Biblical Geography and History Part 4

=The Water Supply.= Jerusalem, like most of the cities of Judah, was inadequately supplied with springs. The Virgin's Spring, which is in all probability identical with the ancient spring of Gihon, is intermittent. Its waters issue from a natural siphon in the rock, flowing according to the local rainfall, sometimes for only an hour or more, and at others for several days. It is entered by steps which lead into a natural cave, half way down the side of the Kidron Valley.

From this point, in early times, the waters were conducted through the ridge of rock on which the city rested by a rock-cut tunnel, which is one of the wonders of ancient engineering. Thence they were carried to a point at the southern end of the Tyropon Valley, where was once the famous Pool of Siloam, which was probably inside the ancient city walls. Here was built in later times a great basin, fifty-two feet square, from which the inhabitants of the city drew their chief supply of water.^{(112)} Still another conduit carried the overflow from this pool to the so-called Job's Well, four hundred and fifty yards to the southeast, where the Kidron and the Hinnom valleys meet. West of the temple area there was apparently in ancient times a pool which received the waters from the upper basin of the Tyropon, but there is no clear geological or historical evidence of a living spring in the northern or western part of the city. Aside from their one perennial spring and these pools the inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem were wholly dependent upon rock-cisterns for their water supply. Modern excavations have revealed the remains of the aqueducts, by which the plentiful waters of the so-called Pools of Solomon, southwest of Bethlehem, were later conducted through the valleys and along the hillsides to Jerusalem. The water was then distributed by means of high and low level aqueducts in different parts of the city, but especially in the temple area, for use in connection with the sacrificial ritual. From the same Pools of Solomon water is still brought by pipes to the southwestern side of the city.^{(57)}

=Jerusalem's Military Strength.= Jerusalem's strength consisted not in its elevation, but in the deep ravines which encircled it on the east, south, west, and in part on the north. The native rock lay only a few feet beneath the surface, and the soft limestone could be cut with comparative ease. A vertical cutting of twenty or twenty-five feet into the steep side of the hill gave a precipitous rampart of native rock, indestructible and difficult to scale. The weakness of Jerusalem was the lack of natural defences on the north.^{(56)} This natural defect was partially overcome by the deep cuttings in the natural rock, which at certain points left a sheer descent of twenty or twenty-five feet. These artificial defences were supplemented in the more level places by broad, strong walls that made Jerusalem, throughout most of its history, the strongest citadel in Palestine.

=Strength of Its Position.= The city shared with the rest of Judah the protection of natural barriers on every side. It could be approached on the east only over the rough headlands that arose above the Jordan and the Dead Sea. While it was on the great highway which led along the central plateau from northern Israel to Hebron and the South Country, large invading armies never advanced against Jerusalem by this difficult mountain road. On the west the valleys which led up from the coast plains converged at Jerusalem, making it comparatively easy for the Hebrews in command of these upland pa.s.sages to descend rapidly upon their foes in the plain. These pa.s.ses were also easily guarded from above against advancing armies. The comparative barrenness of the territory about Jerusalem was another important source of its strength, for the land furnished insufficient sustenance for a large besieging army. Thus Jerusalem, although close to the great currents of the world's civilization, stood apart and aloof, secure because of its poverty and comparative insignificance, secure behind its bold western headlands and its walls of gray limestone.^{(58)} It was the fitting capital of an austere race, who jealously and bravely guarded their freedom and their faith. Shut in among the limestone hills, it was typical of the land of Judah.

=Samaria's Name.= Samaria, situated in the midst of a broad, fertile plain, opening toward the sea and commanding far-reaching, glorious vistas, was equally representative of northern Israel. Both capitals were raised to the commanding position which they enjoyed, not as the result of chance, but through the deliberate choice of a strong and able sovereign. In I Kings 16:24 it is stated that Omri, the founder of the most powerful military dynasty of northern Israel, "bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill and named the city Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill." Whatever be its historical derivation, the name Shomeron, or Samaria, is eminently appropriate, for it means watch-tower.

=Its Situation.= The hill lies on the eastern side of the Wady esh-Shair or Barley Vale, a wide and beautiful valley, which comes up from the Plain of Sharon. Opposite Samaria it broadens out and unites with several shallow valleys, which come down from the north and northeast. Along the Barley Vale runs the great highway which leads northwest from Shechem and central Israel to the Plain of Esdraelon and Phnicia. Another highway runs directly north, past the Plain of Dothan to northern Israel and Damascus. Samaria lay near the border line between the powerful tribes of Ephraim and Mana.s.seh. It was, however, a little south and east of the centre of northern Israel. Its gates were wide open to the civilization and commerce which swept up and down the coast plains. From the city's heights there was a fine view of the Mediterranean, which represented that larger world into close touch with which Omri aimed to bring his people.

=Its Military Strength.= The city was built on an elongated, isolated hill,^{(59)} rising on the west between three and four hundred feet above the plain. The hill descends precipitously on three sides; on the east it is connected with the hills by a neck of land which lies about two hundred feet above the surrounding plain. As in the case of Jerusalem, these surrounding valleys were the source of its military strength. The hill is about three-fourths of a mile in length. On its top rises a large acropolis,^{(60)} nearly round and about a third of a mile in diameter. In the Roman period this acropolis was surrounded by a wide terrace, with a colonnade about one and one-half miles in circ.u.mference. On the top of this rounded hill there was ample s.p.a.ce for a large and powerful city. Surrounded, like Jerusalem, by a strong wall, it was practically impregnable.

=Its Beauty and Prosperity.= The view from Samaria is one of the most picturesque and attractive in all Palestine. Isaiah well describes this city as "the splendid ornament which crowns the fertile valley."

Green fields, olive and vine-clad hills delight the eye on every side.

Between the hills may be seen glimpses of green, peaceful valleys.

Plenty and prosperity are in evidence at every turn. Samaria itself lies one thousand four hundred and fifty-four feet above the sea-level and is surrounded by higher hills on nearly every side. Two miles to the north is a hill between nine hundred and a thousand feet higher than that of Samaria, while to the southeast other hills lead up to the rocky heights of Mount Ebal, over three thousand feet above the sea-level. Thus Samaria was a symbol of the beauty, the prosperity, the openness to foreign influence, the inherent strength and the fatal weakness of northern, as contrasted with southern Israel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE Main Highways OF THE ANCIENT SEMITIC WORLD

L.L. POATES ENGR'G CO., N.Y.

IX

THE GREAT HIGHWAYS OF THE BIBLICAL WORLD

=Importance of the Highways.= Upon the direction and character of the highways depend to a great extent the growth and history of early civilization. By the great roads which entered Palestine the Hebrews came as immigrants. Along the same roads those later waves of both hostile and peaceful invasion swept in upon them that largely shaped their history. These highways were to them the open doors to the life and civilization of the outside world. Over these same roads the Hebrews later fled as fugitives or were dragged as captives. Along these channels of communication and commerce the missionaries and apostles at a still later day went forth to their peaceful conquest of the Roman empire. Thus, next to the land itself, the highways of the ancient world have exerted the most powerful influence upon biblical history, literature, and religion.

=Lack of the Road-building Instincts among the Semites.= The Semitic races, as a rule, were not road-builders. Their earlier nomadic experiences had accustomed them to long and arduous marches over rough, rocky roads. The ox, the camel, the horse, and the donkey furnished the common means of transportation. Most of the people went from place to place on foot, and in Palestine the distances were so short that this mode of travel was easy and practical. To-day in well-travelled roads large boulders lie in the middle of the way, worn smooth by the hoofs of pack-animals and by the feet of countless pa.s.sersby, who through the centuries have stumbled over them rather than put forth the effort of a few moments in removing them. The Aryans were the first to develop good roads in southwestern Asia. The royal Persian post-roads, that connected remote parts of the vast empire, introduced a new era in road-building. The greatest road-builders of antiquity were the Romans; but most of the superb highways, which to-day arouse the wonder and admiration of the traveller, were constructed by them in the second and third Christian centuries, later, therefore, than the biblical period.

=Evidence that Modern Roads Follow the Old Ways.= There is strong evidence that the later roads usually followed the ancient paths. Both were connecting links between the same important centres. Both necessarily crossed the same fords and the same mountain pa.s.ses. The later roads were held within the same limits by natural barriers and by that tendency to follow established traditions which has ever characterized the East. In riding over the roads of Palestine to-day the traveller is constantly reminded that he is following in the footsteps of the early inhabitants of the land. Often the path, instead of following the most direct course, climbs over a pa.s.s or steep hill, past a rocky ruin once a famous city, but now a mere chaos of scattered rocks. The road still follows this awkward detour simply because a thousand years ago it led to a populous town. Where the roads have changed their course it has been because the centre of population or of political ascendancy has changed, or else because the Romans, disregarding old traditions or physical obstacles, flung their mighty highways over the mountains and across the deep valleys.

=Ordinary Palestinian Roads.= The common Hebrew word for road is _derekh_, which means literally _a trodden path_, made by the feet of men and animals. It well describes a majority of the roads of Palestine to-day. It suggests to the experienced Palestinian traveller in most cases a narrow path, so thickly strewn with rocks that it is to him a never-ceasing wonder that his horse or mule is able, without mishap, hour after hour to pick its way over these rough piles of stone. Sometimes the path runs over a steep mountain hillside, where the animal is obliged to lift itself and rider by sheer strength up rocky steps a foot and a half to two feet in height or to hold itself with marvellous skill on the sloping side of a slippery rock. Often the horse flounders blindly among scattered boulders while it braces itself against the rush of a mountain stream. At times the traveller must balance himself on his horse as it struggles and often swims through fords whose waters reach almost to the top of its back.

=Evidence that the Hebrews Built Roads.= There are indications, however, that road construction was not entirely unknown to the ancient Hebrews. _M[)e]sill[=a]h_, another common Hebrew term for road, means literally _that which is heaped up_, that is, _a raised way_. The common translation, _highway_, is exact. In Judges 20:31, 32 there are references to highways which ran to Bethel and to Gibeah. In I Samuel 6:12 is an incidental reference to the road which ran from the Philistine city of Ekron up through the Valley of Sorek toward Jerusalem. Along this road the ark was sent, drawn on a cart by two cows. The ancient narrative alludes, however, to the roughness of the road. From I Kings 12:18 it is clear that in the days of the united kingdom a highway for chariots ran from Shechem to Jerusalem. The allusions in II Kings 7 also indicate that in the later days of the northern kingdom there was a road from Damascus to Samaria, over which the chariots of the Arameans pa.s.sed. As early as the reign of David royal chariots became common in Israel (_e. g._, I Kings 1:5). This fact does not prove the existence of great highways like those built by the Romans, for the ancient charioteers were able to drive over roads which would seem to a westerner utterly impa.s.sable; but it does imply the rude beginnings of road construction, probably under royal supervision. Apparently the Israelites inherited from the more highly civilized Canaanites a few well-worn highways and a certain knowledge of the art of road-making.

=The Four Roads from Egypt.= Four great roads led eastward from the land of Egypt. The northernmost, which was called "the way of the land of the Philistines" (Ex. 13:17), issued from the northern end of the Nile delta and pa.s.sed north of the marshy Lake Menzaleh. Thence it ran along within a few miles of the coast of the Mediterranean, through Raphia to Gaza. There it met the great coast road to the north and the local roads running through the heart of Palestine. The second road was called "the way to Shur" (Gen. 16:17, I Sam. 15:7). It seems to have first pa.s.sed through the present Wady Tumilat, thence turning northward to the southern end of Lake Menzaleh, to have run past the Egyptian fortress of Taru, now Tell Abu Sefeh. Taru may be identical with the word Shur, which appears in the Hebrew name of this highway.

From this point the road struck almost directly across the undulating desert to Beersheba and thence along the Wady es-Seba and the Wady el-Kulil to Hebron. The third highway led from the eastern end of the Wady Tumilat almost due east until it crossed the Brook of Egypt. Then one branch turned northeast past the ancient Rehoboth, to join the second road at Beersheba. The other branch went on eastward across the Arabah to Petra and thence across the Arabian Desert to Babylonia. The fourth road from Egypt also started from the Wady Tumilat, thence past the Bitter Lakes directly across the northern end of the Sinaitic peninsula to the ancient Elath, at the end of the northeastern arm of the Red Sea.

=Trails into Palestine from the South.= Five roads led up into Palestine from the south. One, "the way of the Red Sea" (_Yam Suph_, Nu. 14:25, 21:4, Dt. 1:40), starting from Elath, ran northwest, until at Aboda it joined the third highway from Egypt, which ran northeast to Beersheba and Hebron. A second more arduous and less used trail ran directly north from Elath through the Arabah to the southwestern end of the Dead Sea. Thence the traveller might proceed to Jerusalem by a western detour through El-Foka and Hebron, or else keep along the sh.o.r.e of the Dead Sea and then turn inland at Engedi. A third trail led from Elath along the desert to the old Edomite and later Nabatean capital of Petra. With camels and a sufficient supply of water it was possible thence to cross the Arabah and the heart of the South Country in a northwesterly direction to Beersheba.

=Highway Through Moab.= The fourth road ran directly north from Petra across deep gorges and over rocky roads through Shobek, et-Tufileh, Kerak and northward, following a straight course about eighteen miles to the east of the Dead Sea. This was the main highway through the heart of Moab. Farther north it ran past the famous Moabite towns of Dibon and Medeba. At Heshban, opposite the northern end of the Dead Sea, a branch turned westward to the lower ford of the Jordan, while the main road ran north along the eastern side of the Jordan until it joined the Damascus road south of the Sea of Galilee. At Heshban another important branch turned to the northeast and, pa.s.sing through Rabbath-Ammon, joined the desert road to Damascus. In later times the Romans, to protect their east-Jordan border cities, built a magnificent road from Rabbath-Ammon to Petra, following the ancient highway through the heart of Moab. Mile-stones, great rock-cuttings, ruins of stone bridges, and miles of stone pavement still remain to bear testimony to Rome's strength in the distant provinces even during the period of the empire's decline.

=The Great Desert Highway.= The chief highway from the south to the north was the present pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca, along which now runs the modern Turkish railway. This road was the main connecting link between Arabia and the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Making a wide detour westward to touch the port of Elath, it then turned to the northeast of Petra and ran along the desert highland between thirty and forty miles to the east of the Jordan and Dead Sea valley.

It crossed the dry, open desert, strewn at many points with debris of black basaltic rocks. Like most desert roads it sprawled out over the hot plains, unconfined by fields or mountain pa.s.ses. The stations were simply stopping-places for travellers and traders, for it everywhere avoided the cultivated land, except where its western branch pa.s.sed through the heart of the Hauran on its way to Damascus. Here it ran close to the important cities of Edrei, the famous fortress on the upper Yarmuk, and Ashteroth-Karnaim. A little northeast of Rabbath-Ammon one branch, deflected to the northeast, and pa.s.sing through the desert town of Bozrah, and thence skirting the eastern side of the lava tract of El-Lejah, reached Damascus. From Edrei and Bozrah a caravan route ran southeast to the ancient Duma, the present Dumat el-Jandal, and on to the oasis of Tema.

=Character of the Southern Approaches to Palestine.= It is significant that the chief entrances to the west-Jordan land from the south are not through the South Country but by the way of Moab. The roads which lead directly into Judah are deflected by the grim, barren ranges of the South Country either to Beersheba on the southwest or to the Arabah on the southeast. The roads themselves lie through a rough, wild, dry, Bedouin-invested country, over which it is impossible for large tribes or armies to advance. Of the two east-Jordan highways, that through the heart of Moab pa.s.ses over steep mountains and down into deep wadies, and in ancient times led through a thickly populated and well-guarded region. The great and easy highway is along the borders of the desert, and it was probably by this way that most of the invaders from the south found their way to the west-Jordan land.

=The Coast Road.= In western Palestine four main highways, connected by cross-roads, led from the south to northern Syria and eastward to a.s.syria and Babylonia. The first was the direct coast road which connected Egypt with Phnicia and Asia Minor. Throughout its course it kept close to the sea. Only in Philistia was it driven inland by the drifting sands. Along an artificially constructed causeway it rounded the end of Mount Carmel and proceeded northward along the Plain of Acre over the difficult cliffs of the Ladder of Tyre to the plains of Phnicia. Thence it ran along the open way past Beirut, until it reached the difficult pa.s.s of the Dog River. There the bas-reliefs and inscriptions on the rocks indicate not only that from the days of Ramses II the great conquerors of antiquity had pa.s.sed along this highway of the nations, but also that many of them shared in the task of cutting the road across these difficult cliffs.

=The "Way of the Sea."= The second great northern highway, the famous Via Maris of the Romans, branching from the coast road either at Ashdod or Joppa, ran on the eastern side of the Plain of Sharon, close to the foothills of Samaria. Near where it was joined by the important road which came down through the Barley Vale from Shechem and Samaria, this great highway divided into three branches. One ran to the north along the eastern and northern side of Mount Carmel and joined the coast road. Another, apparently the main branch, turned to the northeast, pa.s.sed through the Wady Arah, and emerged upon the Plain of Esdraelon beside the famous old fortress of Megiddo. From here it ran directly across the plain, past Mount Tabor through Lubieh and down the steep decline from the plateau to the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee. Owing to the soft, loamy character of the Plain of Esdraelon, this was often impa.s.sable in the winter and spring.

Caravans and armies would then take the third branch from the Plain of Sharon, which at first ran almost due east over the Plain of Dothan and past the old Canaanite city of Ibleam. Thence it crossed the Plain of Esdraelon at Jezreel and joined the direct road that ran past Mount Tabor to the Sea of Galilee. From the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee this much traveled Way of the Sea ascended the heights to the north and crossed the Jordan a little below Lake Huleh at the ford now spanned by the old stone bridge known as the "Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob." From the Jordan the road followed an almost straight line northwest, past El-Kuneitra in eastern Jaulan, across the desert to Damascus.

=Its Commercial and Strategic Importance.= From the point where it crossed the Jordan a branch of this main highway went westward through the valley between upper and lower Galilee, to ancient Accho, the chief seaport of Damascus. Thus across Galilee, with its open roads, poured the commerce of Damascus and the desert world of which it was the outlet. From Damascus to Egypt this second great highway of Syria ran almost entirely over broad deserts or open plains. It was the main road through the heart of northern Israel, along which pa.s.sed not only the merchants, but also the conquering armies of Babylonia and a.s.syria.

=The Central Road and Its Cross-Roads in the South.= The third great northern highway was connected with Egypt and the south by the way of Beersheba. It followed close to the watershed of central Judah, along the line of the present carriage-road from Hebron to Jerusalem. It ran past Bethzur and Beth-zecharias, famous in Maccabean warfare. From Bethzur an important highway deflected to the northwest, following the Wady es-Sur and the eastern side of the Shephelah, or Lowlands, as far as the Valley of Ajalon on the borders of the Philistine Plain. From Jerusalem several roads ran through the valleys to the west and northwest, connecting with the highways on the Plain of Sharon. Of these the chief went northwest past Gibeon, down the deep descent of the upper and lower Beth-horons to Joppa. Another ran still farther to the northwest to Gophna, to join the second great highway at Antipatris.

=In the North.= The main highway continued directly north from Jerusalem to Shechem. Then turning a little to the northwest it pa.s.sed through the city of Samaria over the open plains to Ibleam, where it joined the eastern branch of the famous Way of the Sea, which led past the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee to Damascus. Opposite Mount Gerizim a branch of the central road turned northeast and ran through Thebez, Bethshean, and the western side of the Sea of Galilee. An extension of the central highway ran north over central Galilee through the valley of Merj Ayun to the great valley between the Lebanons and Anti-Lebanons. Thence this central highway continued through Riblah and Hamath, crossing the upper Euphrates at Carchemish.

Turning eastward at this point it ran through northern Mesopotamia past Harran and across the level plains between the Tigris and the Euphrates to Nineveh and Babylon. It was along this broad highway that the a.s.syrian and Babylonian conquerors repeatedly advanced against Palestine and later carried away Hebrew captives from both northern and southern Israel.

=The Road Along the Jordan.= The fourth main highway to the north, starting from Jerusalem, pa.s.sed northeast through the barren, picturesque wilderness of Judea to Jericho. Thence it followed the western side of the Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee to Khan Minyeh, where it joined the other great roads which led to northern Syria and Damascus. From this fourth highway many cross-roads led eastward and westward. From Jericho a western road ran up the Wady Suweinit to Michmash and thence across southwestern Samaria. Farther north, three others led up from the Plain of the Jordan to Shechem and thence by the Barley Vale to the Plain of Sharon. At Bethshean the road to the north was crossed by another highway, which ran from Gilead westward across the Plain of Jezreel. Thence a highway crossed the northwestern side of the Plain of Esdraelon, reaching the great coast road at Haifa and Accho. Also from the southwestern end of the Sea of Galilee another important road ran northwest past the Plain of Asochis to Accho. From the upper Jordan valley a highway led northeast past ancient Dan and Banias along the eastern spurs of Mount Hermon to Damascus.

=Roads Eastward from Damascus.= From Damascus a great caravan route struck off due east across the northern end of the Arabian Desert, reaching the Euphrates in the vicinity of Sippar. Thence it turned southward to Babylon and the cities of lower Babylonia. Another route, popular in later times and probably also in use during the a.s.syrio-Babylonian period, made a larger circle to the north, touching at Palmyra and other desert stations. Palestine, and especially the central plain of Esdraelon, was therefore the focus of the great highways which connected all points in the ancient world.

=The Highway from Antioch to Ephesus.= The main highway which skirted the coast of the eastern Mediterranean crossed the Ama.n.u.s Mountains through the Syrian Gates a little north of Antioch. At this point one branch ran northward to connect with the great trade routes which came from Babylonia and the East. The main road to the west, however, after touching at Alexandria (the present Alexandretta) rounded the eastern end of the Mediterranean, where it was joined by one of the great trade routes which came from the Euphrates Valley. After pa.s.sing through Tarsus, it abruptly turned almost due north, crossing the Taurus Mountains by the Cilician Pa.s.s, and then with much twisting and winding went westward, following in general the dividing line between the central plateau of Asia Minor and the rugged southern mountains.

At Kybistra it forked, the northern branch crossing the plateau directly to Laodicea. The southern and more commonly used branch made a long detour through the important cities of Derbe and Iconium. At Julia to the northwest the great western highway again parted. One main branch ran in a southwesterly direction through Apameia, Colossae, and thence by the broad and fertile valley of the River Maeander to Ephesus, the commercial and later the political capital of Asia Minor.

Another straighter but less used highway followed the valley of the Cayster to Ephesus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE Main Highways OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE Scenes of Paul's Work

L.L. POATES ENGR'G CO., N.Y.]

=The Road from Asia Minor to Rome.= The other great branch of the main highway from Julia westward was the old overland route to Rome. It ran first due east. Two important branches came down from Dorylaion in the north, connecting it with Nicaea and Constantinople. The old overland route continued eastward through Philadelphia and Sardis. From Sardis a branch ran straight to Smyrna, the commercial rival of Ephesus. The main road, however, turned to the northwest from Sardis, pa.s.sing through Thyatira, Pergamus, the earlier capital of Asia Minor, to Troas, from whence the traveller could take s.h.i.+p directly to Neopolis and Philippi. A highway, however, pa.s.sed northward across the h.e.l.lespont and thence through southern Thrace to Philippi. From this point the great Via Egnatia led due west through Thessalonica and Pella to Aulonia and Dyrrachium. From these Adriatic ports a short sea voyage brought the traveller to Brundisium, whence a well-worn highway led directly across southern Italy to Rome. This long and arduous road through southern Europe and central Asia Minor was the main thoroughfare for travel, trade, and official communication between Rome and her eastern provinces.

=From Ephesus to Rome.= Travellers who preferred a shorter land and a longer water journey took s.h.i.+p from Ephesus to Corinth. Thence they were transferred across the isthmus to a s.h.i.+p which skirted the sh.o.r.es of Epirus and landed them at Brundisium. If they preferred a still longer water journey, they could take s.h.i.+p at Ephesus around the southern end of Greece, either to Brundisium or else through the straits of Messina; thence to Puteoli, or to Ostia, the port of Rome itself.

=From Syria to Rome by Sea.= Travellers or merchants making the journey from Palestine wholly by water had before them the choice of two ways. The most common course was to take s.h.i.+p at some one of the ports of Syria: Caesarea, Accho, Tyre, or Sidon. Thence they skirted the sh.o.r.es of Syria and Asia Minor to Rhodes, seeking a harbor each night or whenever the weather was unfavorable. From Rhodes the ordinary course was to the eastern end of Crete and thence along its southern sh.o.r.es, where favorable harbors could be found. From the western end of Crete the ancient mariners skirted the southern sh.o.r.es of Greece, and then, with the aid of the northern winds, which came down through the Adriatic, made their way to the eastern sh.o.r.es of Sicily and thence through the straits of Messina. From here they sailed to Puteoli or else to the mouth of the Tiber.

=From Alexandria to Rome.= The second method of reaching Rome from Syria by sea was by way of Alexandria, which could be reached either by local s.h.i.+p or by the coast road. From this great seaport of Egypt, during the Roman period, fleets of large grain vessels made frequent trips, bearing Egyptian grain to the capital city. According to the Latin writer, Vegetius (IV, 39, V, 9) the open season for navigation on the Mediterranean extended from March tenth to November tenth, although the favorable season was limited to the four short months between May twenty-sixth and September fourteenth. From about the twentieth of July to the end of August the famous Etesian winds ordinarily blew steadily from the west. These winds made it possible for the fleets of east-bound merchantmen to make the trip from Rome to Alexandria in what seemed to the ancients the marvellously short period of from twenty to twenty-five days. The west-bound trip, however, was much more difficult. Owing to the prevailing west winds the mariners were obliged to cross the Mediterranean to some point on the southern sh.o.r.es of Asia Minor and thence to run westward from port to port along the usual route on the southern side of Crete and Greece.[2]

[2] Cf. _Roads and Travel in the New Testament_, by Ramsay, in Extra Vol., Hastings's _Dictionary of the Bible_, pp. 375-403.

=Significance of the Great Highways.= Over these great highways across and around the eastern Mediterranean the civilization of the ancient world spread to the ends of the earth. These were the paths which the Jewish exiles followed in their western exodus. By the beginning of the Christian era Jewish colonies and groups of converts to Judaism were to be found in all the cities touched by these great arteries of commerce. Along these highways pa.s.sed the armies and culture of the West to the conquest of the East, and the ideas and religions of the East to the conquest of the West. They were thus the natural bonds that bound together the human race in one common brotherhood.

_PART II_

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY