KING’S ROAD

The road from which the Israelites promised not to depart if allowed to pass through Edomite territory and the Amorite realm of King Sihon. (Num. 20:17; 21:21, 22; Deut. 2:26, 27) So this road must have extended from the Gulf of Aqabah at least as far as the Jabbok, the apparent N boundary of Sihon’s territory. Many believe that it ran as far N as Damascus and generally corresponded to the paved Roman highway built by Emperor Trajan in the second century C.E. With the exceptions of needed adjustments for modern traffic, the present-day road closely follows the ancient Roman highway, portions of which still exist.