=The Road Along the Jordan.= The fourth main highway to the north, starting from Jerusalem, passed 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 Assyrio-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.