Palestina kama "nchi ya kupitisha" kutoka Kaskazini hadi Kusini na kutoka Magharibi hadi Mashariki ni sifa nyingine ya kushangaza. Umuhimu mkubwa wa nchi hii kama kitovu cha biashara, viwanda, teknolojia na fedha, pamoja na uvumbuzi wa kilimo, na umuhimu wa Via Maris maarufu ("Njia ya Bahari"), pia inayojulikana kama Njia ya Wafilisti, hauwezi kupuuzwa. Kihistoria Palestina ilitumia kikamilifu nafasi yake ya kijiografia-kisiasa kama "nchi ya kupitisha" inayohudumia biashara ya kimataifa na kuunganisha mabara matatu tofauti. Wafilisti na Wafinisia wote wawili walidhibiti sehemu kubwa ya pwani ya Levanti ya Filistia na Finisia (Lebanoni ya leo), na Njia ya Wafilisti, au Via Maris, ilielezwa katika Kutoka kuwa "njia ya nchi ya Wafilisti" (Agano la Kale: "derech Eretz Plishtim": 13:17).

Palestine as a ‘transit country’ from North to South and from West to East is another striking feature. The great importance of the country as a juncture of trade, industry, technology and monetarism, as well as agricultural innovation, and the importance of the famous Via Maris (the ‘Way of the Sea’), also known as Way of the Philistines, can hardly be overstated. Historically Palestine fully exploited its geo-political position as a ‘transit country’ serving international trade and linking three different continents. Both the Philistines and Phoenicians controlled much of the Levantine coast of Philistia and Phoenicia (modern Lebanon) and the Way of the Philistines, or Via Maris, was described in Exodus as the ‘way of the Land of the Philistines’ (Old Testament: ‘derech Eretz Plishtim’: 13:17).

Sehemu kubwa ya ushahidi kuhusu njia hii inatoka katika vyanzo vya Kimisri na Kiashuru. Sehemu iliyounganisha Misri na Palestina kupitia Gaza ilielezwa katika vyanzo vya Kimisri kama ‘Njia ya Horus’. Ilikuwa njia muhimu ya biashara na usafiri wa kimataifa iliyopita kwenye pwani ya nchi hiyo, tangu mwanzo wa Enzi ya Shaba. Ilikuwa njia kuu kabisa ya kihistoria kutoka Misri hadi Levant, na iliunganisha Misri na Palestina na Hilali yenye Rutuba katika vipindi vyote vya kihistoria; kando ya njia yake miji mingi muhimu ya nchi hiyo ilichipuka, ikiwemo Gaza (makao makuu ya utawala wa Misri ya kale katika Palestina), Ashdod (Isdud), Ascalon (‘Asqalan), Joppa (Jaffa), Tantur (Tantura) na baadaye Caesarea-Palaestina.

Much of the evidence concerning this route comes from Egyptian and Assyrian sources. The section connecting cementing Egypt with Palestine via Gaza was described in Egyptian sources as the ‘Way of Horus’. It was an important international trade and traffic route running through the country’s coastline dating from the early Bronze Age. It was the most important historic route from Egypt to the Levant, and linked Egypt with Palestine and the Fertile Crescent throughout all historical periods; along its route most of the important cities in the country sprang up, including Gaza (ancient Egypt’s administrative capital of Palestine), Ashdod (Isdud), Ascalon (‘Asqalan), Joppa (Jaffa), Tantur (Tantura) and later Caesarea-Palaestina.

Ilifuata ukanda wa pwani ya kaskazini mwa Sinai na Palestina hadi Tantur, kisha ikageuka kuelekea kaskazini-mashariki, huku kukiwa na njia mbadala kupitia Wadi ‘Ara hadi Marj Ibn ‘Amer (Uwanda wa Esdraelon), kisha ikipita karibu na Mlima Tabor na kuelekea kaskazini kuelekea Syria ya leo. Tawi moja liliendelea kutoka Tantur kaskazini kando ya pwani ya Foinike. Barabara hii kuu ya biashara ya kimataifa ya Palestina ilikatiwa na njia nyingine za biashara nchini humo, ikiwemo kutoka Jaffa hadi Yerusalemu, kutoka Marj Ibn ‘Amer kaskazini hadi bonde la Yordani upande wa mashariki, na kutoka mji tajiri wa bandari wa Gaza upande wa kusini hadi mji wa biashara wenye utajiri wa Petra (uliojulikana awali kwa Waarabu wa Nabatea waliojua kusoma na kuandika kama Raqmu) upande wa mashariki, na kupitia njia ndefu ya biashara ya viungo na ubani ya Arabia na Yemen. Biashara ya Waarabu wa Nabatea ilistawi kote kusini mwa Palestina na kaskazini mwa Arabia. Haishangazi kwamba, kwa sababu za kiutendaji, aina ya awali kabisa ya hati ya Kiarabu (pia inayojulikana kama hati ya Kufi) – ambayo ilibadilika kutoka hati za Nabatea za Kiaramu na Kiarabu cha awali, ambazo nazo zinaweza kufuatiliwa hadi alfabeti ya Foinike – ilibadilika chini ya athari za njia hizi muhimu za biashara za Palestina na Arabia na ukuaji wa miji katika Mashariki ya Karibu ya Kiarabu.

It followed the coastal plain of North Sinai and Palestine until Tantur before veering north-eastwards, with alternative roads through Wadi ‘Ara into Marj Ibn ‘Amer (the Plain of Esdraelon), then passing by Mount Tabor and northwards towards present-day Syria. One branch continued from Tantur northwards along the Phoenician coast. This international trade highway of Palestine was criss-crossed by other trading routes in the country, including from Jaffa to Jerusalem, from Marj Ibn ‘Amer in the north to the Jordan valley in the east and from the rich port city of Gaza in the south to the wealthy trading town of Petra (originally known to its literate Nabataean Arabs as Raqmu) in the east and via the long-distance spice trade and incense route of Arabia and the Yemen. The Nabataean Arab trade flourished across southern Palestine and northern Arabia. Not surprisingly, for practical reasons the earliest form of Arabic script (also known as the Kufi script) – which evolved from the Nabataean Aramaic and proto-Arabic scripts, which, in turn, can be traced to the Phoenician alphabet – evolved under the impact of these important trade routes of Palestine and Arabia and the growing urbanisation of the Arab Near East.