Iron Age Numerous ancient states, including
Edom,
Moab,
Ammon, and various
Aramaean polities, depended largely on the King's Highway for trade.
Classical antiquity The
Nabataeans used the road as a trade route for luxury goods such as
frankincense and
spices from southern
Arabia. It was possibly the cause of their war with the
Hasmonean ruler
Alexander Jannaeus and with
Iturea in the beginning of the 1st century BC. During the
Roman period, the road was called
Via Regia. Emperor
Trajan rebuilt and renamed it
Via Traiana Nova, under which name it served as a military and trade road along the fortified
Limes Arabicus.
Byzantine period In the
Byzantine period, the road was an important
pilgrimage route for
Christians, as it passed next to
Mount Nebo,
Moses' death and burial site according to the
Bible. Another road connected it with
Jerusalem passing by
Livias and the traditional site of
Jesus' baptism by
John the Baptist on the
Jordan River near, known today in
Arabic as
al-Maghtas, and on via
Jericho.
Muslim period During Muslim rule from the 7th century, the road was the main
Hajj route from
Syria to
Mecca, until the
Ottoman Turks built the
Tariq al-Bint in the 16th century. During periods of truce, the Hajj caravans were usually left unharmed by the Crusader lords of Oultrejourdain; however,
Raynald of Châtillon attacked and plundered the pilgrims twice. His deeds eventually led to his own death at the hands of
Saladin, and to the fall of the Crusader kingdom in 1187 in the
Battle of Hattin. With his knowledge of ancient history, it was this route that T. E. Lawrence took (160 miles in 49 hours) to Cairo to inform British Intelligence of the Arab victory at Aqaba in July 1917. ==In the Bible==