In addition to the two roads already mentioned which gave access from the north to the hill- country of Samaria by way of Bethshean and Jenin, there were a number of other passes at the choice of travellers coming from the Plain of Jezreel. The most important of these is the road leading by Lejjzin (probably the ancient Megiddo) over the hills ina S.W. direction to the Judean and Philistine Maritime Plain; for this is the continuation of the above-mentioned great caravan road (the Via Maris) connecting Damascus with Egypt. This road was traversed not only by patient caravan camels, but by many great armies —e.g. by the Assyrians when marching against Egypt; by Necho’s troops on his march to the Euphrates, which king Josiah made a vain attempt to stop at Megiddo (2 K 23”); by Cambyses in his Egyptian campaign, ete. It was presumably followed also by the Aramzean kings of Damas- cus, when they extended their military expeditions to the Philistine Maritime Plain (2 K 12% 137 [LXX]).t—But besides this main route there was another caravan road to the southern Maritime Plain, which was preferred by those who crossed the Jordan at Bethshean. It is described by Robinson (BRP iii. 158f.) as running west from Jenin into the hill-country and touching the Plain of Dothan between Kefr Kud and Ja‘bud. Its great antiquity is shown by Gn 37”, where a caravan travelling from Gilead to Egypt passes Dothan.—Finally, it was possible for one coming from the northern part of the country to reach the Judean Maritime Plain by keeping right along the seashore, for an artificially widened passage led by the foot of Carmel; but this route was chosen only by those who from their start in the north had followed the way by the coast.
(c) Among the roads in Galilee we have first to deal with that part of the Via Maris which touched
*In Jth 47 the high priest writes to the inhabitants of Bethulia, directing them to seize the mountain passes because by them was the way to Judea, and it was easy to hinder an approach, as the pass was narrow, with space for two men at most. Itis plain that the author has in view here the narrow valley of Jibleam, behind Jenin.
+ Robinson, BRP? ii. 311. Samaria is connected with Shechem by a road which turns off to the right from the Wady Sha'ir.
{ On the ground of these passages, Wellhausen (Comp. d. Hea, 254) identifies the Aphek mentioned in 1 K 2076.30, 2K 1817, with the Aphek of the Maritime Plain, on the situation of which cf. especially G, A. Smith, HGH L4 675.
ROADS AND TRAVEL (IN OT)
ROADS AND TRAVEL (IN OT) 373
this district. After passing the Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters, the road ascends to Khan Jubb Yusuf, from which it runs to the N.W. shore of the Lake of Gennesareth at Khan Minyeh.* Thence it runs up through the Vale of el-Hammim to Khan et- Tujjar, and reaches the Plain of Jezreel in the neighbourhood of Tabor. At Karn Hattin it throws off a branch in a westerly direction to Acco. —Of the remaining roads in Galilee, which, owing to the dense population of this part of the country, must have been very numerous, we may notice the following. The cities which Tiglath-pileser con- quered in succession (2 K 15%) lay on the road from Kedesh to the Merj‘Ayyén.t+ But the main road from the Merj‘ Ayydn to the south probably kept closer by the Jordan, till it finally united with the Via Maris. From Abii (the ancient Abel beth-Maacah) a road ran westwards to Tyre; it connected the latter city with Damascus. On the western side of the Galilean hills the protuberance known as the Ladder of Tyre (Scala Tyriorum) »resented an awkward obstacle to communication.
Jevertheless, the Pheenicians succeeded in making this difficult point passable even for chariots, as is proved by the ancient marks of wheels ; and so we hear of various armies moving from Syria along the seacoast.t What roads are referred to in the narrative of 1 K 17% and Mt 15” cannot be deter- mined with certainty owing to the brevity of the descriptions.
(d) In the Jordan Valley an ancient road on the western side of the river supplies the connexion between north and south. On the west shore of the Lake of Gennesareth, where the bordering hills leave only a somewhat narrow strand clear, this road connected the numerous villages that were found here in ancient times. From the crossing- place at Bethshean it was followed by Pompey in his campaign against Aristobulus.§ Along its northern portion, between the Lakes of Gennes- areth and Hfileh, Jonathan marched (1 Mae 11° ).||
The Jordan, as already remarked, possesses a considerable number of fords. The most southern of these is called e/-Henu ; next comes the ford at the pilgrims’ bathing-place ; and, further up the river, that at the road from Jericho to es-Salt, where the crossing is now made by a bridge. At one or other of these points we must seek the ford of Pésilim (Jg 3” [see art. QUARRY in vol. iv.], cf. 2S 19"). At the next principal entrance to the hill-country, namely the Wady el-Fari'a coming from Shechem, we encounter the ford ed- Damiye, likewise with a bridge, which by the way stands at present on dry ground, the river having hollowed a new bed for itself.] This much fre- quented crossing to the central part of the trans- Jordanie district meets us in the OT under the name Adam (Jos 3, and probably also 1 Koes where Moore happily suggests reading ‘the ford (ma‘abhrath) Adam’). Further north is the most important crossing-place, the ford ‘Abdra at Beth- shean, which was that chosen, for example, by Judas on his return march from the east of the Jordan (1 Mac 5”), and by Pompey in his above- mentioned campaign. The importance of this spot is readily intelligible in view of the fact above noted, that a whole series of great caravan roads from east and west converge upon it.—There are