The King's Highway is an ancient trade route from Egypt to Iran, and control of the road was source of many conflicts beginning in Biblical times. Now anyone can drive on it with a Jordanian visa and a functional automobile. We had some doubts about our vehicle -- the knobs on the window cranks fell off as soon as we got in the car -- but it was almost certainly more comfortable than taking a camel.
Along the way we stopped at Madaba, home to amazing Byzantine mosaics.
The Byzantines built several churches in Madaba, and Madaba now has the largest Christian population in Jordan.
The next stop on the King's Highway was a castle built by the crusaders built in the 12th century, and the largest such castle outside of Syria. The castle was several stories -- the stables were three levels! -- and was very carefully organized to store and conserve water. The kitchens were spread over several rooms, and they had enormous vats for pressing grapes into wine. It must have been cozy in the winter, but no amount of wine would convince us to spend a sweltering summer in the castle.
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