Falastin Shimoldan janubga va G‘arbdan Sharqqa qarab o‘tadigan "tranzit mamlakat" sifatida yana bir diqqatga sazovor xususiyatga ega. Mamlakatning savdo, sanoat, texnologiya va pul muomalasi, shuningdek, qishloq xo‘jaligidagi innovatsiyalar chorrahasi sifatida katta ahamiyatini, hamda mashhur Via Maris ("Dengiz yo‘li"), shuningdek, Filistimliklar yo‘li deb ham ataladigan yo‘lning ahamiyatini ortiqcha baholash qiyin. Tarixan Falastin o‘zining tranzit mamlakat sifatidagi geosiyosiy holatidan to‘liq foydalanib, xalqaro savdoga xizmat qilgan va uchta turli qit’ani bog‘lagan. Filistimliklar ham, finikiyaliklar ham Levant qirg‘og‘ining katta qismini nazorat qilgan: Filistiya va Finikiya (hozirgi Livan) hududlarini, Via Maris yoki Filistimliklar yo‘li esa Chiqish kitobida "Filistimliklar yurtining yo‘li" sifatida tasvirlangan (Eski Ahd: "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).

Ushbu yo'nalish haqidagi dalillarning ko'p qismi Misr va Ossuriya manbalaridan kelib chiqadi. Misr manbalarida G'azo orqali Misrni Falastin bilan bog'lovchi bu bo'lim "Xorus yo'li" deb tasvirlangan. U mamlakat qirg'oq chizig'i bo'ylab o'tgan, ilk Bronza davridan boshlab muhim xalqaro savdo va qatnov yo'li bo'lgan. U Misrdan Levantga olib boradigan eng muhim tarixiy yo'l bo'lib, barcha tarixiy davrlar davomida Misrni Falastin va Hilol bilan bog'lagan. Uning yo'nalishi bo'ylab mamlakatning ko'plab muhim shaharlari vujudga kelgan, jumladan G'azo (qadimgi Misrning Falastindagi ma'muriy markazi), Ashdod (Isdud), Ashkelon ('Asqalan), Yaffa (Joppa), Tantur (Tantura) va keyinroq Qaysariya-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.

U Sinay yarim orolining shimoliy qismi va Falastin qirg'oqli tekisligi bo'ylab Tantur gacha davom etib, so'ngra shimoli-sharqqa burilardi; Vodi ‘Ara orqali Marj Ibn ‘Omir (Esdraelon tekisligi)ga boradigan muqobil yo'llar ham bor edi, so'ng Tobor tog'i yonidan o'tib, hozirgi Suriya tomon shimolga yo'l olardi. Tanturdan bir tarmoq shimolga, Finikiya qirg'og'i bo'ylab davom etardi. Falastinning bu xalqaro savdo yo'li mamlakatdagi boshqa savdo yo'llari bilan kesishardi: jumladan, Yofodan Quddusga, shimoldagi Marj Ibn ‘Omirdan sharqdagi Iordaniya vodiysiga, janubdagi boy portli G'azo shahridan sharqdagi serdaromad savdo shahri Petra (savodli nabatey arablari orasida dastlab Raqmu nomi bilan tanilgan) tomon hamda Arabiston va Yamanning uzoq masofali ziravor va buxur savdo yo'li orqali. Nabatey arablarining savdosi janubiy Falastin va shimoliy Arabiston bo'ylab gullab-yashnadi. Ajablanarli emaski, amaliy sabablarga ko'ra, arab yozuvining eng dastlabki shakli (Kufiy yozuvi deb ham ataladi) — nabatey aramey va proto-arab yozuvlaridan kelib chiqqan, ular esa o'z navbatida finikiya alifbosiga borib taqaladi — Falastin va Arabiston ushbu muhim savdo yo'llarining ta'siri ostida hamda Yaqin Sharq arab mintaqasining shaharlashuvi natijasida shakllangan.

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.