Routes Across Palestine

Three international routes crossed Palestine from south to north:

1. The Way of the Sea – the Via Maris – followed the coast from the Nile Delta in Egypt north to Gaza, Ashdod, and Aphek before cutting inland across the Vale of Jezreel via Megiddo and Hazor to Damascus and Mesopotamia – the land of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires.

2. The Way of Shur – crossed the Negev Desert from Succoth in Egypt to Beersheba and then went north via Hebron and Jerusalem, through the hill country of Ephraim via Bethel, Shiloh, and Shechem to join the Via Maris at Megiddo.

3. The King’s Highway – went along the high plateau to the east of the Arabah and the Jordan Valley from Ezion Geber on the Gulf of Aqaba north to Heshbon, Rabbah, Mahanaim, and Ramoth Gilead to Damascus.