16th Century "Suez Canal"

I read somewhere that representatives of the Republic of Venice, after learning that the Portuguese had successfully circumnavigated Africa, approached the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and suggested the possibility of building a canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the route would have been the same as a canal used in ancient Persian & Hellenistic times running from the Nile east to the Red Sea, rather than the route of OTL Suez canal. In any event, Venice supposedly suggested the same idea again in the 1520s to the Ottoman Empire after the Ottomans conquered Mamluk Egypt.

What if the Ottomans and Venice had come to an agreement and actually built (or rebuilt) such a canal?

How long would it have taken them to do this, given 16th century technology and resources?

Probably not so long, if it goes from the Nile to the Red Sea. Don't forget that there are all those fellayin. I would expect it would take no less than 5, no more than 10 years.
Then the Indian Ocean would become quite interesting, with the Portuguese, the Ottomans and the Venetians competing around the 1550.

It won't be anything like OTL's Suez, given its route; and the red sea is a bit awkward for sailing ships. But huge effects on india.

Italian-Indian cuisine. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

The real challenge for venice would have been to develop new type of ships. The ships used in the levant trade would not have been suitable for the Indian Ocean.
Then, the obvious move would have been to seize Aden, Goa and maybe a base near Hormuz

LordKalvan said:

The real challenge for venice would have been to develop new type of ships. The ships used in the levant trade would not have been suitable for the Indian Ocean.

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Why do you say that?

Most of venetian warships were galleys, with rowers. They work pretty well in the Mediterranean, not so good in the Indian Ocean. The ships used in the levant trade were mostly coasters, with quick dashes to crete and the levant.On the other hand, venetian merchants had quite a trade with Flanders, they should be able to propose different ships, maybe buy a few in the Netherlands