Map of Suez Gulf, Egypt

The Suez governorate has three ports, namely the port of Adabiya, the port of Suez, and the port of Sokhna, where an oil refinery and petrochemical plants are connected to Cairo and then to the Mediterranean Sea through the "sumid" pipeline. 

It was nicknamed the" city of the stranger " after Sidi the stranger and was one of the Sufi flags, but today it is remembered that strangers flocked to it from Saida, Arabs, and people from other provinces. It was known for cutting off the road to Cairo in front of the Israeli army during the October War, as they failed to occupy it to resist its people under the leadership of figures such as Sheikh Hafez Salameh.

 Naming

There are different opinions about the origin of the name of the city, including that it was so named for the appearance of weevils in it. Among them, the name of the city derives from the name of the king of Egypt during the reign of the nineteenth and twenty-second dynasties, who was called “U-Sotis” or “yusfalis”, who had taken it as a base for his military operations, to secure the Sinai mines and deter the invaders.

 History

In the Pharaonic era, it was natural for Egypt, at all times, to have a city at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez. In the Pharaonic era, this city was "sikut", and its place, now, is" Tal al-maskhuta " 17 km west of the city of Ismailia. It was called "hieropolis" or "ERO" by the Greeks in the Roman and Byzantine eras. 

Geological research shows that the Gulf of Suez, in the Pharaonic era, extended up to the Crocodile Lake. Then its waters receded southward, into the bitter lakes and the two branches of the Nile, the "belozi" and the"Tansy", were passing through this area, penetrating the Isthmus of Suez. The first passes near the current "Altina" station, 25 km south of the current Port Said city. The second is at the point known as kilo 9, on the Suez Canal. They were pouring into the Mediterranean Sea, the first at the "below", the second at the mouth of "UM Faraj", both estuaries east of the city of Port Said. 

When the waters of the Gulf receded towards the south, they left behind a series of ravines and gullies, which were filled with shallow water. So "Hierapolis" became without a port on the Red Sea. It lost part of its commercial character and navigational importance, and retained only its strategic importance, as part of the fortresses, which formed the eastern wall of Egypt, stretching across the Isthmus, north of Sinai, to Gaza.

Ptolemaic era 

As a new port arose on the new head of the Gulf of Suez, called "arsenoi an" or "cleopatris", in the Ptolemaic era, Then the Gulf of Suez continued to recede towards the south, again, and the bitter lakes separated from the Gulf, so a new Red Sea port was established, which was named klizma, in Roman times, which the Arabs changed its name to Al-qalzim, and they called it, as well, the Red Sea. In the tenth century AD, a new suburb arose south of "Al-qalzim", which was named "Suez". Soon, the old "qalzim" was annexed to it, replaced it, and became the port of Egypt on the Red Sea. The modern Suez is a descendant of the Byzantine" alcazm "or" Klysma", and the" Klysma "is the heiress of the Ptolemaic" arsenoi". And arsenoy, too, is the heiress of the Pharaonic"hieropolis" or"sekot". The city of Suez is an example of the migration of cities to new locations, enabling them to perform their function, which is qualified by the geographical location that they occupy. Because it is the closest point to the Red Sea, it is easy to connect directly from it to the beating heart of Egyptian life. Suez is distinguished from the southern Red Sea ports by the fact that the road from the sea to the Nile does not penetrate rugged volcanic valleys and mountains. Also, the cities, at the " Qena "or" qaftat", are inland, striking deep into the upper level, relatively isolated from the Delta, in which Mediterranean trade flourishes. 

As for the location of the city, it is determined by the relationship of land with water, that is, the point where the water ends from the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez, and the starting point of land. When the tip of the Bay, at the entrance to the "Wadi Al-tamilat", was in the Pharaonic era, "sikut" was the gap and the commercial warehouse.

As the Bay receded towards the south, the position changed, and "arsenoy" became at the tip of the bitter lakes. As his decline increased, the position changed, he became a "klisma" or "klism". Finally, the position stabilized at the current "Suez".

The factors of geographical location, location and function have allied to link the fate of this city, which, throughout history, moved over fifty kilometers, from near Ismailia north, to present-day Suez, with the Industrial Canal, which connected the Gulf of Suez with the Nile or one of its branches, in some varying periods of the history of Egypt. 

The original city of Suez occupies a patch of land, stretching over 1700 m long, and 500 m wide, above the tongue of the sea, or peninsula, located between the sea and the shallow top of the Gulf. As for the modern extension of the city, it is between this line and the"oily", where oil refineries and a fertilizer plant are located, on a seafront, overlooking the port.

Old Suez is characterized by its narrow streets and buildings with a Mamluk character. And this city is quite distinct from the city of "kalzim", especially in the Turkish era. Suez promised a war outpost, where soldiers would be stationed, to protect the eastern entrance to Egypt. This brings to mind the importance of "sikkot" and"hieropolis", in ancient history. An industrial house (Arsenal) was also built there for the restoration and construction of ships.

The renaissance of Suez begins with the construction of the canal, the establishment of the port "Port Tewfik", the expansion of the basin to receive ships coming to the Far East, and the ship repair Basin.

Suez remained a quiet, small city until the 19th century, performing the function of a port, connecting Egypt with the Holy Land and the East in general. In 1860, its population ranged from three thousand to four thousand people. As soon as the Suez Canal was dug, the city entered a new era of its rich history, the growth of urbanization accelerated, and its population increased at a rapid rates. There is no evidence of this from tracking the population numbers in the city, from the official census, and studying the trends of its growth. Its population increased as follows: in 1882, 11,316 inhabitants. In 1937, 49,686 inhabitants. In 1960, 120,360 inhabitants.

The main reason that hindered the growth of the city of Suez was the scarcity of fresh water. The water was transported to it on the backs of camels, from the eyes of Musa, which is located at a distance of 16 km, to the southeast of Suez. The offices of foreign shipping companies and hotels in Suez, for the service of their employees and guests, relied on condensers to convert sea water into fresh water. When the Cairo-Suez railway was built, the Egyptian government took over the transportation of water from Cairo to Suez, in tanks. The government was selling water to the people.

Therefore, the excavation of the Suez sweet soil is one of the important factors that led to the development of the city and the growth of urbanization in it. In fact, the project to dig this canal was closely linked to the canal project itself, and the Suez Canal Company even considered that the digging of this canal should be prior to the digging of the canal, so that drilling operations would not get stuck, as happened in the first four years of the implementation of the canal drilling project, in the northern half of the Isthmus of Suez, between Port Said and Lake alligator (see map B).

This fresh soil was known as the "Ismailia soil". Its exit was modified to emerge directly from the Nile, at "Shoubra", seven kilometers north of Cairo. After that, it runs towards the Northeast, with the edge of the desert, up to the town of "Al-Abbas", in the "Wadi Al-tamilat", and then descends eastward, penetrating this valley up to the city of Ismailia. The other one penetrates the desert south to the city of Suez, to feed it with fresh water, and ends up in its Bay. The length of the Ismailia River, from the Nile to the Crocodile Lake, is 136 km. The length of the Port Said branch is estimated at about 90 km. 

human life in the Isthmus turned upside down, and inertia turned into a noisy life, although this life was not created by the Suez Canal, as much as by the waters of the Nile, which reached the Isthmus.

Ali Mubarak describes the importance of Ismailia patronage and its impact on the development of the city of Suez in the "compromise plans", saying: "one of the biggest reasons for the architecture of the city of Suez is the access of the Nile water to it from the Ismailia tributary, which was established during the reign of Khedive Ismail. He made its mouth from the "Bulaq" of Egypt in Cairo and its mouth in the Red Sea, at the city of Suez.  In doing so, he transformed that region into a fertile one and revived much of its territory. There we found gardens with joy, wheat, barley, alfalfa, and many kinds of vegetables were planted on the side of the tree," he said.

Port of Suez city

In 1865, the port of Ibrahim basin was built in the port of Suez, replacing the Old Port of Suez, which had long been neglected, until it became one of the most dangerous ports for ships and navigation. The Old Port of Suez was limited by the bridge, over which the railway line passes, between Suez and the port of Ibrahim Basin. The area to the East, sandwiched between this bridge and the Suez Canal, was a lowland, covered by water, at the time of the tide and receding from it, at the time of the islands. It is bisected by a small canal of little depth, from which boats and ships reach the quay of the old Suez Port, where the old pilgrims and goods station, the old Suez Customs, and the old Arsenal House are located.

Traffic in the port of Suez gradually increased in the late last century and early this century, especially during the First World War. The number of ships coming to the port has increased, and their tonnage has also increased. The port of the Ibrahim basin was unable to cope with this movement. The "Egyptian-English oil company" has established a refinery in the zeitya area, in Suez. Its ships could not enter the port of Port Ibrahim to unload their cargo, except one ship after another. Often, the submersible of these ships, reaching the basin floor, at the time of the islands, this entails serious dangers for the port itself, and for the ships located in it.

 However, it turned out that any modification of the port Ibrahim Basin would reduce the water area of the port, with little benefit to navigation. The opinion was settled on postponing the improvement of the port of Port Ibrahim, the construction of new docks, and the provision of all technical developments related to facilitating navigation in the expanding gulf, located to the north of Port Ibrahim.

It was decided to establish the New Port of Suez in the Gulf, located between the port of Port Ibrahim and the Zeitya area. Work on the New Port began in July 1918. The "railway authority" has extended railway lines from the "Arbaeen district" to the oil refinery and the state refinery, which was established later. These pipelines were used to transport oil derivatives into the country. This was replaced by a pipeline, which transports heavy derivatives to the "mostrod" refinery, which was later established, to the north of the city of Cairo.

At the present time, Suez has begun a new renaissance, with the establishment of a number of important industries, especially oil refining and derivatives industries. Thus, Suez returns to play a new role in its history. It is not only the citadel of Egypt at the top of the Gulf of Suez, nor is it a port of transit only, but it is a large gap, overseeing one of Egypt's important industries, namely the oil industries, a house of industry, a gateway to the ports of the Red Sea-or the Arabian Great Lake-and the beginning of the pilgrim's journey to the Holy Land.

Islamic era

Before the Islamic conquest, the city of Suez was inhabited by a group of people, mostly engaged in fishing and piracy. 

The first thing that Suez became famous for, in the field of economic activity, in the Islamic era, was the construction of ships. It shows that Shipbuilding was of great importance in Egypt at the dawn of Islam, especially in the Umayyad era.

 It showed the skill of Egyptian navigators in riding the sea, as well as the appreciation of the central Islamic government for this skill, and its work to exploit and benefit from it.

Also, the economic importance of the Suez region, especially in the Middle Ages, was the richness of that region with mineral wealth, such as gold and emeralds, as well as timber. Saladin was interested in these trees because of the importance of their wood in the construction of ships, at a time when the war intensified, land and sea, against the Crusaders in the Levant, and in the Mediterranean basin. In the Mamluk era, caravans regularly carried acacia wood between Suez and Cairo, which gave the Suez region a special economic importance.

The railway line

The planned time to travel this distance was seven hours. However, the locomotives often broke down in the middle of the desert, and the delay stretched for a day or some days. The Cairo-Suez line was discontinued in 1869, after the government completed the Cairo - Ismailia - Suez line. The government extended a line from Zagazig to Ismailia in 1868. Then, in the same year, it extended a line from Ismailia (Nafisha) to Suez. 

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is named after the Isthmus of Suez traversed by the canal, which begins in the Port Said area, in a coastal spot at the site, And that was on April 25, 1859. The digging of the canal in the northern half of the Isthmus, from Port Said to Crocodile Lake, was the first work of its kind in history. There has never been a canal in this area. As for the southern half, which is located between the Crocodile Lake and the city of Suez, a canal has been dug in it several times since ancient times.

Opening of the old Suez Canal

The importance of Suez increased after the opening of the Suez Canal. The Egyptian government annexed "Zillah" and "Berbera" to the possessions of Egypt in 1875, and they were from the possessions of Turkey and were subordinate to the Hodeidah Brigade in Yemen. The Firman was issued on the first of July 1875, from the Ottoman sultan to the Khedive of Egypt, ceding zilah and its annexes, in exchange for an increase in the annual tribute paid by Egypt to Turkey. The ships of the Egyptian fleet in the Red Sea have become active in a vast area, starting from SUEZ to the northern coasts of the Gulf of Aden.

Suez is a symbol of Popular Resistance

October 24 is a national holiday celebrated by Suez in memory of the popular resistance in repelling the Israeli aggression on the city in the October War of 1973.  The first martyr of the Egyptian Revolution fell in the Arbaeen neighborhood in Suez and some consider that if it were not for the clashes in the Arbaeen neighborhood in Suez, the revolution would not have continued.

Neighborhoods

Suez district: an urban neighborhood, where most government agencies and interests are located.
Arbaeen district: predominantly popular.
Ataka neighborhood: it includes most of the residential areas, factories, and companies, and this neighborhood was separated into two (Faisal neighborhood, Sabah, and Ataka neighborhood).
Faisal district contains residential areas up to Cairo Road, and Ataka district includes residential areas from after the road as well as the literary, Sokhna, and Zaafarana industrial areas, including tourist areas.
Al-Janayen district: predominantly rural.

Sports

From a Sports point of view, Suez City has teams participating in the Egyptian Premier League, including Petrojet club, and there are teams not participating in the Premier League (A) but participating in the Premier League (B), which is the team of the Suez national team.