- Via Maris
Via Maris is the modern name for an ancient
trade route , dating from the earlyBronze Age , linkingEgypt with the northern empires ofSyria ,Anatolia andMesopotamia — modern dayIran ,Iraq , Turkey and Syria.Its earlier name was "Way of thePhilistines ", a reference to a passageway through the Philistine Plain. At this point the Way branches into two Ways — one along theMediterranean coast, through Megiddo, and the other following an inland route through theJezreel Valley , theSea of Galilee and Dan."Via Maris" is Latin and means "the Way of the Sea". The name is based on a passage from the
Vulgate (theNew Testament in Latin translation) from the Gospel according to Matthew ("Secundum Mattheum"), chapter 4 verse 15::terra Zabulon et terra Nephthalim via maris trans Iordanen Galilaeae gentium
:(the land of
Zebulon , and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles).There is also a reference to the "Via Maris" ("the way of the sea") in .
Together with the King's Highway, the "Via Maris" was one of the major routes connecting
Egypt and theLevant withAnatolia andMesopotamia . The "Via Maris" was crossed by other trading routes, so that one could travel from Africa to Europe or from Asia to Africa. It began in al-Qantara and went east toPelusium , following the northern coast of Sinai throughel-Arish andRafah . From there it followed the coast ofCanaan throughGaza ,Ashkelon ,Ashdod , Joppa, andDor before turning east again throughMegiddo and theJezreel Valley until it reachedTiberias on theSea of Galilee . Again turning northward along the shore, the "Via Maris" passed throughMigdal ,Capernaum , andHazor . From Hazor it climbed sharply over theGolan Heights and wound its way northeast intoDamascus . Here travellers could continue on the King's Highway as far as theEuphrates River or proceed northward into Anatolia.ee also
*
King's Highway (ancient)
*Incense Road
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.