ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Via Maris

Via Maris means "Way of the Sea" in Latin. It refers to an important trade route that existed thousands of years ago along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Imagine you are building a sandcastle on a beach. Now picture that this beach is very long, and along this beach, there are many cities and towns where people live. These people need to travel from one place to another to trade goods like olive oil, wine, and pottery. So, they build a special path that runs along the beach, and that is the Via Maris.

The Via Maris was used by many different groups of people over history, such as the Egyptians, the Israelites, and the Romans. They traveled on this route on foot, on horses, or on carts pulled by donkeys or camels. They exchanged goods like spices, textiles, and metals. It was a very important trade route because it connected Europe, Asia, and Africa, and allowed traders to make money by selling things from different parts of the world.

Nowadays, the Via Maris is not used as a trade route anymore, but it still exists, and you can visit the ruins of the ancient cities that were built along it. It is like a time machine that takes you back to a time when people used to travel long distances to exchange goods and learn about each other's cultures.