Editing Egypt (section)

== Trade == 

Since at least 1000 BC and lasting up until the modern era, Egypt enjoyed a position as the crossroads of the known, inhabited world.  The Isthmus of Suez is a 125 mile strip of low lands dividing the Mediterranean and Red Seas.  With only a couple days wagon travel, goods from India and beyond could be loaded onto ships bound for Europe.  Civilizations as early as the Romans recognized the potential for a free flowing canal between the two bodies, and there is some evidence that canals or portage-ways were attempted, although it wasn't until the industrial era that the modern Suez canal would be constructed.

Even in the era of steamship travel, Egypt remained a nexus of trade and travel.  In the Victorian era it was said that there were two places a world traveler need only wait long enough and eventually everyone will come to them: London and Cairo.  However, with the advent of air travel, the canal's significance dwindled to freight.