Via Maris

Historic road that runs along the Palestine coast, Latin for "way of the sea". It was the most important route from Egypt to Syria (the Fertile Crescent) which followed the coastal plain before crossing over into the plain of Jezreel and the Jordan valley.

The major highway connecting the civilizations of Mesopotamia with Egypt was called by the Romans as the Via Maris (the way of the sea). The route began in south of Ur near the Persian Gulf, went northwest through Babylon, Accad then followed the Euprates to Mari where it turned west to Tadmor. From there it led southward to Damascus then to Hazor. It passed through Capernaum on the sea of Galilee then up the hill to the Jezreel Valley. It passed through the Carmel mountain range via the Aruna pass. Then it followed the sea coast down into Egypt. The following map shows the general course of the Via Maris.