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° Alexandria ° Cairo ° Port Said ° Suez Canal
The map below is an unusual 1658 map of the Indian Ocean, or Erythraean Sea, as it was in antiquity. Composed by Jan Jansson after a similar 1597 map published by A. Ortelius in his Parergon. Covers from Egypt and the Nile valley eastward past Arabia and India, to Southeast Asia and Java. Cartographically, India, Arabia, and Africa roughly correspond to the conventions of the period.
At least as early as 1300 B.C. the Egyptians built a navigational canal linking the Red Sea with the Nile River, and indirectly with the Mediterranean Sea. It was used off and on for more than 2,000 years before being permanently abandoned in the eighth century A.D.
After 1500, Europeans revived the idea of an Egyptian canal as a means of eliminating the long voyage around Africa. Nothing was done, however, until the early 19th century when surveys were made.
Both the British and French built important transportation systems that would add considerably to Egypt's exposure to foreign influence. Napoleon briefly invaded Egypt from 1798-1801, the British fleet assisted the Ottomans by sinking the French fleet off the coast of Egypt. This was more a case of Britain not wanting France to establish colonies in North Africa rather than any real affection for the Ottomans.
A French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lesseps, while serving in Egypt during the 1830's, became interested in building a sea-level canal across the isthmus. In 1854 he obtained an exclusive concession for the project from the pasha (governor) of Egypt. The concession specified that the waterway be open to ships of all nations and that it be turned over to the Egyptian government 99 years after completion. Lesseps organized the Suez Canal Company and raised money by selling stock. More than half the shares were purchased by private investors in France, the rest by the pasha.
This ship canal is a major navigational route for world trade. It crosses the Isthmus of Suez and links the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea, thus eliminating the long voyage around Africa for ships traveling between East and West. In its course of slightly more than 100 miles (160 km), the Suez Canal crosses a sandy desert and passes through several natural bodies of water, including Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes. The canal has no locks, there being virtually no difference in the levels of the Mediterranean and Red seas. Throughout most of its length, the canal can handle only one-way traffic.
The English built the rail line between Alexandria and Cairo, along with a telegraph, opening up an important route between Great Britain and India. With the railway came English merchants, clergymen and teachers, middle class girls looking for husbands and the famous world travelelr Thomas J. Cook, who in 1860 organized his first tour to Egypt for thirty-two tourists.
During the mid 1800s, as war raged in the U.S. and European countries almost every European country had citizens living in Cairo. By 1872 there were 300,000 people living in Cairo; 85,000 were non-Egyptians.
These foreigners bought with them their own standards and ideas on almost everything, including the houses they lived in, their food, their entertainment and other tastes. These had a great influence on local pashas, merchants and princes, and by the mid 1800s, many Egyptians had also been abroad, and they too bought back new deas of clothing, how stores should operate, what streets should look like and what sort of houses they wished to live in.
Egypt and its cotton production became increasingly important for British trade when the American Civil War broke out from 1861-5. With the freeing of the slaves in the southern United States, supplies of cotton stopped coming across the Atlantic into the ports of Liverpool and Manchester. Egyptian cotton therefore took its place and was shipped back to the industrial factories of northern England to be transformed into clothing for re-sale to the rest of the world. As more and more land in Egypt was given over to cotton growing for export, local people were forced off the land. The sultan in Istanbul and his governors throughout the Empire were not only aware of the dominance of European trade but actively encouraged it. They were eager to follow Europe's success in the Industrial Revolution and borrowed huge loans from British and French banks to achieve this. The governor of Egypt Ismail Pasha stated in 1879:
My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe. It is therefore natural for us to abandon our former ways and to adopt a new system adapted to our social conditions.It is doubtful that the vast majority of the Egyptian people agreed with him.
Alexandria
The New York TimesNew York, New York
July 12, 1882
ONE DAY'S BOMBARDMENT
ARABI PASHA'S FORTIFICATIONS NEARLY DESTROYED
THE DEFENSES OF ALEXANDRIA RENDERED ALMOST USELESS IN LESS THAN TWELVE HOURS—THE STORY OF THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT—NO SIGNS OF SURRENDER—SLIGHT LOSS TO THE ENGLISH—THE EGYPTIAN LOSS PROBABLY LARGE.
LONDON, July H.—The first day's bombardment of the forts in the Harbor of Alexandria ended at 6:50 o'clock this afternoon, and after submitting to a continuous cannonade from the British fleet of 11 hours and 50 minutes Arubl Pasha made no signs of surrender. Admiral Seymour's total loss from the artillery fire of the forts was five British seaman killed and 27 wounded, and the effect of the firmg upon the formidable Ironclads of the fleet, except in one instance, the Inflexible is said to have been almost inappreciable. The order to cease firing was given because of the approach of nightfall, and to give the obtinate Arabi an opportunity to come to terms. The result of tho first day's action has been the total demolition of four of the forts and most of the earth-works, with probably a large loss of life, although no estimate of this can now be made, as communication with the city is entirely shut off for the present . . . The details of the bombardment which have reached London, although comparatively meagre, show conclusively that the engagement was one of the most romarkable which has taken place in modern naval warfare, and that the English iron-clads have proved able to accomplish nearly all that has ever been claimed for them.
December 17, 1892, Evening Times
Monroe, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
CLIMATE OF EGYPT.
Something about the Atmospheric Condition In the Valley of the Nile.
From a study of the climate of Egypt recently made by Dr. J. Hann, says the London Globe, it appears that for three or four days in March or April a hot, dusty wind visits Cairo and destroys the foliage of many of the trees. During summer hot winds—the Etesian winds of the ancients, to which Thales ascribed the rise of t'ue Nile—blow from the north, but, although dry, they are clean. Toward September a dampness of the air accompanies the rise of the Nile, dew falls occasionally and the heat becomes oppressive, owing to the moisture. October and November bring snow and then a morning fog or a shower of rain; but after that the weather becomes pleasant and steady, snow is unknown, frost is very rare and rain is also infrequent. The highest temperature recorded at Cairo during the seventy-one years ending 1888 was 117 degrees Fahrenheit, in August, 1881; the lowest was 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit, in February, 1880. The mean annual temperature was 70.5 degrees Fahrenheit In 1887 the rainfall was only .87 inch, and in 1888 it was 1.07 inches. Hail and thunderstorms are exceedingly rare.
October 6, 1896, Austin Daily Herald
Austin, Minnesota, U.S.A.
EGYPTIAN COTTON CROP
Vice Consul General Washington Says It
Is Exceptionally Fine.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6.—Vice Consul General Washington, writing to the department of state from Cairo, on the prospects of the cotton crop of Egypt, says that the present season's crop promises to surpass all previous years in quality. According to statistics, compiled by the finance department, there are under cultivation this year about 1,050,000 acres as compared with a little under 1,000,000 acres last year. Last year's crop amounted to about 620,000,000 pounds, so that on the basis of area alone, a crop of 55,000,000 pounds is probable this year. Some of the cotton has been packed and shipped to Alexandria, but the buyers refused to pay the prices asked.
London Daily Mail, August 11, 1899
London, England, United Kingdom
NEW NILE CLAIMANTS
ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION SOUTH OF THE SOBAT. FRENCHMEN REPORTED TO BE EMULATING MARCHAND.
(From Our Own Correspondent.) CAIRO, Aug. 10
Three thousand Abyssinians, under Ras Tessama, are occupying the country south of Nasser, whioh is situated on the left bank of the Sobat, 480 miles from Khartum. They claim the land from Nassar to the Nat Mountains and the White Nile as Abyssinian territory. It is stated that four Frenchmen are
accompanying the Abyssinians. Nasser was an Egyptian port in Gordon's time.
Cairo
During the 1800s, Mohammed Ali's grandson was ruling Egypt. Ismail had been educated in France, travelled extensively and dreamed that Cairo should rival Paris. He established a new quarter with straight streets and gave land to anyone who would build a building worth at least 30,000 francs within 18 months.
Eventually the money ran out and European bankers basically foreclosed on Egypt, capturing the country without a shot being fired. Much of the money used for buildings, roads, and the Suez Canal itself had been borrowed at lofty costs, and so Egypt fell even further under the influence, and now outright control of Europeans.
PORT SAID
Because of the building of the Canal, Port Said had years of property from fishing and from industries like chemicals, processed food, and cigarettes. Port Said is also an important harbour both for exports of Egyptian products like cotton and rice, but also a fuelling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal.
The wealth that began in the late 1800s saw development of houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinct charm.
Port Said's twin city is Port Fouad, which lies on the eastern side of the canal. The two cities coexist, to the extent that there hardly is any town centre in Port Fouad.
SUEZ CANAL
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. In 1856, the Suez Canal Company formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work. Construction began in April 1859. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt (101 miles across the Isthmus of Suez), thereby linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas and separating the Sinai from the rest of Egypt. Upon completion, the canal was 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface and fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation (today more than 50 ships per day navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods each year).
Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route
Stevan E. Sidebotham
The legendary overland silk road was not the only way to reach Asia for ancient travelers from the Mediterranean. During the Roman Empire's heyday, equally important maritime routes reached from the Egyptian Red Sea across the Indian Ocean. The ancient city of Berenike located approximately 500 miles south of today"s Suez Canal was a significant port among these conduits. In this book Steven E. Sidebotham, the archaeologist who excavated Berenike, uncovers the role the city played in the regional local and "global" economies during the eight centuries of its existence. Sidebotham analyzes many of the artifacts botanical and faunal remains and hundreds of the texts he and his team found in excavations providing a profoundly intimate glimpse of the people who lived worked and died in this emporium between the classical Mediterranean world and Asia.
