Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

120

CITIES OF EGYPT.

limits of the former Gulf of Suez where they were in
Strabo's time, at the north of Lake Timsah, and to
assign Lake Ballah to the Mediterranean system with
which it is now in connection. Between the two is the
sandy elevation of El-Gisr, rising in one place about
forty, in another about fifty feet, above the level of the
Red Sea at Suez, which is ten feet above that of the
Mediterranean. This elevation, to cut the canal through
which was an arduous labour, is not throughout a marine
deposit. The lowest part of one section reveals a tough
bed at the base above the Suez level. The rest is
wholly of sand, and might easily have been accumulated
by drifts. Thus the obstacle is not serious, but it does
not seem to have covered a recent sea-bed. If we look
at any large map, we perceive that the ancient ex-
tension of Lake Timsah could have avoided this tract,
and passed round it to the westward, where the levels
are low. The engineers of a direct canal had to face
the difficulty, and overcame it bravely.

Thus there is no reason why the Gulf of Suez should
not have extended, in historical times, so far north as to
include Lake Ballah ; yet we could not be sure of this
were it not for a curious piece of evidence. The great