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Earlier roads and routes in Jordan
 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).
[Map  - 41 K] 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. [Map - 41 K] |
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