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OVERLAND CARAVAN1,900 km Total NetworkActive: 2000 BCE – 700 CE

The King’s Highway and the Via Maris

The two ancient roads between Egypt and Syria: the King’s Highway along the Transjordan plateau and the coastal Via Maris through Gaza and Megiddo.

6.0
Type: overland-caravanMap centre: [35.7°, 31.18°]Line: YearMaps schematic line drawn between the documented stations.

Places Along the King’s Highway and the Via Maris

Tel Megiddo, on the King’s Highway and the Via Maris
Tel MegiddoCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wadi Mujib, on the King’s Highway and the Via Maris
Wadi MujibCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kerak Castle, on the King’s Highway and the Via Maris
Kerak CastleCC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Commercial Genesis & Spatial Network

Two roads carried traffic between the Nile and Mesopotamia. The King’s Highway, named in the Book of Numbers, climbed from the Gulf of Aqaba onto the plateau east of the Dead Sea and ran north through Edom, Moab and Ammon to Damascus. The coastal road, known today as the Via Maris, followed the Mediterranean shore from the Nile delta to Gaza, then turned inland through the pass at Megiddo. After Rome annexed the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, the emperor Trajan rebuilt the plateau road as the Via Nova Traiana from Bosra to Aila.

Economic Impact & Cultural Diffusion

Linked the Arabian incense trade to Syria and the Mediterranean, and control of its choke points, above all Megiddo, decided campaigns from Thutmose III onward.

Caravanserais and Halting Places on This Route

15 caravanserais recorded within 40 km of the mapped line. A caravanserai is a roadside inn; a halting place is a named camping ground with no permanent building. How caravans travelled and how a caravanserai worked.

Barquq Castle, Palestine

Barquq Castle

Caravanserai · Palestine · 31.3432° N, 34.3033° E

Barquq Castle (Arabic: قلعة برقوق, romanized: Qalʿat Barqūq), also known as the Younis al-Nuruzi Caravansari or simply Khan Younis, was a Mamluk-era fortified mosque and caravanserai. It was one of the most important Mamluk strongholds in the region. The city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip takes its name from this building, which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Egypt–Gaza border. It lies along the historical road from Cairo to Damascus, known as the Via Maris. It was damaged by the Israeli army during the Gaza war.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Khan al-Umdan, Israel

Khan al-Umdan

Caravanserai · Israel · 32.9199° N, 35.0690° E

Khan al-Umdan (Arabic: خان العمدان: "Caravanserai of the Pillars" or "Inn of the Columns", also known as Khán-i-ʻAvámid) is the largest and best preserved caravanserai in Acre, Israel. Located in the Old City of Acre, it is one of the prominent projects constructed during the rule of Ahmed Jezzar Pasha in Galilee, under the Ottoman era.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Khirbat Al-Burj, Haifa, Israel

Khirbat Al-Burj, Haifa

Caravanserai · Israel · 32.5095° N, 34.9406° E

Khirbat Al-Burj was a former Palestinian village, depopulated in 1948. Presently, Khirbat Al-Burj (lit. "ruin of the tower") or Burj Binyamina is a ruined stone-built structure in the Sharon Plain 1 km south of Binyamina from the Ottoman period. It is one of the estates established around Qisarya (Caesarea), alongside al-Manshiya, al-Sufsafa, and Hudaydun.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo via Wikimedia Commons

All Recorded Stopping Places

NameTypeCountryCoordinates
Barquq CastleCaravanseraiPalestine31.3432° N, 34.3033° E
Khan al-UmdanCaravanseraiIsrael32.9199° N, 35.0690° E
Khirbat Al-Burj, HaifaCaravanseraiIsrael32.5095° N, 34.9406° E
al-Umdan CaravansaryCaravanseraiIsrael32.9199° N, 35.0689° E
Building 18013-238CaravanseraiIsrael32.9219° N, 35.0714° E
Building 18013-302-303-304CaravanseraiIsrael32.9212° N, 35.0699° E
Building 19992-16CaravanseraiIsrael32.9200° N, 35.0691° E
Caravanserai of SergiopolisCaravanseraiSyria35.6288° N, 38.7569° E
Han el bashaCaravanseraiIsrael32.7014° N, 35.2967° E
Khan a-ShawardaCaravanseraiIsrael32.9219° N, 35.0714° E
Khan Al-Lubban ash-SharqiyaCaravanseraiPalestine32.0591° N, 35.2498° E
Khan al-ShunaCaravanseraiIsrael32.9201° N, 35.0681° E
Khan el-FarangiCaravanseraiIsrael32.9211° N, 35.0697° E
Old khan of LodCaravanseraiIsrael31.9544° N, 34.9003° E
Ramat Yishay KhanCaravanseraiIsrael32.7069° N, 35.1717° E

Sources: Wikidata (caravanserais, CC0) and the OWTRAD project (halting places). All caravanserais and halting places

Logistics, Caravanserais & Overland Hazards

  • ▲The plateau road crosses the deep gorges of the Wadi Mujib and Wadi Hasa
  • ▲The coastal road was exposed to whichever power held the fortified towns of the plain
  • ▲Roman milestones and forts marked the Via Nova Traiana along its whole length
  • ▲In the Islamic period the same road became the Syrian pilgrim route to Mecca

Custodial Empires & Polities

Sovereign states that safeguarded, taxed, or maintained garrisons along this route:

New Kingdom of EgyptKingdoms of Edom, Moab and AmmonNeo-Assyrian EmpireNabataean KingdomRoman EmpireByzantine Empire

More Routes in This Region

Persia, Arabia and the Levant

The Arabian Incense & Frankincense Route2,400 km

overland caravan • 1500 BCE – 300 CE

Darb Zubaydah (The Kufa–Mecca Pilgrim Road)1,400 km

overland caravan • 750 CE – 1258 CE

The Persian Royal Road of Darius I2,700 km

overland caravan • 550 BCE – 330 BCE

Caravan Routes of the Persian Deserts3,200 km

overland caravan • 550 BCE – 1930 CE

Nearby Routes in Other Regions

Route from the Varangians to the Greeks3,000 km

inland waterway • 800 CE – 1100 CE

The Roman Highway Network (Viae Publicae)85,000 km

overland caravan • 312 BCE – 476 CE

The Ancient Amber Road1,200 km

overland caravan • 1500 BCE – 400 CE