_derekh_, which means literally _a trodden path_, made by the feet of
men and animals. It well describes a majority of the roads of
Palestine to-day. It suggests to the experienced Palestinian traveller
in most cases a narrow path, so thickly strewn with rocks that it is
to him a never-ceasing wonder that his horse or mule is able, without
mishap, hour after hour to pick its way over these rough piles of
stone. Sometimes the path runs over a steep mountain hillside, where
the animal is obliged to lift itself and rider by sheer strength up
rocky steps a foot and a half to two feet in height or to hold itself
with marvellous skill on the sloping side of a slippery rock. Often
the horse flounders blindly among scattered boulders while it braces
itself against the rush of a mountain stream. At times the traveller
must balance himself on his horse as it struggles and often swims
through fords whose waters reach almost to the top of its back.
=Evidence that the Hebrews Built Roads.= There are indications,
however, that road construction was not entirely unknown to the
ancient Hebrews. _M[)e]sill[=a]h_, another common Hebrew term for
road, means literally _that which is heaped up_, that is, _a raised
way_. The common translation, _highway_, is exact. In Judges 20:31, 32
there are references to highways which ran to Bethel and to Gibeah. In
I Samuel 6:12 is an incidental reference to the road which ran from
the Philistine city of Ekron up through the Valley of Sorek toward
Jerusalem. Along this road the ark was sent, drawn on a cart by two
cows. The ancient narrative alludes, however, to the roughness of the
road. From I Kings 12:18 it is clear that in the days of the united
kingdom a highway for chariots ran from Shechem to Jerusalem. The
allusions in II Kings 7 also indicate that in the later days of the
northern kingdom there was a road from Damascus to Samaria, over which
the chariots of the Arameans passed. As early as the reign of David
royal chariots became common in Israel (_e. g._, I Kings 1:5). This
fact does not prove the existence of great highways like those built
by the Romans, for the ancient charioteers were able to drive over
roads which would seem to a westerner utterly impassable; but it does
imply the rude beginnings of road construction, probably under royal
supervision. Apparently the Israelites inherited from the more highly
civilized Canaanites a few well-worn highways and a certain knowledge
of the art of road-making.
=The Four Roads from Egypt.= Four great roads led eastward from the
land of Egypt. The northernmost, which was called "the way of the
land of the Philistines" (Ex. 13:17), issued from the northern end of
the Nile delta and passed north of the marshy Lake Menzaleh. Thence it
ran along within a few miles of the coast of the Mediterranean,
through Raphia to Gaza. There it met the great coast road to the north
and the local roads running through the heart of Palestine. The second
road was called "the way to Shur" (Gen. 16:17, I Sam. 15:7). It seems
to have first passed through the present Wady Tumilat, thence turning
northward to the southern end of Lake Menzaleh, to have run past the
Egyptian fortress of Taru, now Tell Abu Sefeh. Taru may be identical
with the word Shur, which appears in the Hebrew name of this highway.
From this point the road struck almost directly across the undulating
desert to Beersheba and thence along the Wady es-Seba and the Wady
el-Kulil to Hebron. The third highway led from the eastern end of the
Wady Tumilat almost due east until it crossed the Brook of Egypt. Then
one branch turned northeast past the ancient Rehoboth, to join the
second road at Beersheba. The other branch went on eastward across the
Arabah to Petra and thence across the Arabian Desert to Babylonia. The
fourth road from Egypt also started from the Wady Tumilat, thence past
the Bitter Lakes directly across the northern end of the Sinaitic
peninsula to the ancient Elath, at the end of the northeastern arm of
the Red Sea.
=Trails into Palestine from the South.= Five roads led up into
Palestine from the south. One, "the way of the Red Sea" (_Yam Suph_,
Nu. 14:25, 21:4, Dt. 1:40), starting from Elath, ran northwest, until
at Aboda it joined the third highway from Egypt, which ran northeast
to Beersheba and Hebron. A second more arduous and less used trail ran
directly north from Elath through the Arabah to the southwestern end
of the Dead Sea. Thence the traveller might proceed to Jerusalem by a
western détour through El-Fôkâ and Hebron, or else keep along the
shore of the Dead Sea and then turn inland at Engedi. A third trail
led from Elath along the desert to the old Edomite and later Nabatean
capital of Petra. With camels and a sufficient supply of water it was
possible thence to cross the Arabah and the heart of the South Country
in a northwesterly direction to Beersheba.
=Highway Through Moab.= The fourth road ran directly north from Petra
across deep gorges and over rocky roads through Shôbek, et-Tufileh,
Kerak and northward, following a straight course about eighteen miles
to the east of the Dead Sea. This was the main highway through the
heart of Moab. Farther north it ran past the famous Moabite towns of
Dibon and Medeba. At Heshban, opposite the northern end of the Dead
Sea, a branch turned westward to the lower ford of the Jordan, while
the main road ran north along the eastern side of the Jordan until it
joined the Damascus road south of the Sea of Galilee. At Heshban
another important branch turned to the northeast and, passing through
Rabbath-Ammon, joined the desert road to Damascus. In later times the
Romans, to protect their east-Jordan border cities, built a
magnificent road from Rabbath-Ammon to Petra, following the ancient
highway through the heart of Moab. Mile-stones, great rock-cuttings,
ruins of stone bridges, and miles of stone pavement still remain to
bear testimony to Rome's strength in the distant provinces even during
the period of the empire's decline.
=The Great Desert Highway.= The chief highway from the south to the
north was the present pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca, along which
now runs the modern Turkish railway. This road was the main connecting
link between Arabia and the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Making
a wide détour westward to touch the port of Elath, it then turned to
the northeast of Petra and ran along the desert highland between
thirty and forty miles to the east of the Jordan and Dead Sea valley.
It crossed the dry, open desert, strewn at many points with débris of
black basaltic rocks. Like most desert roads it sprawled out over the
hot plains, unconfined by fields or mountain passes. The stations were
simply stopping-places for travellers and traders, for it everywhere
avoided the cultivated land, except where its western branch passed
through the heart of the Hauran on its way to Damascus. Here it ran
close to the important cities of Edrei, the famous fortress on the
upper Yarmuk, and Ashteroth-Karnaim. A little northeast of
Rabbath-Ammon one branch, deflected to the northeast, and passing
through the desert town of Bozrah, and thence skirting the eastern
side of the lava tract of El-Lejah, reached Damascus. From Edrei and
Bozrah a caravan route ran southeast to the ancient Duma, the present
Dumat el-Jandal, and on to the oasis of Tema.
=Character of the Southern Approaches to Palestine.= It is significant
that the chief entrances to the west-Jordan land from the south are
not through the South Country but by the way of Moab. The roads which
lead directly into Judah are deflected by the grim, barren ranges of
the South Country either to Beersheba on the southwest or to the
Arabah on the southeast. The roads themselves lie through a rough,
wild, dry, Bedouin-invested country, over which it is impossible for
large tribes or armies to advance. Of the two east-Jordan highways,
that through the heart of Moab passes over steep mountains and down
into deep wadies, and in ancient times led through a thickly populated
and well-guarded region. The great and easy highway is along the
borders of the desert, and it was probably by this way that most of
the invaders from the south found their way to the west-Jordan land.
=The Coast Road.= In western Palestine four main highways, connected
by cross-roads, led from the south to northern Syria and eastward to
Assyria and Babylonia. The first was the direct coast road which
connected Egypt with Phœnicia and Asia Minor. Throughout its course it
kept close to the sea. Only in Philistia was it driven inland by the
drifting sands. Along an artificially constructed causeway it rounded
the end of Mount Carmel and proceeded northward along the Plain of
Acre over the difficult cliffs of the Ladder of Tyre to the plains of
Phœnicia. Thence it ran along the open way past Beirut, until it
reached the difficult pass of the Dog River. There the bas-reliefs and
inscriptions on the rocks indicate not only that from the days of
Ramses II the great conquerors of antiquity had passed along this
highway of the nations, but also that many of them shared in the task
of cutting the road across these difficult cliffs.
=The "Way of the Sea."= The second great northern highway, the famous
Via Maris of the Romans, branching from the coast road either at
Ashdod or Joppa, ran on the eastern side of the Plain of Sharon, close
to the foothills of Samaria. Near where it was joined by the important
road which came down through the Barley Vale from Shechem and Samaria,
this great highway divided into three branches. One ran to the north
along the eastern and northern side of Mount Carmel and joined the
coast road. Another, apparently the main branch, turned to the
northeast, passed through the Wady Arah, and emerged upon the Plain of
Esdraelon beside the famous old fortress of Megiddo. From here it ran
directly across the plain, past Mount Tabor through Lubieh and down
the steep decline from the plateau to the northwestern end of the Sea
of Galilee. Owing to the soft, loamy character of the Plain of
Esdraelon, this was often impassable in the winter and spring.
Caravans and armies would then take the third branch from the Plain of
Sharon, which at first ran almost due east over the Plain of Dothan
and past the old Canaanite city of Ibleam. Thence it crossed the Plain
of Esdraelon at Jezreel and joined the direct road that ran past Mount
Tabor to the Sea of Galilee. From the northwestern end of the Sea of
Galilee this much traveled Way of the Sea ascended the heights to the
north and crossed the Jordan a little below Lake Huleh at the ford now
spanned by the old stone bridge known as the "Bridge of the Daughters
of Jacob." From the Jordan the road followed an almost straight line
northwest, past El-Kuneitra in eastern Jaulan, across the desert to
Damascus.
=Its Commercial and Strategic Importance.= From the point where it
crossed the Jordan a branch of this main highway went westward through
the valley between upper and lower Galilee, to ancient Accho, the
chief seaport of Damascus. Thus across Galilee, with its open roads,
poured the commerce of Damascus and the desert world of which it was
the outlet. From Damascus to Egypt this second great highway of Syria
ran almost entirely over broad deserts or open plains. It was the main
road through the heart of northern Israel, along which passed not only
the merchants, but also the conquering armies of Babylonia and
Assyria.
=The Central Road and Its Cross-Roads in the South.= The third great
northern highway was connected with Egypt and the south by the way of
Beersheba. It followed close to the watershed of central Judah, along
the line of the present carriage-road from Hebron to Jerusalem. It ran
past Bethzur and Beth-zecharias, famous in Maccabean warfare. From
Bethzur an important highway deflected to the northwest, following the
Wady es-Sur and the eastern side of the Shephelah, or Lowlands, as far
as the Valley of Ajalon on the borders of the Philistine Plain. From
Jerusalem several roads ran through the valleys to the west and
northwest, connecting with the highways on the Plain of Sharon. Of
these the chief went northwest past Gibeon, down the deep descent of
the upper and lower Beth-horons to Joppa. Another ran still farther to
the northwest to Gophna, to join the second great highway at
Antipatris.
=In the North.= The main highway continued directly north from
Jerusalem to Shechem. Then turning a little to the northwest it passed
through the city of Samaria over the open plains to Ibleam, where it
joined the eastern branch of the famous Way of the Sea, which led past
the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee to Damascus. Opposite Mount
Gerizim a branch of the central road turned northeast and ran through
Thebez, Bethshean, and the western side of the Sea of Galilee. An
extension of the central highway ran north over central Galilee
through the valley of Merj Ayun to the great valley between the
Lebanons and Anti-Lebanons. Thence this central highway continued
through Riblah and Hamath, crossing the upper Euphrates at Carchemish.
Turning eastward at this point it ran through northern Mesopotamia
past Harran and across the level plains between the Tigris and the
Euphrates to Nineveh and Babylon. It was along this broad highway that
the Assyrian and Babylonian conquerors repeatedly advanced against
Palestine and later carried away Hebrew captives from both northern
and southern Israel.
=The Road Along the Jordan.= The fourth main highway to the north,
starting from Jerusalem, passed northeast through the barren,
picturesque wilderness of Judea to Jericho. Thence it followed the
western side of the Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee to Khan
Minyeh, where it joined the other great roads which led to northern
Syria and Damascus. From this fourth highway many cross-roads led
eastward and westward. From Jericho a western road ran up the Wady
Suweinit to Michmash and thence across southwestern Samaria. Farther
north, three others led up from the Plain of the Jordan to Shechem and
thence by the Barley Vale to the Plain of Sharon. At Bethshean the
road to the north was crossed by another highway, which ran from
Gilead westward across the Plain of Jezreel. Thence a highway crossed
the northwestern side of the Plain of Esdraelon, reaching the great
coast road at Haifa and Accho. Also from the southwestern end of the
Sea of Galilee another important road ran northwest past the Plain of
Asochis to Accho. From the upper Jordan valley a highway led northeast
past ancient Dan and Banias along the eastern spurs of Mount Hermon to
Damascus.
=Roads Eastward from Damascus.= From Damascus a great caravan route
struck off due east across the northern end of the Arabian Desert,
reaching the Euphrates in the vicinity of Sippar. Thence it turned
southward to Babylon and the cities of lower Babylonia. Another route,
popular in later times and probably also in use during the
Assyrio-Babylonian period, made a larger circle to the north, touching
at Palmyra and other desert stations. Palestine, and especially the
central plain of Esdraelon, was therefore the focus of the great
highways which connected all points in the ancient world.
=The Highway from Antioch to Ephesus.= The main highway which skirted
the coast of the eastern Mediterranean crossed the Amanus Mountains
through the Syrian Gates a little north of Antioch. At this point one
branch ran northward to connect with the great trade routes which came
from Babylonia and the East. The main road to the west, however, after
touching at Alexandria (the present Alexandretta) rounded the eastern
end of the Mediterranean, where it was joined by one of the great
trade routes which came from the Euphrates Valley. After passing
through Tarsus, it abruptly turned almost due north, crossing the
Taurus Mountains by the Cilician Pass, and then with much twisting and
winding went westward, following in general the dividing line between
the central plateau of Asia Minor and the rugged southern mountains.
At Kybistra it forked, the northern branch crossing the plateau
directly to Laodicea. The southern and more commonly used branch made
a long détour through the important cities of Derbe and Iconium. At
Julia to the northwest the great western highway again parted. One
main branch ran in a southwesterly direction through Apameia, Colossæ,
and thence by the broad and fertile valley of the River Mæander to
Ephesus, the commercial and later the political capital of Asia Minor.
Another straighter but less used highway followed the valley of the
Cayster to Ephesus.
[Illustration: THE Main Highways OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE Scenes of
Paul's Work
L.L. POATES ENGR'G CO., N.Y.]
=The Road from Asia Minor to Rome.= The other great branch of the main
highway from Julia westward was the old overland route to Rome. It ran
first due east. Two important branches came down from Dorylaion in the
north, connecting it with Nicæa and Constantinople. The old overland
route continued eastward through Philadelphia and Sardis. From Sardis
a branch ran straight to Smyrna, the commercial rival of Ephesus. The
main road, however, turned to the northwest from Sardis, passing
through Thyatira, Pergamus, the earlier capital of Asia Minor, to
Troas, from whence the traveller could take ship directly to Neopolis
and Philippi. A highway, however, passed northward across the
Hellespont and thence through southern Thrace to Philippi. From
this point the great Via Egnatia led due west through Thessalonica and
Pella to Aulonia and Dyrrachium. From these Adriatic ports a short sea
voyage brought the traveller to Brundisium, whence a well-worn highway
led directly across southern Italy to Rome. This long and arduous road
through southern Europe and central Asia Minor was the main
thoroughfare for travel, trade, and official communication between
Rome and her eastern provinces.
=From Ephesus to Rome.= Travellers who preferred a shorter land and a
longer water journey took ship from Ephesus to Corinth. Thence they
were transferred across the isthmus to a ship which skirted the shores
of Epirus and landed them at Brundisium. If they preferred a still
longer water journey, they could take ship at Ephesus around the
southern end of Greece, either to Brundisium or else through the
straits of Messina; thence to Puteoli, or to Ostia, the port of Rome
itself.
=From Syria to Rome by Sea.= Travellers or merchants making the
journey from Palestine wholly by water had before them the choice of
two ways. The most common course was to take ship at some one of the
ports of Syria: Cæsarea, Accho, Tyre, or Sidon. Thence they skirted
the shores of Syria and Asia Minor to Rhodes, seeking a harbor each
night or whenever the weather was unfavorable. From Rhodes the
ordinary course was to the eastern end of Crete and thence along its
southern shores, where favorable harbors could be found. From the
western end of Crete the ancient mariners skirted the southern shores
of Greece, and then, with the aid of the northern winds, which came
down through the Adriatic, made their way to the eastern shores of
Sicily and thence through the straits of Messina. From here they
sailed to Puteoli or else to the mouth of the Tiber.
=From Alexandria to Rome.= The second method of reaching Rome from
Syria by sea was by way of Alexandria, which could be reached either
by local ship or by the coast road. From this great seaport of Egypt,
during the Roman period, fleets of large grain vessels made frequent
trips, bearing Egyptian grain to the capital city. According to the
Latin writer, Vegetius (IV, 39, V, 9) the open season for navigation
on the Mediterranean extended from March tenth to November tenth,
although the favorable season was limited to the four short months
between May twenty-sixth and September fourteenth. From about the
twentieth of July to the end of August the famous Etesian winds
ordinarily blew steadily from the west. These winds made it possible
for the fleets of east-bound merchantmen to make the trip from Rome to
Alexandria in what seemed to the ancients the marvellously short
period of from twenty to twenty-five days. The west-bound trip,
however, was much more difficult. Owing to the prevailing west winds
the mariners were obliged to cross the Mediterranean to some point on
the southern shores of Asia Minor and thence to run westward from port
to port along the usual route on the southern side of Crete and
Greece.[2]
[2] Cf. _Roads and Travel in the New Testament_, by Ramsay, in Extra
Vol., Hastings's _Dictionary of the Bible_, pp. 375-403.
=Significance of the Great Highways.= Over these great highways across
and around the eastern Mediterranean the civilization of the ancient
world spread to the ends of the earth. These were the paths which the
Jewish exiles followed in their western exodus. By the beginning of
the Christian era Jewish colonies and groups of converts to Judaism
were to be found in all the cities touched by these great arteries of
commerce. Along these highways passed the armies and culture of the
West to the conquest of the East, and the ideas and religions of the
East to the conquest of the West. They were thus the natural bonds
that bound together the human race in one common brotherhood.
_PART II_
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
X
EARLY PALESTINE
=The Aim and Value of Historical Geography.= Historical geography
deals primarily with the background of history rather than with the
detailed historical facts themselves. It aims to go back of events and
movements and to study underlying forces and causes. Primitive peoples
are more subject to the influences of physical environment than the
more civilized races. Modern peoples are able with the aid of art and
science to rise superior in many ways to natural conditions and
limitations. A knowledge, therefore, of the physical forces at work in
early Palestinian history is of especial value in reconstructing this
important but little known chapter in the life of the race.
=Sources of Information Regarding Early Palestine.= The discoveries of
the past quarter century have revealed in a remarkable way the
outlines, at least, of the early history of the states along the
eastern Mediterranean. The meagre biblical references have been
supplemented by the contemporary testimony of the Babylonian and
Egyptian monuments. For this early period the Babylonian data are
still incomplete, being limited to the statements of certain early
conquerors, such as Lugalzaggisi and Sargon I, that they made
expeditions to the West Country. Beginning, however, with about 1600
B.C., the Egyptian records furnish rich and in many cases detailed
pictures of conditions in Syria and Palestine. Thotmose III, who
reigned between 1479 and 1447 B.C., has given a vivid account of his
many campaigns and conquests in the lands along the eastern
Mediterranean. In his lists inscribed on the great temple at Karnak
he gives the names of three hundred and eighty cities, of which one
hundred and nineteen are in Palestine. From the reign of one of his
successors, Amenhotep IV, the great reforming king of Egypt, comes the
famous collection of the Tell el-Amarna letters. These were found in
ruins which lie on the east side of the Nile about one hundred and
seventy miles south of Cairo. Nearly three hundred of these tablets,
written in the Babylonian language and script, have been recovered.
They represent the correspondence of Amenhotep IV and his predecessor
with the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, and Mitanni, and especially with
the Egyptian governors of Palestine.