What if Suez was a Strait?

[GurenGaaze]

What if the Suez was a strait instead of a canal that was built 18-something. What would turn differently?
I imigine that Egypt would not have that many crops and be as wealthy as they were historicaly, because of the stronger sea. I don't really know much else, not an expert on this either. But I think it's an interesting question

 

[Sarmatia1871]

Human migration out of Africa either works out slightly differently (if it's a relatively thin, shallow strait that early Hominins can attempt to cross) or very very differently (if it's a deep, wide or turbulent strait that can't be crossed until rafting technologies are developed). The latter option would also mean that amimals living in Africa would be quite a bit different to those in Eurasia.

So everything in the rest of human history will be different from what historically happened.

 

[bz249]

Human migration out of Africa either works out slightly differently (if it's a relatively thin, shallow strait that early Hominins can attempt to cross) or very very differently (if it's a deep, wide or turbulent strait that can't be crossed until rafting technologies are developed). The latter option would also mean that amimals living in Africa would be quite a bit different to those in Eurasia.

So everything in the rest of human history will be different from what historically happened.

If it is a shallow strait it can be easily dry during the Ice Ages, so it could have functioned like the Bering-straits.

 

[Yakman]

Human migration out of Africa either works out slightly differently (if it's a relatively thin, shallow strait that early Hominins can attempt to cross) or very very differently (if it's a deep, wide or turbulent strait that can't be crossed until rafting technologies are developed). The latter option would also mean that amimals living in Africa would be quite a bit different to those in Eurasia.

So everything in the rest of human history will be different from what historically happened.

Humans were crossing into Asia from Djibouti/Somalia into Yemen as well. The whole of the Red Sea was significantly lower at the time.

 

[Wixelt]

The whole of the Red Sea was significantly lower at the time.

All of the connected seas were lower at the time.

 

[GurenGaaze]

Human migration out of Africa either works out slightly differently (if it's a relatively thin, shallow strait that early Hominins can attempt to cross) or very very differently (if it's a deep, wide or turbulent strait that can't be crossed until rafting technologies are developed). The latter option would also mean that amimals living in Africa would be quite a bit different to those in Eurasia.

So everything in the rest of human history will be different from what historically happened.

I didn't really think far enough for it to affect the whole course of history, but it makes alot of sense since we all came from Africa to begin with. When I asked I only thought about how the land itself might be, and how the medieval and classical era might have turned out differently - Again, didn't really think about the whole course of history with even animals leaving africa. So my genius thinking about small (big) changes to Egypt as a country and the interests of Rome and everyone else around it was way were really not that thought out, Huh.

 

[Trice]

That's changing a whole course of geo-politics

 

[viola]

Suez not being a natural strait didn't stop the ancients from just building their own smaller canal to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_of_the_Pharaohs

 

[Sarmatia1871]

Humans were crossing into Asia from Djibouti/Somalia into Yemen as well. The whole of the Red Sea was significantly lower at the time.

Yes, but sea levels in the Red Sea are likely to have been lower and currents quite gentle precisely because its blocked off by an isthmus at one end - not to mention that to maintain a strait in the region, you would need quite different underlying geology to what currently exists.

If there is a natural water-link between the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean running through Suez and the Red Sea, then currents between these two big and distinct bodies of water are likely to be pretty strong and difficult to navigate, like the Strait at Gibraltar (which hasn't been linked since the Miocene - i.e. ages ago). So it most likely won't be an easily crossable strait, and could be a very significant barrier.

There's limited suggestions that some late Hominins might have crossed the strait of Gibraltar, but it's still a bit sketchy and the main posited route for Hominin movement from Africa into Eurasia is still over-land via the Middle East (and starting to occur much much earlier than the period of low-sea levels that you see in the Pleistocene). If the latter is significantly blocked off, then we are dealing with very different human evolutionary history.

 

[steven1mac]

Imagine the implications with trade from the far east. Most likely the silk road trade route as we know it would be significantly different and most of the trade cities would be greatly diminished.

 

[AegonVLLI]

These kinds of early chanhes are quite unpredictable. Even if it is a shallow strait, who's to say that it does not radically alter the evolution of all sorts of animals and plants?
Even a small thing like delaying the crossing by a few thousand years could have a huge impact.
Just imagine humans are late to the Bering street and can't cross it. Suddenly, there are either no or at least totally different humans in America.
But you can't take this idea and turn it into a prediction like "The scandinavians under Leif Erikson would have conquered it" because who's to say those even exist?

 

[HuzzButt]

I suppose that the biggest difference would be that ancient colonization would extend to the horn of Africa and complete deforestation of Lebanon.