9. _The Canal formed by the Nile, by which a communication in made between the two Seas._--The canal, by which a communication was made between the Red-Sea and the Mediterranean, ought to have a place here, as it was not one of the least advantages which the Nile procured to Egypt.(301) Sesostris, or, according to others, Psammetichus, first projected the design, and began this work. Necho, successor to the last prince, laid out immense sums upon it, and employed a prodigious number of men. It is said, that above six score thousand Egyptians perished in the undertaking. He gave it over, terrified by an oracle, which told him that he would thereby open a door for Barbarians (for by this name they called all foreigners) to enter Egypt. The work was continued by Darius, the first of that name; but he also desisted from it, upon his being told, that as the Red-Sea lay higher than Egypt, it would drown the whole country. But it was at last finished under the Ptolemies, who, by the help of sluices, opened or shut the canal as there was occasion. It began not far from the Delta, near the town of Bubastus. It was a hundred cubits, that is, twenty-five fathoms broad, so that two vessels might pass with ease; it had depth enough to carry the largest ships; and was about a thousand stadia, that is, above fifty leagues long. This canal was of great service to the trade of Egypt. But it is now almost filled up, and there are scarce any remains of it to be seen.
I am now to speak of Lower Egypt. Its shape, which resembles a triangle, or Delta, { ~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}, gave occasion to its bearing the latter name, which is that of one of the Greek letters. Lower Egypt forms a kind of island; it begins at a place where the Nile is divided into two large canals, through which it empties itself into the Mediterranean: the mouth on the right hand is called the Pelusian, and the other the Canopic, from two cities in their neighbourhood, Pelusium and Canopus, now called Damietta and Rosetta. Between these two large branches, there are five others of less note. This island is the best cultivated, the most fruitful, and the richest part of Egypt. Its chief cities (very anciently) were Heliopolis, Heracleopolis, Naucratis, Sais, Tanis, Canopus, Pelusium; and, in latter times, Alexandria, Nicopolis, &c. It was in the country of Tanis that the Israelites dwelt.