The Kings Highway was one of the major north/south trade routes connecting much of the middle east from Egypt through Syria. It is the desert route starting north at Resafa and running parallel to the coastal route ending at Heliopolis in Egypt.
“Lining both sides of this thoroughfare is a rich chain of archaeological sites that reads like an index of ancient history and a biblical gazetteer — prehistoric villages from the Stone Age, biblical towns from the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom, Crusader Castles, some of the finest early Christian Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East, a Roman-Herodian fortress, several Nabatean temples, two major Roman fortresses, early Islamic towns, and the rock-cut Nabatean capital of Petra.
First mentioned by name in the Bible, the Kings Highway was the route that Moses wished to follow as he led his people north through the land of Edom, which today is in southern Jordan. The name may, however, derive from the even earlier episode recounted in Genesis 14, when an alliance of “four kings from the north” marched their troops along this route to do battle against the five kings of the Cities of the Plain, including the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” (From Visit Jordan site ).
One of my favourite portion of the scriptures.
Why is that your favorite?
I thought it maybe a straight path God lead’s his people out proving some crooked way also. But he will make that Straight what’s crooked.
At Numbers 21 the land was still forested and not desert. It originally ran through a very forested area from Egypt to modern Syria.