'Via Maris' is the modern name for an ancient trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia — modern day Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Turkey and Syria. In Latin, 'Via Maris' means "way of the sea." It is a historic road that runs along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. 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.

Its earlier name was "Way of the Philistines", a reference to a passageway through the Philistine Plain (which today consists of Israel's southern coastal plain and the Gaza Strip). The name 'Via Maris' is not ancient and academic researchers prefer other names, for instance "International Trunk Road".

Together with the King's Highway, the 'Via Maris' was one of the major trade routes connecting Egypt and the Levant with Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The 'Via Maris' was crossed by other trading routes, so that one could travel from Africa to Europe or from Asia to Africa. It began in al-Qantara and went east to Pelusium, following the northern coast of Sinai through el-Arish and Rafah.

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