Chariot, shank's mare or litter?

Would livery stables in 4BC Jerusalem have chariots or carts of some sort for hire?

I need to get my MC from Jerusalem to Bethlehem quickly, and in secret, as Herod's secret police will be searching for her. She's accompanied by a noble from the court so price isn't a big problem. It's very unlikely she would know how to ride a horse. She could walk, of course, though that would take some time.

I've tried Google but just get mostly present-day tour information about ancient Jerusalem.

Anyone know?

Thanks for the link; I was using "ancient" rather than "biblical" for the search and getting nothing but modern tours of ancient ruins.

Donkeys sound like the way to go.

I'm not sure; I'm Canadian but spent many youthful summers with relatives in Vermont. I've heard it both ways, with "mare" used more often.

I don't think I've heard it at all in the West.

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:

Until Medievalist finds this thread, I'll give you this, from Michael Quinion and World of Words.

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I confess I'm a bit surprised at this; I thought the term dated from the BC years and was Roman in origin. Don't know where I got that idea from, though and he's much more likely to be right.

My gut feeling would be that most larger towns in any civilization that used animal transport in a big way would have to have some form of livery stable. Merchants then, like merchants now, needed to transport their goods but wouldn't necessarily want the expense of keeping draft animals in between deliveries, even if they had the space. Inns normally had stabling for their patrons but made their money selling space for people, not animals. Even the wealthy might not want, or be allowed, to stable animals in the heart of the city, with all the attendant work, lost space, and mess. There would almost have to be one bright lad to put those points together and go into business renting draft or riding animals to those who didn't want to keep a full-time stable staff.

Captain Scarf said:

You could try contacting the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Google their website, some of the lecturers have e-mail addresses.

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I've sent an inquiry off to the staff of the Archaeology library asking if they know, or have suggestions on where I might look for information.

... and apparently I would be wrong.

Heard back from a kind gentleman at the university who says as far as he knows there is no evidence of stables within the city in that time period. He did suggest checking within Josephus Flavius' "Antiquities" and the New Testament for any mentions.

Wouldn't I have looked silly if I'd just gone ahead without asking anyone?

Well, there would certainly be animals within the city transporting goods, but maybe space was at so much of a premium that none would be willingly spared for stabling, so they were shoved outside the walls with the other smelly industries.

The babe in the manger wouldn't count, as that wasn't in Jerusalem itself, but a small town nearby.

More research, starting with Josephus, I guess. If stables weren't allowed inside the city, it's a detail I want to put in, just because it's so unexpected.