There was an ancient city named Pelusium near the mouth of it.

This was, of course, the first Egyptian city reached by those who arrived by land from the eastward, traveling along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

On account of its thus marking the eastern frontier of the country, it became a point of great importance, and is often mentioned in the histories of ancient times.
The westernmost mouth of the Nile, on the other hand, was called the Canopic mouth.

The distance along the coast from the Canopic mouth to Pelusium was about a hundred miles.

The outline of the coast was formerly, as it still continues to be, very irregular, and the water shallow.