It began at about a mile and a half north of Suez, and struck in a northwesterly direction, availing itself of a series of natural hollows, to a point on the eastern branch of the Nile. By-and-by it became silted up; and after having been several times restored, it was finally filled with the never-resting sands in 767 A. D.

苏伊士运河从苏伊士以北大约1.5英里的地方开始向西北方向延伸，其间利用了许许多多的天然洼地，之后到达了尼罗河东部支流的某个位置。随着时间的推移，淤泥逐渐将其堵塞，几次修复也无事于补，最终它于公元767年被永不休止的沙子彻底填满。

Upwards of ten centuries passed before any attempt was made to renew communication between the two seas. Then the idea occurred to the ingenious mind of Buonaparte; but as his engineers erroneously reported that there was a difference of level between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to the extent of thirty feet, he suffered it to drop. In 1847 a scientific commission, appointed by England, France, and Austria, ascertained that the two seas had exactly the same mean level; and in 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, an ingenious and enterprising Frenchman, obtained permission from the Viceroy of Egypt to make a canal across the isthmus. It was not, however, until 1858 that De Lesseps found himself in a position to appeal to the public for support. A company was then formed, and the canal was proceeded with; a variety of ingenious machinery being invented by the French engineers to meet the exigencies of their novel and magnificent enterprise. On the 17th of November 1869 it was formally opened for navigation, in the presence of a host of illustrious personages, representing every European State.

十几个世纪之后，人们才开始尝试重新建立两海之间的联系。后来，聪明的波拿巴想到了一个主意，可惜的是，由于他的工程师将地中海和红海之间的深度差误报了30英尺，导致计划未能成功。1847年，由英国、法国和奥地利委任的一个科学委员会明确了两海之间的平均水平面的高度完全相同。到了1854年，一个具有独创性和进取心的法国人费迪南德·德·雷赛普从埃及总督那里拿到了在地峡开凿运河的许可。然而，直到1858年，德·雷赛普才意识到自己急需获取公众的支持，于是他们成立了一家公司，运河工程才得以继续。同时，法国工程师为了满足他们实现其新奇宏伟事业的需要而发明了各种精巧的机器。1869年11月17日，该运河在众多杰出人士的见证下正式通航，成为了欧洲各国的代表。

"As we went along the Canal," says Dr. Carpenter, describing a visit to Egypt, "we passed between mounds or banks, higher than the ordinary level. These banks were composed of material which had been excavated from the Canal, and thrown up on either side. As we steamed along very slowly, I mounted the 'bridge' of the steamer, so as to be able to look over these banks; and there I saw the interminable barren waste on the Egyptian side covered with water, and on the eastern side a sandy desert extending to Palestine.

卡彭特博士在描述自己的一次埃及之行时说道：“我们沿着运河航行时穿过了一些过高的土丘和河岸，其是由运河中挖出的材料在两岸堆积而形成的。在我们缓慢航行时，为了能够俯瞰两岸的景色，我站到了“船桥”上，之后我看到了被水覆盖的埃及边儿上那无边无际的贫瘠荒地，东部则是一路延伸到巴勒斯坦的沙漠。