Roads, ways.

Of roads, Holy Scripture speaks explicitly in only one place — the book of Deuteronomy, in connection with the ordinance appointing cities of refuge for unintentional manslayers (19:3–9). From the words of the prophet Isaiah (40:3; Matt. 3:3) it may further be inferred that when kings went on a journey, the roads before them were repaired and leveled. The main roads of Palestine connecting it with foreign lands remain today nearly as they were in antiquity — for example, the road from Palestine to Egypt, traveled by Abraham (Gen. 12:10), by the Ishmaelite merchants in the days of Jacob (37:25), and by the sons of Jacob, and Jacob himself, with them (Gen. 42, 43, 46).

There were two such roads. One ran from Gaza along the coast of the Mediterranean, then across Lake Serbonis and the sandy desert of El-Arish, or Rhinocolura, to Cairo; this road was usually taken by armies and generally carried the heavier traffic. The other ran from Gaza through Sinai — in Arabic, through Tor, or Tur — to Suez; this route was taken chiefly by travelers wishing to see Sinai, though the journey from Gaza to Cairo by it required no fewer than 27 to 30 days. Both roads probably branched off from Jerusalem by way of Bethlehem.

In northern Palestine a cross-road runs from Acco, or Ptolemais, through the mountains to Nazareth, passing along the northern side of the valley of Jezreel, then by the Sea of Tiberias to Capernaum, crossing the Jordan and continuing along the lowland spurs of Anti-Lebanon toward Damascus (Gen. 14:14, 15). This ancient trunk road connected Europe with inner Asia, and armies marching from the Euphrates reached the very heart of Palestine by it; under Roman rule it was one of the most profitable roads for customs revenue (Matt. 9:9).

Of the roads within Palestine itself there were a great many, too many to list in full, so we will confine ourselves to the most important. Between Galilee and Judea ran the shortest road to Jerusalem, through Samaria (Luke 17:11), a distance of only three days’ journey; it entered Samaria through the plain of Jezreel, passed through Samaria proper and Shechem, and from there, a day’s journey further, reached Jerusalem. Another road between these two regions, usually taken by Galileans going up to the festivals, ran through the desert to Jericho, where it crossed the Jordan, then through rocky ravines and over the Mount of Olives and through Bethany into Jerusalem (Matt. 20:29; 21:7; Luke 10:30).

From Jerusalem ran three principal roads: to Jericho, as we see from the Gospel (Luke 10:30), unsafe for travelers because of robbers; to Gaza (Acts 8:26); and to Joppa. This last road is winding, about 90 versts in length, and since the time of the Crusades has been the customary route of pilgrims coming from Egypt and Europe to worship at the holy places; the chief resting place on it is Ramla, founded by the Saracens in the 8th century. Mention may also be made of the road from Hebron to Gaza, from Jerusalem to Gaza — by which the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen returned (Acts 8:26) — from Shechem to Jericho, from Cana to Tiberias, and others. Samaria, being an especially mountainous country, was the poorest in roads; even today it is rarely visited by caravans or pilgrims.