Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Thanks, I don't have access to that book. Any ideas what the primary source
may be

2010/2/11 James Spinti <JSpinti AT eisenbrauns.com>

> Check out p. 41 in Sacred Bridge, by Anson Rainey & Stephen Notley
> (Carta, Jerusalem). He mentions "an ancient Egyptian treatise on roads
> in Canaan" but doesn't cite the source. See also page 123, 199, and 328,
> ranging in date all the way into the Hasmonean times.
>
> James
>
> ________________________________
> James Spinti
> Marketing Director, Book Sales Division
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of James Christian
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 9:14 AM
> To: Yigal Levin
> Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The King's road
>
> That was one of the follow up questions I wanted to ask. Who does the
> King
> refer to? I've seen a map tracing the route of this road from Egypt to
> Eilat
> on the Gulf of Aqaba and then up North through lands we associate with
> the
> Edom, Moab and Ammon of the  day of the Moses  presented in the Torah.
> Although, it's not entirely clear what 'evidence' these depictions of
> the
> road are built on. If there was such a road in the day of Moses could it
> be
> called the 'King's' road because of the importance of the Egyptian
> empire?
> Could it have been a designated route to the King (Pharoah) or have been
> 'built' (marked out) by the Pharoah for trade routes?
>
> In terms of actual evidence what do we have? If the road was never built
> what archeological evidence do we actually have of such a trade route?
> Apart
> from the references in the Torah what ancient sources do we have that
> talk
> about the road that we can get any clues from? Also, wouldn't the clues
> in
> the Torah suggest a single road with a particular route rather than two
> separate roads? And even if they were two different roads with a
> designation
> for public passage through a country wouldn't it make sense that they
> connect with each other in some way?
>
> thanks
> James Christian
>
> 2010/2/11 Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
>
> > Hi James,
> >
> > The term "derekh hammelekh" is a legal one, meaning "the public road",
> as
> > opposed to private property. Exactly the same term, "harran sharri",
> occurs
> > in Akkadian. Its two occurrences in the Bible in fact refer to two
> > different
> > roads: in Num. 20:19 Moses is at Kadesh-barnea and wishes to go east
> across
> > what is now called "the Negev Highlands" towards what is now called
> the
> > Arava into Edom. In 21:22 he's already in Transjordan and wishes to
> cross
> > the Arnon northward through the Mishor, which was ruled by Sihon.
> >
> > At some point in the early 20th century, someone (maybe it was Kurt
> > Galling)
> > decided that "derekh hammelekh" is the proper name of the main
> north-south
> > route on the Transjordanian plateau. The road itself is well known
> > throughout history and is still one of the major highways of Jordan
> today.
> > Roughly, it goes from Damascus to Der'a (Edrei) to Amman to Madeba to
> > Hisban
> > to Diban to Bazrah Petra to Aqaba. Its specific route shifted to
> reflect
> > changes in settlement over the ages. Remember that before the Roman
> period,
> > roads were usually not "built" or marked, nor did they have proper
> names.
> > Rather, they were referred to by their destination, depending on the
> > perspective of the speaker.
> >
> > The same, by-the-way, is true for the famous "Derekh hayyam" or "Via
> > Maris".
> > While the main route that ran parallel to the Mediterranean coast is
> well
> > known and was very important, it did not have a single permanent name,
> > nore,
> > BTW, did it actually lead to the sea. Isaiah 8:23 (or 9:1 in most
> English
> > versions) does not refer to this road. However both names as commonly
> used
> > today as if they were the ancient designations of these roads.
> >
> > By the way, I once heard a Jordanian tour guide tell his group that
> the
> > "king's highway" is called that because it was built by King Mesha!
> >
> >
> > Yigal Levin
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of James
> Christian
> > Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 12:16 PM
> > To: b-hebrew
> > Subject: [b-hebrew] The King's road
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > does anybody know what evidence we actually have for the route of the
> > 'King's highway'? The one that Moses evidently asks permission to use
> in
> > his
> > plans to cross through Edom (Numbers 20:19) and then also through
> Ammon
> > (Numbers 21:22)?
> >
> > thanks,
> > James Christian
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