Sideways? Like most of the ancient Near East, first-century Jews oriented themselves not by magnetic north, but by the sun's rising in the east. Thus, east (literally "in front" in Hebrew) would have been at the top of their maps. Still, this map would have made little sense because they also perceived the world as a flat disk or circle upon primeval waters or as a garment stretching across the void. Heaven and earth were thought to be sealed together at the rim of the horizon to prevent the influx of cosmic waters. Heaven rested on the earth, which was in turn set on pillars or foundations.

Interstate interchange. (A) Damascus was the intersection of Palestine's two major roads. The Great Trunk Road followed the mountain ranges to the Sea of Galilee (which it encircled), through Capernaum on the northwestern shore, then continued about five miles east of the Mediterranean sea through Gaza on its way to Memphis, Egypt. The King's Highway roughly followed the mountain range on the eastern ...

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