An ancient trade route that begins in Egypt, the King’s Highway winds across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba and then turns northwards to Damascus, Aleppo, and the Euphrates River. One of the earliest references to the King’s Highway, found in the Book of Numbers (20:17), is the Israelites’ request for safe passage through Edom: "We will keep to the king’s highway without turning to right or left until we are clear of your frontiers."

During the 1^st millennium BC, the King’s Highway linked the kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Several centuries later the Nabateans used this road as a trade route for luxury goods such as frankincense and spices coming up from the southern Arabian peninsula. When the Romans took over the area, they remodeled the road to meet Roman standards for troop transport, and renamed it the Via Nova Traiana. The highway has long been an important pilgrimage route for both Christians and Muslims: Christians used it to visit nearby holy sights such as Mount Nebo and Al Maghtas, and Muslims used it as the main Haj route to Mecca until the Ottomans built the Tariq al-Bint in the 16^th century.