Atlantean Trilogy Archive
A camel caravan crosses golden savannah with elephants toward a river kingdom of pyramids and obelisks, jungle hills beyond.Gondwana, painted for this archive

Great Canal of Kha-Em

Place, Landmark

A canal nearly ten miles long linking Acheron on the Mediterranean with the south, planned by Pharaoh Kha-Em-Heru and finished three generations later, wide enough for the largest ships. Fortresses line it, slaves and Zin captives maintain it, and every foreign ship pays tolls and tariffs at the Bondmaster's Offices.

Also called Canal of Kha-Em, Kha-Em Canal

From the book

The Great Canal of Kha-Em bears the name of the Pharaoh Kha-Em-Heru, who proposed it and began the work; it took almost three generations more to finish and stands as a marvel of engineering and of Qaddani persistence. Nearly ten miles long, it can take the biggest merchant and naval ships. It is closely guarded, especially at the northern end, with small forts on both banks. Slaves bought from Sheba and captured Zin tribesmen still labor on it, as slaves and prisoners did during its building, under Qaddani troops and engineers who keep strict order. Foreign ships must clear the Bondmaster's Offices and pay their dues before entering.

At a glance

Region
Qaddan
Length
nearly ten miles
Map key
4 (City of Acheron)
Tax
1-4% of the cargo's total value, set by the type and quantity of goods; levied by the Qaddan government on every ship using the canal
Toll
A flat fee for passage, from one silver piece (small foreign vessels) up to 500 G.P. (merchant ships)
Exemption
Qaddani fishermen and small-craft sailors pass free