It has been my theory for years that the route the Magi took followed the Euphrates Road (parallel to the river) northwest from the Parthian capital at Ctesiphon to the fortress city of Dura, and then turned west across the desert to the oasis city of Palmyra, and then on to Damascus and Herod’s administrative capital at Caesarea Maritima before heading to Jerusalem. In 1932, the English translation of Russian historian Michael Rostovtzeff’s book Caravan Cities was published. He wrote:
“…the safest route in this disordered region…was leading across the desert by way of Palmyra. It was this route that the caravans followed…”
Rostovtzeff, Caravan Cities, 101.
