Eruvin 22B

אילימא משום דמקיף לה סולמא דצור מהך גיסא ומחתנא דגדר מהך גיסא ⁠— בבל נמי, מקיף לה פרת מהך גיסא ודיגלת מהאי גיסא! דכולא עלמא נמי מקיף אוקיינוס! דילמא מעלות ומורדות קאמרת?

If you say this law because Eretz Yisrael is surrounded by the Ladder of Tyre on one side and the slope of Gader on the other side, each formation being over 10 handbreadths high and constituting a valid partition, then Babylonia, which is also surrounded by the Euphrates River on one side and the Tigris River on the other side, should not be considered a public domain either. Moreover, the entire world is also surrounded by the ocean, and therefore there should be no public domain anywhere in the world. Rather, perhaps you spoke of the ascents and descents of Eretz Yisrael, which are not easy to traverse and hence should not have the status of a public domain?

אמר ליה: קרקפנא, חזיתיה לרישך בי עמודי כי אמר רבי יוחנן להא שמעתא.

Rav Dimi said to him: Man of great skull, i.e., man of distinction, I saw your head between the pillars of the study hall when R' Yoḥanan taught this halakha, meaning you grasped the meaning as though you actually were present in the study hall and heard the statement from R' Yoḥanan himself.

איתמר נמי, כי אתא רבין אמר רבי יוחנן, ואמרי לה, אמר רבי אבהו אמר רבי יוחנן: מעלות ומורדות שבארץ ישראל אין חייבין עליהן משום רשות הרבים לפי שאינן כדגלי מדבר.

It was also stated that when Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael he said that R' Yoḥanan said, and some say it was R' Abbahu who said that R' Yoḥanan said: In the case of the ascents and descents of Eretz Yisrael, one is not liable for carrying in the public domain, because they are not like the banners in the desert. To be regarded as a public domain, a place must be similar to the area in which the banners of the tribes of Israel passed in the desert, i.e., it must be level and suitable for the passage of large numbers of people.