Copyright: Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
A section of an ancient road leading from Jaffa to Jerusalem, which dates 1,800 years back to the Roman period (2nd-4th centuries CE) was discovered recently in the Beit Hanina neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. The 8 meter-wide road was discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority and was bound on both sides by curbstones, some of which were badly worn down, indicating the frequent usage of the road.
David Yeger, the excavation director on behalf of the IAA, said that “This is the first time we have encountered such a finely preserved section of the road in Jerusalem”.
“The Romans attached great importance to the roads in the empire. They invested large sums of money and utilized the most advanced technological aids of the period in order to crisscross the empire with roads.”
This new discovery marks a section of the important network of roads that led to Jerusalem from the coastal plain during the Roman period and was part of one of the two arteries that led from Jaffa to Jerusalem during the Roman period.