF
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
Imperator Rome Copyright: 2019 Paradox Interactive AB. www.paradoxplaza.com
Crusader Kings III Copyright: 2020 Paradox Interactive AB. www.paradoxplaza.com
If you haven't seen the previous video about How this ancient canal was built by Egyptians/Persians/Greeks check it out at: ua-cam.com/video/SSpHXkeVk9c/v-deo.html
This video while visually appealing and musical did not in fact answer the question posed in the title and was factually very sparse, thus I must dislike it. Still, I will watch your earlier video, hoping for something more detailed and accurate.
@@QuizmasterLaw
I gave the video thumbs up because of the subject matter, I just love history.
I'm in total agreement that the question was not answered.
Apparently something happened sometime after 170 c e and before Arab Conquest.
That's why I give these videos thumbs up. Gives me something to look into and read about.
Thumbs up, but if you read about this canal, it never connected to the Red Sea, it got close it stop at hard rock bed where they built a dock and goods travelled over land for a short distance
I'm guessing a galley got stuck sideways, forcing it to close?
History never changes lmao
@@KnowHistory well I wouldn't be super if that were the case
Nice modern reference.
also guessing the ship was called evergreen
@@OverAndOver303 more likely the viridi aeternus but same thing;)
I had no idea that there was a canal there in antiquity. Well done, short and very informative!
too short imo, like not actually answering the question of what happened to it...
Glad you liked it! I also have a video on how was it build!
@@BamBamGT1 There are not a lot of sources about it, pretty much it closed during roman times because it silted up due to neglect acording to arab authors, however when the arabs reopened it, it was closed by al-mansur, and sources on why did he close it are also non existant sadly
There wasn't.
Me neither. I thought the modern canal that the Brits dug was the only one there had ever been.
The construction and maintenance costs of the canal with ancient technology must have been absolutely tremendous.
Yes and no. It's mostly labour cost, such was cheaper in the subject works and especially in Egypt where labour was conscripted during the flood season to build everything from local infrastructure to national projects like the pyramids and the canals, from ancients times up until the British occupation in the 19th century did away with it
@@Septimus_ii Well you make a good point of course, but understand that by cost I don't just mean financial cost, but include opportunity cost as well. All that labour to maintain a rapidly silting canal could be used on myriad other projects, from creating irrigation systems, building roads, or any number of other things. So while the monetary cost may not have been so severe due to the Corvee system, it's easy to see why they were unable or unwilling to maintain the necessary levels of maintenance on the canal given all the other work that would be prevented by allocating the requisite labour. Or to put this another way, the same principle applies whether the labour was monetised or not, as instead of counting the dollars one just compares the relative value of construction projects, and so arrives at similar conclusions.
Slavery gets stuff done
@@uporabn1k It does, though once removed it also creates ghettos of impoverished and disenfranchised people who are not integrated into society, and thus costs society more than it provides in the long run, and if not removed leaves a massive chunk of the population in menial jobs irrespective of their capabilities, and so thus also costs society in the long run through inefficiency of the labour market. There's a reason that all economies in the world have moved to a capitalised system of market based distribution of labour and capital, and this isn't altruism, but pure pragmatism.
@@decus9544 that is why they were smart in those parts of the world and castrated their slaves.
The casual and superabundant use of I:R and now Ck3 assets in this guy's videos is hilarious to me
it looks good, so fair play. Too late a timeframe for I:R
The map is excellent, so why not?
@@calum5975 he uses it though the pyramids in the visuals are imperator
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).
You didn't point out where the ancient canals were on those maps. It just looked like one, big delta area.
I believe he closed it to make his new capital Baghdad more prosperous and important in terms of trade.
That would make sense, sadly all the sources I had claimed it was due to rebelions but when searching for said rebelions there was nothing available and no sources given to said claims
@@KnowHistory now that you replied to me I'd like to say keep up the good work I love the paradox visual style and the simple yet intriguing videos I subbed after watching one vid.
@@hashimbokhamseen7877 Thank you so much! I'll try my best to keep it up! :D
@@eaglegapinstituteofintensi228 From the bitter lakes to the red sea the route is the same, however, the old canal connected to the Nile from thereafter to where modern-day Cairo is, at least the roman modification made it connect to modern-day Cairo, the older one used to connect a bit more south.
there was also the fear of romans attacking the holy cities through sea.
Dang it, you're portuguese? You have no trace of portuguese accent but glad to see a fellow tuga channel :D
I am indeed! But that is because I am not the one narrating, sadly I do have a Portuguese accent ahah
@@KnowHistory there's nothing sad about having a Portuguese accent caralho! Ahaha
Don’t be sad about that, gotta love your heritage
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.
Annual floods and silting must have stopped after the Aswan Dam was built and the Nile's flow became actively managed. The Suez Canal has been repeatedly deepened and widened since the war to keep up with modern shipping: it would be more difficult to do that for a natural river.
@@faithlesshound5621 yeah, I was just pointing to the main reason at the time
But they had locks, meaning that outside of flooding most silt should’ve stopped, and would’ve been easier to dig out than digging out an entire canal
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.
Dang it, was there an ancient Evergreen?
lol imagine
maybe it was moses splitting the suez canal
The ship's name is Evergiven not Evergreen.
@@bobofthestorm yes but the ship also has evergreen written on the side
@@fabioavaro7947 I though the ship was called evergiven and run by evergreen but I guess I was wrong
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!
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!
Very enjoyable to watch, and well-edited as well!
This is a very interesting topic.
I would like see maps that show the paths of the ancient canals in some detail.
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.
Always a good day when ya find a hidden history gem on yt
Strange that the courses of these canals are not depicted.
"Too expensive" man the Ottoman's were seriously shortsighted, look at the fees Egypt gets for passage today, heck the thing was originally built by the Ptolemy's of Egypt who had nowhere near the resources of the Ottomans, what idiots.
Well if you were a Sultan with 600 wives you'd be too busy to think of the future too. :)
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.
This channel is amazing!
Congratulations to all involved and, please, keep the good work!
Thank you so much! I'm glad to read those words :D and we will!
@@KnowHistory, and I'll be watching every vídeo to check it!
So all the ridiculously overblown graphics In the end I HAVE NO IDEA of just WHERE the canal ran. I guess I can look it up on Wikipedia now.....
I had a difficult time following exactly where these ancient canals were in relation to the geography.
You'll most likely find it on the ancient Google Earth. :)
Fantastic video my friend really enjoyed this. 👍
Tisk tisk Egypt, the ancient version of my products supplier between the manufacturer and meeee!
would be nice to actually have a map showing the location :-(
UA-cam recommended your channel to me I am pleased
Wonderful video!
Glad you liked it!
Great graphics on the video, but I haven't a fecking clue what's going on.
I can till you a reason that I read it in history book that first khlafa was worried that the romans could directly attack madina by a fleet through the canal, I think there was a proposal by one the Arab commander to reopen the canal to the second khalif but it got rejected
It's impossible to understand the route(s) of the ancient canal from your video.
thank you very much
My pleasure! :D
Amazing
i'm surprised this existed. I wonder why this is not common historical knowledge
Unfortunate mags. Where was the canal?
I’m confused ,I just watched a Video of a Roman Invasion of Arabia.
It took months to get ships from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea
So if there was a water route it was pretty convoluted.
I've been looking for something like this. Pre bronze age collapse is facinating
This occurred long after the bronze age collapse
amazing video! Where can I find a template of the map you used? thank you if you answer!
Hello friend, how do you eliminate the borders of the map (Imperator rome)?
a follow up vid niiice
is that imperator rome for the map visuals and ck3 for the people
the begining of the video is imperator, the second part is ck3! i used them both for maps and people, just depends on the time frame
Cheers dude
Great content! Orgulho Lusitano! Ahah
Ora muito obrigado! :D
Places I’d go if I got a time machine.
1. Library of Alexandria
2. Canal of the pharaohs
3. Mesoamerica
Decent video.. if the city’s popped up as u spoke about them it’d be better.. if it had subtitles it’d be even better
It was a canal from the Nile Delta to the Gulf of Suez.
So a ship in the Mediterranean would sail through the Nile Delta, then through this fresh water canal then to the Red Sea.
The vm current canal is a direct channel between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
The Abbasids buried the old canal to stop supplied going to rebels in Hejaz (Western Arabia).
Did it need locks, or did they just sail upstream? Great video
they used locks, at least the greek/roman one used, since the arab was just a re-opening, i will assume it also used locks, cuz otherwise the nile delta would become very salty and the crops wield would suffer a lot
I just realized that you used ck3 as the world engine(builder)
Could you make a video about Derbent or Crimea please please
Hi. First time viewer. I found the first section seamed to start in the middle of something; don't know if this is editing or script. Also, event dates would help.
Best, Andy
Hi! This is the second part of a series on the ancient Suez canal, there's a link for the first part in the description! I hope you enjoy it :D
@@KnowHistory Thanks. My feedback is about how you structure such a follow-on vid.
Cheers.
I understand it! I will be more careful next time!
Nice video but it does not show where the original canal was. Also, the map was too small to have any reference point as to where it was located. I have seen another ancient Suez Canal doc which places where the canal was.
Would have been nice if you had of highlighted the camel on the map every time you showed the map. I watched the video and still don’t know where it is.
Do they have Google Maps in the past?
I think the caliph saw it as a threat to the trade going through Baghdad and a source of power for a potential rebellious governor
The canal we learned about from imperator
I don't understand where it was located exactly, or if we don't know?
It was no big deal to connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean because there were many rivers, ravines and irrigated canals that had already existed in the Nile Delta region that could be connected to make such an idea possible. An Egyptian dhow was only 28 feet in length in those days it was quicker to offload and use a caravan to transport goods than to rely on the river. In other words if there was a need for a Canal the ancient people of the region would have built one. If they could build pyramids surely they could have dug a series trenches.
His name was Kalij Amir al-Mu'minin
Is the 'Amir al-' where the modern English Admiral comes from, or is it just a coincidence?
You are correct, admiral does come from the arabic amir!
"The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus. These evolved from the Arabic Amīral (أمير الـ) - Amīr (أمير), “king, prince, chief, leader, nobleman, lord, a governor, commander, or person who rules over a number of people,”and al (الـ), the Arabic article answering to “the.” In Arabic, admiral is also represented as Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) or (البحر أمير), where al-Baḥr (البحر) means the sea."
@@KnowHistory cool
Very nice video. Actually the canal is older than potolmy as it was first dug in the middle kingdom but it was burried and fell to disrepair. Then fell again. It still parts of it existed untill the 1800s then got buried totally and where it was, is a street in cairo with the same name untill now😊
Muito bom o video lusitano.
Obrigado!
Given some thought
great info... please continue... ;-)
Lixamos os Venezianos e os Genovezes... LOL!!!
How about showing where the canal went and who built it first.
That's the part one, link in the description :)
That'd be good.
I thought that admiral zheng-he the discoverall explorer floated his treasure ships on the sand to reach the Med in 1435.
According to Gavin Menzies.
Well guess ol Gavin here was trippin balls when he wrote that
@@bugzyhardrada3168
I wonder how much of an exis-dense he does have.
For all we know, he could be a totally made-up name with an army of ghost writers.
& the elusive Louise Levathes ( of NatGeoCha the channel for filth stars )
Who started it all in 1995 with her ''When China ruled the seas''.
Alternative history disguised as real history always sells books.
Bekoz the public loves to challenge the establishment, any establishment, right or wrong.
Remember Erich von Daniken who popularized the ''ancient aliens'' in 1968,
& in the 70s-80s had a lot of emulators, imitators & rip-offs, (I remember only one of them, Peter Kolosimo)
& what a boon the ufo phenomenon proved to be for their theories.
Anyway, EvD himself must have been inspired by the sci-fi authors of the 50s.
The earliest I 've read was French author Jimmy Guieu's 1953 ''Nous, les Martiens'' (We the Martians)
later developed into his1967 more elaborate ''Le Retour des Dieux'' (Return of the Gods)
But there are even earlier authors.
Like Charles Fort (1930s) who wrote in one of his books :
''I think that we are someone's property.''
Why did the ancient canal use the Nile, but not the modern one?
If you used the nile, you'd have to worry about a lock system to present the Nile delta from becaming salty and ruining the crops, therefore cutting thru land makes it easier to prevent this, and allows for more boats at the same time, while using locks only allows for a couple boats at the time.
Perhaps that's why the ancient canal was closed in the first place.
Thats the canal Romans used to get their ships into the red sea for the Arabian expedition during the reign of Augustus.
Why add the "E" to BC?
So where was this canal, exactly? There is no indication of it on any of the pretty maps shown.
What is interesting is that Ancient Roman Emperor Augustus in the first Century BCE organized the Roman taxation of the commerce from the merchant ships traveling from the Red to the Mediterranean Seas. The taxes from the spices and other luxury items from India and China provided about 50 percent of the money needed to fund the operations of the Roman Empire. Without that money, the 200,000 plus members of the Roman legions would not exist and the Empire would not have continued for another 400 years.
dziękuję
why close the canal?
I heard a ship got stuck in it.
👍👍👍
As all ancient harbours they silt up.
Was unaware of an earlier Suez Canal. Surprised the Ottomans didn't try to reopen it? They probably did not have the money or the men (they could spare) to dredge the silt out. They should have let the Venetians do it and charged passage fees.
by the time the Ottomans wanted a canal the old one was so neglected and forgotten they basically would have to start from scratch at building the canal
You didn't mention the Persian era canal.
It is mentioned in the previous suez canal video: ua-cam.com/video/SSpHXkeVk9c/v-deo.html
vim pelo preto do k100 roger
You forgot to mention a canal build by the Persians.
CE or BC?
CE = AD while BC = BCE
I guess an ancient ever green got stuck there.
Read somewhere the red sea canal was quite ancient and valid up to late medieval times?
Would there be more value to being the middle man instead of being just a transit point?
Let's not mention when it was built and who built it at all.
I thought it was ck3 gameplay
Are you talking about a navigable River Nile, or a Suez Canal? Your maps seem to show the former.
This isn't the literal Suez Canal. It's fairly obvious what this 'canal' was, perhaps rewatch the video or the preceding Suez video. It was simply the ancient equivelant of the Suez Canal. This is rather obvious.
@@calum5975 Suez is a town.
@@calum5975 Clearly not "fairly obvious".
@@andrewrobinson2565 Well yes but I corrected that about 10 seconds after posting my comment, so nice try to be ridiculously pedantic. And even then "Suez" is fairly clearly referencing the canal. Pedantic.
@@calum5975 I wrote my university dissertation on the Suez Canal. Where did this ancient Canal begin and end and who dug it?
VASCO!!!
Someone crashed in it and it closed up
11th.
Mali chlapec 🧒 v knihe prvý krát som videl púšť hneď som videl vodu ovocie zelenú púšť farba sa zmenila otvoril som atlas v škole videl som obraz rozšíriť pevninu nad oceánom moja sťažnosť na Európu je stále plátna moje 👀 to videli v knihe cez knihu moja hlava to videla bez technológie
The Suez demands endless digging. Once that stopped, it filled right back up. Duh.
ck3 graphics 😃
so much taken from ck3
Holy site ck3 map looks worse than Imperator's...
That's bullshit that a video on such an interesting topic is not 40-, but just 4-minutes long.
You are great, but please don't be shy to say BC instead of BCEHBCDSRYUKKJ. When the arabs arrived in Egypt, there were 7 branches of the Nile, then they ordered burying most of them for fear of invasion from outside ...they became the two branches of now : Rossetta and Damieta.
A map showing the said canal would have been useful, no essential
Ottomans: too excpensive.
Also Ottomans. 40.000 household in palace.
It sounds like your saying the Romans conquered Egypt in the "late 3rd century BCE".
The Romans conquered Egypt in 30 BCE.
It's 'Amr ibn al As not Amir ibn al As.
If they connected the Red Sea to the Nile, it would have turned the flow brackish much of the year. You can’t irrigate with brackish water.