Jericho

Jericho is a very old city.

It sits in the West Bank. The Jordan River is near it.

Water comes from springs in the ground. This water helped people live there. They stayed for a long time.

People built homes with clay and straw. They used the sun to dry the bricks. They also built a big stone tower.

Some people lived there a long time ago. They grew food like wheat. They also hunted wild animals.

It is one of the oldest cities. It is a special place to see.

Jericho is a city in the West Bank.

It sits in the Jordan Valley. The Jordan River is to the east. Jerusalem is to the west.

Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. People have lived there for a very long time. Springs of water come from the ground. This water helped people stay in one place.

Long ago, people built round homes. They used bricks made of clay and straw. They let the sun dry the bricks. They also built a massive stone wall. Inside the wall, there was a tall stone tower.

This tower is one of the oldest ever found.

Archaeologists study the site of Tell es-Sultan. This is a mound of old layers from many homes.

People found many things there. They found tools and even art. Some art shows human faces made with plaster.

These finds help us learn about the past. In 2023, this site became a World Heritage Site.

Jericho is a city located in the West Bank, within Palestine. It sits in the Jordan Valley, a special area between mountains and water. To the east, the Jordan River flows nearby. To the west, the city of Jerusalem is located.

This place is very famous because it is one of the oldest cities in the world. Many people call it the "city of palm trees" because of its environment. The city has many springs that bring water to the land. These springs have helped people live there for thousands of years.

Living in Jericho has changed many times over a long period. Long ago, people were hunter-gatherers who moved from place to place. They used the local springs as camping grounds. When the weather became warmer around 9600 BCE, people began to stay in one place all year. They started to farm crops like wheat and barley. They also kept animals like sheep.

Over time, these people built many different types of homes. They went from living in round houses to living in rectangular buildings. These new homes often had stone foundations and smooth floors.

Archaeologists study the history of the city by digging in the ground. They look at a place called Tell es-Sultan, which means "Sultan's Hill." This is a large mound made of many layers of old settlements.

Many experts have worked there since 1868. People like Charles Warren and Kathleen Kenyon helped find many secrets. More recently, an Italian-Palestinian team has been working to restore the site. They have found amazing things like a palace and old towers. These discoveries show how people organized their lives long ago.

There are many important facts about the old buildings in Jericho. Around 8000 BCE, people built a massive stone wall. Inside this wall, they built a stone tower that was very tall.

The tower had an internal staircase with 22 stone steps. This is one of the oldest towers ever found in the world. In the Bronze Age, the city grew even larger. By 2600 BCE, the settlement reached its biggest size. The city even had defensive walls and large cemeteries for its people.

Today, Jericho is a place where the past and present meet. The old site of Tell es-Sultan is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means it is recognized as a very important part of human history.

In 2017, the city had a population of 20,907 people. You can still see the history through old art and artifacts. Some people found plaster skulls that look like human faces.

These objects help us connect with the people who lived there thousands of years ago.

Jericho is a city located in the West Bank, Palestine. It sits within the Jordan Valley, a region between the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west.

The city is widely recognized as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Its history is deeply tied to the natural environment, specifically the abundant springs found in the area. These water sources have attracted human habitation for many thousands of years. Because of its lush surroundings, the Bible describes Jericho as the "city of palm trees." Today, the archaeological site at its center, known as Tell es-Sultan, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The term "tell" refers to an artificial mound created by many layers of human settlement built one on top of another.

At Jericho, this process began during the very early stages of the Holocene epoch. Before permanent settlements formed, Natufian hunter-gatherer groups used the Ein es-Sultan spring as a camping ground. During the Younger Dryas, a period of intense cold and drought, people could not stay in one place permanently. However, around 9600 BCE, the climate warmed and the droughts ended. This change allowed groups to stay year-round, leading to the first permanent settlements. This transition marked the move from nomadic life to a sedentary lifestyle based on agriculture.

The earliest permanent settlement occurred during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period between 9500 and 9000 BCE. During this era, people lived in small, circular dwellings made of sun-dried clay and straw bricks. These houses were plastered with mud mortar and featured roofs made of mud-smeared brush. A major feature of this period was the construction of a massive stone wall and a large stone tower.

Built around 8300 BCE, the tower contained an internal staircase with 22 stone steps. This structure is among the oldest towers ever discovered. Archaeologists believe the wall may have protected agricultural soil from flood water erosion. The construction of such large works suggests that these early people had a high level of social organization.

Following a five-century gap in settlement, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period began around 6800 BCE. This era saw significant changes in how people lived and built their homes. Architecture shifted from circular shapes to rectilinear buildings made of mudbricks on stone foundations. These buildings often featured rooms arranged around a central courtyard and had smooth, red or pinkish lime floors.

The PPNB people also expanded their agricultural range and began domesticating sheep. One of the most striking discoveries from this time is the use of plastered human skulls.

These skulls had their facial features reconstructed using plaster and shells for eyes. They may have served as early forms of portraiture or religious objects kept within homes.

As time passed, Jericho entered the Bronze Age, experiencing several distinct stages of growth. During the Early Bronze Age, the settlement evolved from small villages into proto-urban towns and eventually fortified cities. By approximately 2600 BCE, the settlement reached its largest extent during the Early Bronze IIIA period. During the Middle Bronze Age, between 1700 and 1550 BCE, Jericho became a prominent city in the Canaan region. This was a prosperous era characterized by advanced defensive systems. The city featured extensive walls strengthened by rectangular towers and a complex system of stone revetments. These defenses protected a city that was part of a larger trend of urbanization in the region.

Archaeology has helped uncover these layers through many different scientific expeditions. The first excavations were led by Charles Warren in 1868. Later, researchers like Ernst Sellin, Carl Watzinger, and John Garstang conducted important digs in the early 20th century. Kathleen Kenyon performed significant work between 1952 and 1958. More recently, an Italian-Palestinian archaeological project has worked to restore the site. This team has discovered important structures, such as Palace G on the eastern flanks of Spring Hill. These ongoing studies continue to reveal how different cultures occupied the site over millennia.

Jericho remains a significant site where ancient history meets modern life. In 2023, the site of Tell es-Sultan was officially recognized as the "oldest fortified city in the world" by UNESCO. The city's population was recorded at 20,907 in 2017. The history of the area has seen many shifts in control, moving from the era of Mandatory Palestine to Jordanian rule in 1950. In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, and administrative control was later handed to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. Through all these changes, the city's identity as a center of human history remains constant. The artifacts found there, from stone tools to elaborate pottery, connect modern people to the very beginnings of civilization.