For a very long time, the project of a canal linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean had been a very common idea, except by Bonaparte, had a direct link across the Suez isthmus, been envisaged.

Early attempts were said to have been made to build a canal linking the Nile to Lake Timsah during the time of Pharaoh Sesostris I (circa 1960 BC) but no traces of such a project remain, in spite of Strabon's statement. The Pharaoh Necho II then had a new canal dug (circa 600 BC). Work was resumed by Darius 1st (510 BC), and Ptolemy II Philadelphus who gave the canal its definitive form (circa 260 BC). Abandoned and chocked with sand, Ptolemy's canal was restored during the reign of Trajan (circa 100 AD), but abandoned again. In around 640, Caliph Omar ordered the canal be reopened. At last, in 775, Caliph Al Mansur closed the canal for political and military reasons.
		The canal at the time of the pharaohs. (map from the book "Suez & Panama"  by Benoît Heimermann - Edition Arthaud) see the map

In 1799 during the expedition of Egypt, Bonaparte asked J.M. Le Père, ingénieur en chef des Ponts et Chaussés to plot the isthmus in detail. Le Père mistakenly established a difference of around 10 meters between the levels of the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

In 1846, on the initiative of their leader Prosper Enfantin, Saint-Simonians (a group of following the ideas of the philosopher-economist Claude Henri de Saint-Simon) created an engineering company to promote the project for along the Nile and linked to theRed Sea.

In 1847, Louis-Maurice Linant de Bellefonds, a brilliant French engineer working in Egypt, carried out a technical survey on the possibility to go through the isthmus.

When Lesseps arrived in Egypt in November 1854, he found all the technical basis on the place. But none of its predecessors had had the political skills or willpower wich were essential to drive the project forward.

At that time, the viceroy of Egypt was the vassal of the Sultan of Turkey. He felt it necessary - and Lesseps shared this view - to secure the approval of the Sultan before starting work.Both thouht that such approval would be obtained rapidly. But a good lot of difficulties soon arose. First there were British objections to the project and as a result, the sultan, over whom the British ambassador has significant influence, refrained from giving a positive response.

After a number of attempts and many journeys, on 5th November 1858, Lesseps established the "Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez" with a head office in Alexandria and administrative headquarters in Paris; the viceroy approved the statues of the Company and a fund was started for the construction of Canal.

On 25th April 1859, Lesseps officialy broke ground for the first time.

Digging work commences

Engineers' camp		Excavation work

But even from the beginning of work, all kinds of obstacles arose, as a result of pressure exerted by the British and the Turks. In one particularly serious crisis, in October 1859, Lesseps was forced to turn to Napoleon III who was supporting his canal project reluctantly so as not to offend the British and work continued at a somewhat slower pace.

Inspection during work on the canal

As from 1863, the campaign against Lesseps escalated, fuelled by the prime minister of the new viceroy Ismaïl, who had succeeded Saïd. At the orders of the Sultan, who was himself taking his instructions from England, forced labour (corvee) was abolished in order to bring the work came to a standstill. But Lesseps then managed to substantially defuse the dispute over labour, replacing manpower, thanks to engineers, with steam engines, dredgers, excavators and other machines. Begun with shovels, pickaxes and baskets, construction of the canal continued under the power of steam.

From 17th and 20th November 1869, the Suez Canal was inaugurated with great pomp and ceremony in the presence of Empress Eugenie and most European governments.

At that time, 44% of the Company's capital was owned by Egypt and and additionally, according to the statutes, Egypt received 15% of the profits generated by the canal, giving it a total of 59% of the profits. This meant that the company was a semi-public company even before such a term be coined. This provided a probably unprecedented partition in favour of the licensing country, a situation that continued until 1875.

At that date, 1875, the Khedive Ismaïl was in dire straits. England, who was not favorable to the canal, took the opportunity to acquire, almost secretly, the 170 000 shares the Khedive was forced to sell and so became the major shareholder of the Suez Canal Company.

In 1882, on the pretext of the revolt by Arabi Pacha, British troops landed in Alexandria and occupied strategic points in Egypt, starting with the Suez Canal. They declare that they had come to restore order, before withdrawing. As a matter of facts, the British rule governed Egypt for more than 70 years.

As national feelings began strengthen in Egypt, the canal was seen as the reason for foreign presence on Egyptian soil. By returning the canal into Egyptian ownership would mean returning to Egypt that part of the country which had been lost. But nothing could be done as long as British civil servants and Troops remained. In 1952, independent officers seized power. King Farouk abdicated and the evacuation of the canal zone began. It was completed in 1956.

On 26th July 1956, Colonel Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company. Egypt planned to use the income from operating the canal to finance the construction of the Aswan dam. In November of the same year, Franco-British troops landed in Port-Saïd and Egypt blocked the canal by sinking ships in it. The canal

will be reopened in April 1957.

Following the Six Day War in June 1967, the canal remained closed until 1975. Since then, it uninterruptely remained navigable and Suez Canal Authority has welcome ships from all over the world and has respected the strict neutrality of waterways.