By the 8th century, we are told, a navigable canal existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea, but accounts vary as to who ordered its construction—either Trajan or 'Amr ibn al-'As, or Omar the Great. This canal reportedly linked to the River Nile at Old Cairo and ended near modern Suez.

The Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur is said to have ordered this canal closed so as to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors.

History of Suez Canal
Alternatives
Old Cairo to the Red Sea
Receding Red Sea and the dwindling Nile