Jordan: King's Highway

We drove for a day along a part of the ancient King's highway (from the city of Madaba to the little mountain village of Dana where we spent the night). The King's Highway is a most ancient route first mentioned by name in the Bible. Lining both sides of this 335 kilometer thoroughfare is a 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 Nabataean temples, two major Roman fortresses, early Islamic towns, and the rock-cut Nabataean capital of Petra.

This is the famous Madaba Map. It is part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George at Madaba. The Madaba Map is the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. It dates to the 6th century AD.

We are being shown around a mosque in Madaba.

A stop along the way to look at what is known as the "Grand Canyon of the Middle East", Wadi Mujib.

We also explored the old Crusader Fort in Karak.

A good spot to shoot arrow at attacking armies from.

The fort itself is a dark maze of stone-vaulted halls and endless passageways.

Karak's most famous occupant was Reynald de Chatillon, whose reputation for treachery, betrayal and brutality is unsurpassed. When Baldwin II died, his son, a 13-year-old leper, sued for peace with Saladin. The Leper King, however, died without an heir, and in stepped Reynald, who succeeded in winning the hand of Stephanie, the wealthy widow of Karak's assassinated regent. He promptly broke the truce with Saladin, who returned with a huge army, ready for war. Reynald and King Guy of Jerusalem led the Crusader forces and suffered a massive defeat. Reynald was taken prisoner and beheaded by Saladin himself, marking the beginning of the decline in Crusader fortunes. The castle was enlarged with a new west wing added by the Ayyubids and Mamluks.