The King’s Highway was a trade route of vital importance in the ancient Near East, connecting Africa with Mesopotamia. It ran from Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba, then turned northward across Transjordan, to Damascus and the Euphrates River.
There are three near-parallel highways running North to South in the central part of Jordan. The most-traveled skirts the shore of the Dead Sea, while the Desert Highway runs to the East. Either would take you from Amman to Aqaba (on the Red Sea), in about four hours of easy driving. Between these two highways lies the old “King’s Highway,” an ancient roadway that winds through mountain towns and around tiny villages.
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