2. Roads in Palestine.—(a) When we turn to Judea, we are best informed as to the roads leading from Jerusalem. The ancient main road from the capital to the Maritime Plain led past Gibeon and Beth-horon, from which there was a steep ascent to the plain (cf. e.g. Jos 10", 28 2” 13%4 [LX X] 202, Ac 237-51; Jos. BJ II. xii. 2, xix. 8). The present road from Jerusalem to Jaffa or Lydda is first mentioned a few times by Eusebius.§ From the Philistine Plain various passes led into the
* Shalmaneser ul. describes (H. Winckler, Keilinschr. Teat- buch, 2) how, when the Euphrates was in high flood, he crossed the river on vessels constructed from sheeps’ skins, and de- feated the king of Carchemish and others. :
+M. v. Oppenheim, Vom Mittelineer zum persischen Golf, iS3is
t Altorient. Forschungen, i. 146; Die politische Entwickelung Babyloniens wnd Assyriens, 14. The active intercourse be- tween Babylon and Palestine-Egypt by means alike of royal messengers and traders is witnessed to by the Tel el-Amarna letters, e.g. Winckler, Nos. 10, 11 [Petrie, Nos. 22, 124].
$ Onom.2 109. 27, 271. 40, 233, 83. If the NT Emmaus should be identical with Koléniye, the way to it would coincide with the beginning of the Jaffa road; but if Emmaus is el-Kubébe, the reference in Lk 2413 will be to the road to this village by way of Nabi Samwil. If Kiriath-jearim be rightly identified with Karyet el-Ineb, it was by the eastern portion of the present Jaffa road that the ark travelled from this city to Jerusalem (158 6).
mountains and to the capital.* From Ashdod the main road led through the Wdady es-Sunt, called in earlier times the Vale of Elah (cf. the narrative of 18 17%). From ‘Ekron a road ran to Beth-shemesh in the Wady es-Surdr further to the north. Hither the kine brought the ark of Jahweh, and thence it was afterwards conveyed to Kiriath-jearim and finally to Jerusalem (18 6, 28 6).—Towards the south Jerusalem was con- nected by an ancient road with Hebron and be- yond it with Beersheba (cf. e.g. 2 S 15° 16%, 1K 198). By this road Lysias, according to 1 Mac 42%. attempted to reach the capital, but was completely routed by Judas at Beth-zur. It was presumably this road also that was chosen when a journey was undertaken from Judea to Edom. The ancient highroad, before it was modernized a few years ago, bore every trace of having been always the main route between Jerusalem and the south ; it was carried in a straight line, and was in many places artificially constructed, and that apparently from early times. Like the generality of such roads, it presented not a few difficulties, leading as it did over steep hills, and being covered at not a few spots with large stones.{} An hour’s journey south of Jerusalem a road strikes off from it, which brings one in 13 minutes to Bethlehem (cf. Jg 19). — From Jerusalem to En-gedi there was also a much frequented road. It is mentioned in2 Ch 20. As the pya (Hazziz) of v.1* is no doubt to be identified with the modern Wady Hasdsd, the ancient road followed exactly the same course as the later Roman road. A part of this road is probably in view also in 1S 2476, whereas the road’ named in the parallel narrative (26°) should more likely be found in that between En-gedi and Hebron, if, that is to say, the hill Hachilah is rightly identified with Dahr el-Kéld. From En- gedi one can proceed further to the southern shore of the Dead Sea and to Edom.—The ancient main road between Jerusalem and Jericho (Lk 10°) prob- ably coincided with the Roman road.t It ran, according to 2S 15% [LXX] 16°, over the Mount of Olives and then by the city of Bahurim. Its further course, which may be presumed to have been the same as that of the later road (before it was modernized), led through the waterless and sun-scorched desert to Zal‘at ed-Ddm, a name which probably points back to the old ‘ Ascent of Adummim’ by which the low ground is reached (Jos 15718"). This was the usual road taken by pilgrims coming from the east of the Jordan. The latter, as a rule, included also Galileeans who de- sired to avoid the road through Samaria. ‘There was another, but a longer, road from the capital to the N.W. shore of the Dead Sea and Jericho. It first follows the lower Kidron Valley by Mar-saba ; then passes the Muwntar hill, and crossing the small plain of Buka‘ finally arrives through beauti- ful scenery at the low ground. It was probably by this road that king Zedekiah fled from Jeru- salem to the Jordan (2 K 25, Jer 394).—The present main road from Jerusalem to the north, which at some spots is very bad and uncomfort- able, meets us in the narrative of Jg 19, where the Levite, turning aside from Jerusalem, pro- posed to pass the night at Gibeah or Ramah.§ Its northern continuation, which ran past Gophna, is mentioned in Onom.” 300. 94. It is the same road which is called in Jg 20°! the way from Bethel to Gibeah. By this road Titus moved on
* Josephus (BJ ut. ii. 3) says that these passes were occupied by the Romans when the Jews projected an attack on Ascalon. On the ancient roads from Jerusalem to ‘Artif, see ZDPV x. 184f.