Ismailia Canal
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The Ismailia Canal or Freshwater Canal, constructed in 1858-63 to supply the villages on the Suez Canal with drinking water and enlarged in 1876, is to a large extent a modern replacement of an ancient canal dating from the Middle Kingdom which ran east from the Nile, watered the Biblical land of Goshen with its various branches and flowed into the Bitter Lakes, making them sweet (as Strabo tells us) and connecting them with the Red Sea.
The Biblical Land of Goshen lay to the south of the Ismailia Canal, roughly in the triangular area between El-Zagazig, Bilbeis and Abu Hammad. It is first mentioned in Genesis 45: 10, when Pharaoh says to Joseph: "And thou shalt dwell in the Land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast." There are further references to Goshen in Genesis 46: 28-29 and 47: 1, 6 and 27; and Exodus 1: 11 names the cities in which the Israelites were compelled to work for Pharaoh: "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." The Land of Goshen was part of the old Egyptian province of Arabia. Its capital, Persopt (Greek Pharcusa) was discovered by the Swiss archeologist E. Naville at Saft el-Hina, near Suwa. The remains have now completely disappeared, but a few ancient stones may be seen built into the walls of modern houses.
The Biblical Land of Goshen lay to the south of the Ismailia Canal, roughly in the triangular area between El-Zagazig, Bilbeis and Abu Hammad. It is first mentioned in Genesis 45: 10, when Pharaoh says to Joseph: "And thou shalt dwell in the Land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast." There are further references to Goshen in Genesis 46: 28-29 and 47: 1, 6 and 27; and Exodus 1: 11 names the cities in which the Israelites were compelled to work for Pharaoh: "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." The Land of Goshen was part of the old Egyptian province of Arabia. Its capital, Persopt (Greek Pharcusa) was discovered by the Swiss archeologist E. Naville at Saft el-Hina, near Suwa. The remains have now completely disappeared, but a few ancient stones may be seen built into the walls of modern houses.
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