The Great Trunk Road |
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Written by Stephen Langfur |
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For a larger article on this road, often misnamed the Via Maris, see the piece on the Land Bridge.
Suppose you were traveling in the period of the First Testament, coming from the Nile and heading for the Tigris or the Euphrates. You would probably take the Coastal Road until you reached the mountain pass that leads to Megiddo. From here you would likely take a route across the Jezreel Plain, then head around Mt. Tabor, down to the Sea of Galilee, up again to Hazor, and around the south side of Mt. Hermon to Damascus. Using a term from the Latin version of Isaiah, geographers and guides (including yours truly) have mistakenly called this route the Via Maris. (Isaiah probably had a different road in mind.) We shall call it the Great Trunk Road. |
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