Page 95 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies

The road between Jericho and Jerusalem was
one of the most well-known in all of Israel.
Tens of thousands - if not hundreds of
thousands - of travelers from the Galilee
navigated the difficult and
dangerous road each year. Jericho is about
850 feet below sea level. Jerusalem is 2,500
feet above sea level. The road between the
two cities followed the Prat River in what is
known as Wadi Qelt. Attacks from robbers
weren’t uncommon on the road, which is
why it garnered the nickname the “Way of
The road that connected Jericho and Jerusalem followed Wadi
Qelt for most of the journey. The path on the left-hand side of this Blood.” Jesus used the road as the familiar
photograph is the path Jesus, the disciples and almost every setting for the parable of the “Good
person in the Bible would have known. The aqueduct on the right Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37).
side of the canyon was built by Herod the Great to bring water
from the Prat River to his resort complex in Upper Jericho.
Because water is so important in Israel’s desert environment, the
aqueduct has been maintained for 2,000 years and is still in use
today!
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat
him, and went away, leaving him half dead” (Lk 10:35-
37).

There are some particularities about the road between
Jerusalem and Jericho that drive home the point of this
parable with even greater power. To describe them
fully, though, we must understand the climate and
terrain of the area.

The Mediterranean Sea pushes warm, moist air across
Israel until it reaches the elevated ridgeline on which
Jerusalem is situated. The range there squeezes all the
moisture out of the air, leaving the land to the east of
Jerusalem arid.

A person walking from Jerusalem to Jericho would be
“going down” in elevation and leaving a semi-dry area
for a totally barren and parched one. The trip between Jerusalem and Jericho would have been about 18
miles, and in that distance, travelers would have descended more than half a mile in elevation. The
majority of those 18 miles would be in desert-like conditions, as you can see in this photo.

Jericho is an ancient town—the oldest continually-inhabited city in the world, in fact—and it sits in the
Dead Sea valley below the elevated range that holds Jerusalem. It has survived as an oasis in the desert
of the Dead Sea valley because of the presence of an ancient spring.

The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was a major thoroughfare for trading caravans, military
personnel, and the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem multiple times each year. Given the isolated terrain,
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