Walk like a Persian: Least Cost Path analysis as a method in the historiography of the Persian royal road (in the Southern Levant)

This chapter presents a study using Least Cost Analysis to assess the potential routes of the Persian royal road in the southern Levant. After describing the methodology used for creating Least Cost Paths, two sample itineraries are compared between the later Roman road and the paths delimited by Least Cost. Some implications for the historiography of the Persian road and directions for future work are then indicated.<br/>