Karak Resources Project

What earlier roads existed in the areas crossed by the Via Nova? There are references in the Hebrew Bible to “the king’s highway,” an ancient north/south road crossing central Jordan (Numbers 20:7; 21:22), and in the Mesha inscription or Moabite stone to “the highway at the Arnon” (i.e. the Arnon River which is the current Wadi Mujib). This later source indicates that the 9th century Moabite King Mesha repaired or rebuilt this ancient highway (2 Kings 3 has some material that parallels the Mesha stele information). The natural geography, the availability of water, and the desirability of trade or travel back and forth from Egypt and Arabia to Syria and beyond were all factors in the creation and maintenance of north/south routes east of the Jordan River for thousands of years. The other principle n/s route, today called the “Desert Highway,” may have been the alternative route chosen by the Hebrews when their request to travel the “King’s Highway” was denied by the Edomites and Amorites (according to Deut 2:8). This desert route avoids the deep canyons formed by the Arnon and Zared Rivers (Wadis Mujib and Hesa) but, as the name implies, this route offered less water and fewer convenient stops. Both the king’s highway (Tariq es-Sultani) and the desert highway were used with some variation throughout the history of Jordan and they are today the two main north/south roads in the country.