Histories

the canal is led along the foothills of these mountains in a long reach from west to east; passing then into a ravine, it bears southward out of the hill country towards the Persian Gulf [53.83,25.583] (gulf), AsiaArabian Gulf.

Now the shortest and most direct passage from the northern to the southern or +Red Sea [42,15] (sea) Red Sea is from the Casian promontory, the boundary between Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt and +Syria [38,35] (nation), Asia Syria, to the Persian Gulf [53.83,25.583] (gulf), AsiaArabian Gulf, and this is a distance of one hundred and twenty five miles, neither more nor less;

this is the most direct route, but the canal is far longer, inasmuch as it is more crooked. In Necos' reign, a hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians died digging it. Necos stopped work, stayed by a prophetic utterance that he was toiling beforehand for the barbarian. The Egyptians call all men of other languages barbarians.