Hammamat Ma'in is near the city of Madaba (and along the 'King's Highway'), and is a series of natural hot spring waterfalls which fall into pools called baths. Close by are two sites steeped in history and linked to  King Herod the Great.  One is the palace (large Villa) that Herod built at Makawer, where Salome danced, and where John the Baptist was beheaded; now Hamamat Ma'in, the thermal mineral springs, where Herod was said to have bathed in its medicinal water.  People still come here from the days of Rome to now, to bathe in it's healing waters. 

     The King's Highway was the route that Moses was to follow as he led his people north through the land of Edom, which is in southern Jordan. The Kings' Highway is a very spectacular route which was the original north-south road from Biblical times until recently, today it is largely unused by through traffic.

        This was the original route through Jordan, connecting the Egypt via the Red Sea to Damascus, Syria. This ancient Silk Road was used 5,000 years ago by trade caravans, pilgrims en route to Mecca, and even Israelites, who were led by Moses to the Promised Land in 1200 BC. The name  Kings Highway comes from the passage in Numbers 20:14, 17: "Moses then sent messengers to the King of Edom...Please let us pass through your land...we shall go along the King's Highway, not turning to the right or left until we pass through your territory." Today, remnants of the brick paved road and ancient mile markers are seen a short distance from the modern asphalted highway.

Left to right: 1) one of the hot spring waterfalls