The ancient Egyptian (or Persians?) built a Suez canal predecessor? Incredible. Is it a tourist attraction? And imagine building it only to realize that the surface height of the sea and the Nile don't match. Oops!
Also I like that the parts of the circumnavigation tale that Herotodus thought unbelievable (sun on the "wrong" side) actually now make it more clearly true and not just another of Herotodus's exaggerations.
Egyptian rulers of the Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Persians, Greeks, (probably) Romans, and Fatimids all dug or redug (and probably used, at least briefly) a canal or canals from the Nile to the Great Bitter Lakes and Red Sea. The Ptolemaic version even apparently had a lock to prevent salt water intrusion. It went in and out of service (depending mostly, it seems, on ability to maintain it) until it was closed 767 for political reasons.
It seems to have been easier to create, as the Red Sea was closer, but hard to keep open due to silt from the Nile.
I don't think it looks like much now, as I'm unable to find any photos of it. The physical remains were unknown until discovered by Napoleon's expedition, so it's probably been quite swallowed by the desert save for archaeological traces.
The Suez canal requires constant maintenance (dredging) to avoid being swallowed up by the desert. It is not hard to imagine most evidence of a canal that stopped maintenance in 767 being lost to time.
Up until recently I did not know there was a way out from the Great Lakes into the ocean that does not involve going up North all the way through St. Lawrence. You can go through the Welland canal and shortcuts and end up going down South.
You can also go out the Chicago River and down the Mississippi. There is a path called "The Great Loop" which takes you around the entire eastern United States. (well, most people skip New England and Mississippi (the state), but you could include them if you wanted.)
Um, there are no locks on the current modern Suez canal. The difference in height between the Med and the Red is only 28 feet. The resulting current is negligible and seasonal. Oops!
Wikipedia says that Senusret III specifically stopped building the canal due to the height differences. Ptolemy II later had locks built. Though this was also a canal to the Nile not the Mediterranean and so they were concerned about the salt water mixing with the lower and Nile water. Maybe navigation wasn't a concern.
Also I like that the parts of the circumnavigation tale that Herotodus thought unbelievable (sun on the "wrong" side) actually now make it more clearly true and not just another of Herotodus's exaggerations.