Luke and Matthew both tell us that Mary and Joseph received news of the coming Christ child in Nazareth and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. How the couple got from one village to the other is one of the most interesting visual stories that can be told in the New Testament. Modern-day Israel is a very small state, and very thin. Only two routes would have been under consideration. The shorter route (90 miles/145 km) would have taken them through the mountains of Samaria and Judea. It’s an unlikely path. Jews did not normally travel through Samaria and it’s likely Mary and Joseph had never traveled by that route. Even today Jewish families bypass Palestinian communities in the “West Bank.” The more familiar and safer route would have been by way of the Jordan River Valley and Jericho. Hikers today would need to travel only 10 more miles (16 km) to reach Bethlehem via that route, though it’s uncertain exactly which path Mary and Joseph would have taken. Assuming they took the path where they would have found other Jewish travelers and familiar landmarks, they would have gone east through the Jezreel Valley until they reached Bet She’an, a city of the Decapolis. They would have kept close to the Jordan River or other fresh water sources for the next 40 miles until they reached Jericho. As they neared Jericho, the landscape would have changed from the green fields of the upper Jordan River Valley to the desert landscape more associated with the Benjamin Desert, the Judean Wilderness and the entire Dead Sea region. Jericho is an oasis, fed by several fresh water springs and water coming from Wadi Qelt. After resting in Jericho, they would have tackled the last leg of the journey, traveling the narrow path of Wadi Qelt until they reached Jerusalem or a road leading directly to Bethlehem that bypassed Jerusalem. Wadi Qelt has three water sources. No other way through the wilderness provided water for travelers. If Mary and Joseph traveled through Jericho on this journey, they definitely traveled along this path. Assuming they had one or more pack animals (Joseph was a carpenter and would have needed a donkey or two), the couple still may have walked most of the journey. The animals would have carried water and belongings. It also may have been more comfortable for Mary to walk than to ride during the last season of her pregnancy.