THE
ISRAELITES AND THE KINGS HIGHWAY
Bryant G. Wood
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 110
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 111
After wandering in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula for some 38 years, the Israelites proceeded up the east side of the Dead Sea to enter the Promised Land from the east. In the following pages we will travel with the children of Israel as they make their way from the Sinai to the Plains of Moab, the area from which they launched their Canaanite offensive.
The starting point for the drive to Canaan was Kadesh Barnea. The Israelites had spent considerable time at this desert oasis — it was here that Miriam, Moses’ sister, died and was buried (Numbers 20:1); and it was also the place where Moses struck the rock to obtain water for his people (Numbers 20:2–13).
Kadesh Barnea is generally thought to be Tell e Qudeirat in the northeast Sinai. The name of the tell derives from the spring Ain el Qudeirat, located at the largest oasis in northern Sinai. It is a lush green valley that has attracted travelers and a variety of permanent and semi-permanent residents for millennia. Excavations at Tell e Qudeirat have uncovered pottery from the tenth century B.C. and the remains of a fortress from the period of the kingdom of Judah. No remains from the Israelite encampment have come to light, however.
In order to travel through Transjordan, Moses and the Israelites had to pass through a series of small kingdoms. The first two of these were Edom and Moab, descended from Esau and Lot, respectively. Moses sent messages to these nations requesting permission to pass through their land (Judges 11:17). Only the message to the King of Edom, whose capital was at Seir, later known as Petra, is preserved for us in the biblical record:
Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the King’s Highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders (Numbers 20:17).
But the king of Edom refused permission. This prompted the Israelites to send a second message:
We will go by the Highway: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet (Numbers 20:19).
This time, the king of Edom sent his army out to make clear his answer: he did not want the Israelites passing through his territory (Numbers 20:20, 21). The Moabites likewise refused (Judges
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 112
11:17).
It was Moses’ intent to travel on the King’s Highway to reach the Plains of Moab. This was the major north-south highway through Transjordan, transversing the plateau between the rift valley on the west (the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea and Arabah Valley) and the desert on the east. It made its way from the Gulf of Aqabah in the south to biblical Rabbah (the modern city of Amman) in the north, passing through Edom, Moab, the Amorite Kingdom, and Ammon, connecting the major cities along the way. From Rabbah, the road continued north to Damascus, with the northern section being called the Way of Bashan.
The King’s Highway is undoubtedly one of the most historic roads in the world. From the brief record in Genesis 14, it is apparent that the coalition of four Mesopotamian kings who campaigned in Palestine in Abraham’s day, defeating the combined forces of Sodom, Gomorrah and the Cities of the Plain in the process (see Bible and Spade, Summer 1974, pp. 77-79), used the King’s Highway. Possibly the road obtained its name from this historic event. After the time of Moses and the Israelites, Nabatean caravans operating out of Petra plied the road in the last centuries B.C. and the first century A.D. When the Roman emperor Trajan defeated the Nabateans in A.D. 106, he rebuilt the road in typical Roman fashion with distances being measured off with mile stones, many of which can still be seen today. The road was incorporated into the Roman road system and it became known as Trajan’s Road.
Caravans and armies marched north and south on the road; desert people centuries ago levied protective fees for guarding caravans against molestation by raiders, Crusaders marched on it, fought for it, retreated and charged up and down it; and Arab leaders and Lawrence of Arabia fought Turks along the road in World War I. Then came the automobile and truck, and the King’s Highway was macadamized, straightened, and bolstered to support the heavy vehicles. But it still follows the same basic route through southern Jordan and it is still called the King’s Highway.
The modern King’s Highway starts just south of Amman, the capital of Jordan which was the Roman Philadelphia of 2, 000 years ago, and ends at Aqaba, 209 miles straight south on the Red Sea. It is well paved and makes a most enjoyable trip. In recent times, government resthouses offering meals and lodging have been built near historic attractions along the way.
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 113
But it was not God’s plan for the Israelites to travel the easiest and shortest route through the richest and most bountiful part of the land. Undoubtedly there is a spiritual lesson here for those of us who read this account many centuries later. God wanted the Israelites to follow a route that would take them along the border of Edom and Moab, through a dry and barren land that would not support such a large group as the Israelites. This would force them to continue depending upon Him for their needs. God made His plan very clear when He told Moses:
Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethern the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these 40 years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. (Deuteronomy 2:4–7).
So they set out on their journey around Edom and Moab. Their first stop was Mount Hor, on the border of Edom whose location today is uncertain. Here Aaron died and was buried (Numbers 20:22–29).
After disposing of the Canaanites of the Negev (Numbers 21:13), the Israelites left Mount Hor and journeyed up the Arabah desert, along the west border of Edom (Numbers 21:4, Deuteronomy 2:8). Because of their discouragement and complaining while traveling through this arid wasteland, the Lord sent fiery serpents among them (Numbers 21:4–6). At the Lord’s direction, “Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:9). Jesus used this event as an illustration when He spoke to Nicodemus: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15). In reality, what happened to Moses and the Israelites there in the desert foreshadowed the crucifixion of Christ, “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
After traveling the length of Edom, the Israelites then turned east
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 114
The northern end of the Wadi Araba, south of the Dead Sea, looking west. Somewhere in this area “Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole” (Numbers 21:9).
into the valley of Zared, which formed the border between Edom and Moab (Numbers 21:12). This is the modern Wadi Hesa which flows into the plain south of the Dead Sea, past the site of ancient Zoar (see Bible and Spade, Summer 1974, p. 82 and Winter 1977, pp. 24, 27). The crossing of the Zared was an important occasion for the Israelites, for it marked 38 years that the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness. All those who had doubted that the Lord could bring them into the promised land 38 years before (Numbers 13, 14) were now dead (Deuteronomy 2:14).
As with Edom, God told Moses that the Israelites were to bypass Moab:
Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. (Deuteronomy 2:9).
So they travelled up the Zared, then turned north, going along the east side of Moab, until they came to the Arnon Valley (modern Wadi Mojeb), which was the border between Moab and the land of the Amorites (Numbers 21:13 and Judges 11:18).
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 115
The Arnon Valley is a spectacular canyon, often compared with the Grand Canyon. It is about two and one-half miles wide in the area where the King’s Highway crossed, with the river bed being 1,650 feet below the top of the cliffs. The many-colored strata and the complex erosion patterns make the Arnon Valley truly a magnificent sight.
From the Arnon, the Israelites had to go either through Ammon or the land of the Amorites to reach the Promised Land. God gave clear instructions to Moses:
Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day: and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession: because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession … Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. (Deuteronomy 2:18, 19, 24, 25)
The Israelites sent a message to Sihon, king of the Amorites,
The modern highway, which closely follows the ancient King’s Highway, winds its way down the north side of the Wadi Mojeb, the biblical Arnon Valley.
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 116
again seeking permission to travel on the King’s Highway. The text of that message is preserved for us in Numbers 21:22 (cf. Deuteronomy 2:27–29):
Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the King’s Highway, until we be past thy borders.
Sihon’s answer was similar to that of the King of Edom — he brought his army out against the Israelites. But this time “the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country” (Judges 11:21). At long last, the Israelites were able to set foot on the King’s Highway. By defeating Sihon, they also came into a lot of territory, for “they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan” (Judges 11:22).
The Israelites were quick to occupy Heshbon, the capital, and the other Amorite cities (Numbers 21:25, 26). A site named Hesban, 16 miles southwest of modern Amman, has been generally accepted as the site of biblical Heshbon. A team from Andrews University recently carried out excavations there between 1968 and 1976 (see Bible and Spade, Spring 1974, pp. 56-58). Occupation from the time of Sihon and the Israelite conquest (the Late Bronze Age),was not found, however. The earliest evidence of occupation was from the Iron I Age, 1200-900 B.C. This period is represented by what seems to have been a fortification wall built of rough, tightly fitting boulders, as well as by a large plastered cistern which contained only Iron I sherds in its water-laid silt.
Remains from the period of the divided monarch, the Iron II Age (900-600 B.C.), were also found. Pottery from the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. came to light in two sites on the mound. One is an open-air water reservoir which is undoubtedly the largest such Iron Age reservoir on Jordan’s East Bank. The sections uncovered indicate that it is 50 feet square and 18 feet deep with a capacity of nearly 300,000 gallons of water. It was probably one of the pools mentioned in Song of Solomon 7:4: “Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim…”
The seventh and sixth centuries B.C. are well represented. Part of the ancient defense wall has been discovered, founded on the
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 117
Tell Hesban with the modern Arab village by the same name surrounding the ancient site.
original bedrock. In the reservoir, filled in during Hellenistic times, Ammonite pottery, known previously only from tombs excavated in and around Amman, was recovered. This fill also contained inscribed pottery sherds which have enriched our knowledge of the Ammonite dialect and script.
The absence of material from the time of Sihon puzzled the archaeologists. In order to have a better understanding of the area, a surface survey was conducted in the Hesban region. One major site, Jalul, was found nearby which did have pottery from the time of Sihon and the Israelite conquest. It is possible that Sihon’s Heshbon was at Jalul and that after its defeat by the Israelites a new site, more prominently located, was chosen and given the former name.
In Numbers 21 we have recorded a poem, or song, celebrating Israel’s victory over the Amorites. It ends on this triumphant note: “We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba” (Numbers 21:30). Two of the cities mentioned here are known to us archaeologically: Dibon and Medeba, both of which lie along the King’s Highway.
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 118
Dibon is identified as modern Dhiban, south of Hesban. It is best known in the annals of archeology as the site where the famous Moabite Stone, or Mesha Inscription, was found. The inscribed stone slab, three feet ten inches high, two feet wide, and 10 1/2 inches thick, came into the possession of an Arab sheikh at Dhiban. In August, 1868, the Arab sheikh showed the stone to a German missionary named F. Klein, who reported the find to the authorities.
Both the Germans and the French were interested in the stone and quickly dispatched consular officials to buy it from the Arabs. An argument over the stone soon developed. The Arabs, sensing that they had an object of value, built a fire under the stone, poured water over it to break it into pieces, and divided the fragments which they believed would bless their grain crops.
Fortunately, a French archaeologist had been able to obtain a squeeze, or impression, of the inscription before the stone was destroyed. Efforts were made to recover the fragments that had been scattered, and about two-thirds of the text was recovered. With the help of the squeeze, the stone was reconstructed and placed in the Louvre in Paris.
The inscription contains 39 lines of writing in Moabite, a
The ruins of Dhiban, with Bedouin encampments in the foreground.
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 119
language closely akin to biblical Hebrew. In the inscription, Mesha, king of Moab, commemorates his revolt against the Omride dynasty of Israel. It is of importance to biblical scholars for both linguistic and historical studies. It verifies biblical records since it mentions kings and gods that are also mentioned in the Bible: Mesha, king of Moab; Omri, king of Israel; Chemosh, god of Moab, and Yahweh, God of the Israelites.
The revolt of King Mesha described in the inscription is also recorded in the Bible. Omri, king of Israel from about 885 to 874 B.C., defeated the Moabites and maintained control over them throughout his reign. Omri’s son Ahab succeeded him and also kept Moab under Israelite dominance. Following Ahab’s death, Moab revolted as recorded in 2 Kings 1:1 and 3:5 and on the Moabite Stone. (For more information, see Bible and Spade, Spring 1972, pp. 55-57.)
Of two mounds at Dhibon, the southern one is occupied by a village. The one on the north, which is the more easily defensible because of wadies around it, is thought to preserve the remains of ancient Dibon. Excavations by the American Schools of Oriental Research between 1950 and 1956 revealed the general outline of the city’s history. Evidence of an Early Bronze Age level of occupation (ca. 3300-2300 B.C.), Iron Age (1200-600 B.C.), including from five to ten feet of rich Moabite remains, and later Nabatean levels were found. As at Hesban, evidence from the period of Sihon (Late Bronze Age) was not found.
Biblical Medeba is identified as the modern town of Madeba, located between Hesban and Dhiban on the King’s Highway. The town lies in the midst of rich farm lands so that most pre-Nabatean remains have been wiped out by the subsequent heavy occupation and cultivation. One tomb was found, however, containing remains dating to the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age (ca. 1200 B.C.)
Madeba is most famous for its lovely mosaics which the early Christians built into the floors of their churches there. One of them constitutes the earliest known map of the Holy Land, dating to the sixth century. It is made up of thousands of pieces of colored stone fitted perfectly together, with certain colors used for certain features… yellow, for example, for churches. The mosaic, which may be the most valuable map in the world, is inlaid in the floor of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in the center of town. There is no
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 120
The city of Jerusalem as it appears on the Madaba map.
charge to see the mosaic, but the churchman who removes a thick rubber mat covering the mosaic, expects to hear the clink of coins dropping into the Church poor box as the visitor departs. A government resthouse is across the street from the church, and a short drive west of Madeba is Mt. Nebo.
The King’s Highway evidently ended just north of Heshbon, probably at Rabbah (modern Amman), for as the Israelites proceeded northward after their defeat of Sihon, they went by the Way of Bashan (Numbers 21:33). Bashan was the area which is today northern Jordan and southern Syria.
As the Israelites came into Bashan, “Og the King of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei (Numbers 21:33). The Israelites subsequently defeated Og and thus occupied the territory of Bashan as well as that of the Amorites. Edrei, the scene of the battle is modern Dera, in southern Syria, just a few miles from the Jordanian border. Although excavations have not yet been undertaken here, the site has many ruins and inscriptions and an ancient subterranean city.
After defeating Og and possessing his land, Moses and the
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 121
Israelites retraced their steps south and camped in the Plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea. They remained here until the death of Moses (Numbers 22–36, Deuteronomy). The Israelites then had no further use for the King’s Highway, for under the leadership of Joshua they embarked upon one of the most remarkable and enigmatic events in the history of mankind — the conquest of Canaan.
The Plains of Moab as seen from the top of Mount Nebo.
BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 122