Route 227 (, ''Kvish 227'') is a road in the eastern

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It starts from an intersection with Route 206 in the northwest and ends in Ir Ovot in the southeast, intersecting with Highway 90. It has one at-grade intersection at 19 km. The original road (since upgraded) was laid by British land surveyors in 1927. Prior to 1956, this was the primary route from

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

. Scorpions' Pass (, ''Ma'ale Akrabbim'', lit. "Scorpions' Ascent") is a steep, twisted section of Route 227, starting from the (an archaeological site) in the south. Scorpions' Pass is a recognized heritage site in Israel.

History

Antiquity

The

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

built the ascent in the late 1st century CE from the Wadi Zin to the highlands of the northern

desert during their control of the Middle East. Under British control, the ascent was slightly rebuilt to the north. During the Nabatean period, the route became a part of the

Spice Route The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eas ...

. The Scorpion Path is mentioned in the Books of

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

, and

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

, in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah (son of Jacob), Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Canaan, occupying it ...

and of the

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

overall.

State of Israel

Route 227 passes through a series of nature reserves: Mishor Yamin,

HaMakhtesh HaKatan HaMakhtesh HaKatan (, ''lit.'' The Small Crater) or simply Makhtesh HaKatan or Makhtesh Katan, is a makhtesh, a geological erosional landform, situated in Israel's Negev desert. At 5 km by 7 km, it is the third largest of the five makht ...

, Makteshim-

Ein Yahav Ein Yahav () is a moshav in southern Israel. Located 100 m below sea level in the northern Arava valley, 12 km south of Hatzeva and between the Yahav and Nikrot streams, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Central Arava Regional Coun ...

and the

Judean Desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (, ) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, ...

. The Ma'ale Akrabim section of the road was declared dangerous and has been closed to traffic since 2017. Below the pass, there is an abyss, and the road has no guard rails. In addition, the road has extreme dropoffs of hundreds of metres. The Israeli Army Corps of Engineers paved it in 1950. It was again repaved in 2004. The

National Roads Company of Israel Netivei Israel (, ''lit.'' Routes of Israel), formerly the National Roads Company of Israel (, ), also called National Roads Authority, is a government-owned corporation, in charge of planning, construction and maintenance of most road infrastruct ...

is ''de facto'' responsible for the road.

Junctions (West to East)

References

{{Transportation in Israel

227 Year 227 (Roman numerals, CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

History

Antiquity

State of Israel

Junctions (West to East)

See also

References