Bible Dictionaries
Streets

Holman Bible Dictionary

Pathways established and constructed for transportation via animals and vehicles. The layout of city streets often was established by the shape of the outer city walls. In some cities a wide street encircled the city, following the line of the outer wall. In other towns, streets radiated from a main plaza or thoroughfare. The doors of shops, storehouses, and private homes opened onto the street. Often, household wastes were thrown out into the street. Small, crooked lanes and alleyways led off from main streets, ending at a central courtyard serving several homes or shops. Streets were often paved with large, flat stones, although dirt paths were not uncommon. Larger towns constructed drainage canals beneath city streets, some to carry away waste water and others to trap the run off from winter rains which was channeled into cisterns. During the New Testament era, Roman engineers designed cities throughout the empire with wide, straight, and well-constructed streets, usually leading to a central plaza or temple. Sidewalks with raised curbs bordered streets set with large polygonal paving stones. Drains below the pavement carried away sewage and rain water. The constant traffic of carts and pedestrians often wore ruts into the streets, necessitating repair.

David Maltsberger