How did trade cross Egypt before the Suez Canal?

Was there a navigable canal across Egypt before the Suez Canal?

No ship canal connected the seas; merchants landed cargo on the Red Sea coast, carried it overland to the Nile, and moved it toward Alexandria.

A trade corridor did not require a through canal. Cargoes could be unloaded on Egypt's Red Sea coast and taken across land to the Nile. River transport then carried them toward Mediterranean ports, although the Nile's water level could complicate movement. Egypt remained a commercial entrepôt without offering ships a direct Red Sea-Mediterranean passage.