Located where the Suez Canal flows into the Red Sea is the city of Port Suez. Although today Port Suez is a modern city with three harbors, in the 25th century B.C.E., it was the site where the pharaohs protected their lands from marine invasions.
The Suez Canal is so narrow that large ships must travel through single file—and it has no locks, so water flows unfettered between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. When the canal opened, it eliminated the need for ships to sail around Africa to reach South Asia: It reduced the journey by 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles).