=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, passed 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 impassable 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 passed not only the merchants, but also the conquering armies of Babylonia and Assyria.