A well-known ancient thoroughfare between the north-east end of the Nile Delta and Palestine. With garrisoned forts and supply-stations along the route, it served as the first line of defence against intruders, but also provided the Egyption armies with easy excess to the lands in the north.
This route appears in the OT as derek 'eretz pilishetim ("the road through the Philistine country") in Exo 13:17:
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." [So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea.]
Taking the route Israel would have faced almost immediate battles, for which they could hardly have been prepared to do.
©ALBERITH
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