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The first century BC Greek geographer, Strabo, and the first century BC Greek historian, Diodorus, both mention that an ancient canal was completed during the Ptolemaic Dynasty that connected the Red Sea to a branch of the Nile River. Strabo wrote that it was completed by “Ptolemaic Kings,” <ref> Strabo. <i> Geography.</i> Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001), XVII, 1, 25 </ref> while Diodorus specifically stated that it was completed by the “second Ptolemy.” <ref> Diodorus Siculus. <i> The Library of History.</i> Translated by C.H. Oldfather. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004), II, 13 </ref> Connecting the Red Sea region to the Nile Valley appeared to have been one of Ptolemy II’s major initiatives. Besides completing the Red Sea Canal, he also built a road from the Red Sea port of Berenice to the city of Coptos on the Nile River. Strabo wrote:
<blockquote>“Thence one crosses an isthmus, which extends to the Red Sea, near a city Berenice. The city has no harbor, but on account of the favorable lay of the isthmus has convenient landing-places. It is said that Philadelphus was the first person, by means of an army, to cut this road, which is without water, and to build stations, as though for the travels of merchants on camels, and that he did this because the Red Sea was hard to navigate, particularly for those who set sail from its innermost recess. So the utility of his plan was shown by experience to be great, and now all the Indian merchandise, as well as the Arabian and such of the Aethiopian as is brought down by the Arabian Gulf, is carried to Coptos, which is the emporium for such cargoes.” <ref> Strabo, XVII, I, 45</ref> </blockquote>
====Ptolemy II and the Economy====