Jericho

Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and the city with the oldest known protective wall in the world. We've all heard the song, "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho" and we were excited to see Jericho was like. Jerusalem has an elevation of 2,600 feet and Jericho is 800' below sea level which makes it the lowest city in the world!

Located within the Israeli occupied West Bank, Jericho is a city apart from the Palestinian Territories 34 miles southeast from Jerusalem, near the Dead Sea. Although known to be a target caught in the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jericho is nevertheless one of the earliest known sites of human civilization.

Photo: Minarette in the new city of Jericho.

Photo: Date palm tree. Jericho was an ideal spot for ancient settlement because it was known as "City of Palm Trees." ( Deut. 34:3) We have several medjool date palm trees in our back yard in Arizona. They yield the largest, sweetest and best variety of dates. Eating dates has become part of diets since living in Jerusalem and the chefs at the Jerusalem Center insist that everyone needs to eat 3 dates each day as they aid in digestion and curb stomach cancer. And when you get a sweet tooth, eat a date because they are good for you and contain no cholesterol.

Jericho has good soil, water resources and a warm climate which made it an ideal setting for growing crops year round.

Photo: This was the entry to the remains of old Jericho. What we saw was nothing like I had ever envisioned! It was a big mound of dirt but when Dr. Skinner explained more about this, we could better understand what we were looking at. This ten acre mound dates back to 8,000 years and almost 30 generations of civilizations. The remains are the oldest city on earth and the only standing remnants of the Neolithic (New Stone Age) period.

We walked up for a closer look and saw the stone tower which excavations have discovered. Photo: Looking down on the Jericho Tower which has been dated to the oldest man-made structure in the world. As we stood where people had lived thousands of years ago, we came to better understand what happened when Israelites made their way to conquer Jericho. (Joshua 6:12)

The Tower of Jericho is a 28 ft stone structure, built in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. It is among the earliest stone monuments of mankind. The tower was constructed using undressed stones with an internal staircase of twenty two steps. Conical in shape, the tower is about 30' in diameter at the base and decreased to to 23 feet at the top. The walls were approximately 4.9" thick and the construction of the tower is estimated to have taken 11,000 working days.

Photo: Cistern. This was the location where the battle of Jericho took place. According to scripture, Joshua was captain of the Lord's hosts. The story of Jericho is told in Joshua 6:1-27. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible tell how Noah cursed Canaan to become a slave and how God gave the land of the Canaanites to Abraham and his descendants. The children of Israel (descendants of Abraham) themselves became slaves in Egypt but through Moses God brought them out of Egypt and to the borders of the promised land of Canaan. There Moses instructed them to seize the land by conquest and placed them under the command of Joshua.

Joshua sent spies to Jericho, the first city of Canaan to be taken and discovered that the land was in fear of Israel and their God. The Israelites marched around the walls once every day for seven days with the priests and the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day they marched seven times around the walls, then the priests blew their ram's horns, the Israelites raised a great shout and the walls of the city fell. The Israelites took no slaves but slaughtered every man, woman and child and animal in Jericho, sparing only Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who had sheltered the spies and her family.

These are the words of the "Battle of Jericho," but I have to say after learning what happened here, I no longer like the song!! Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls cam a-tumbling down. You may talk about your men of Gideob. You may talk about the men of Saul, but there's none like good old Joshua at the Battle of Jericho. Up to the walls of Jericho they marched with spears in hand. "Come blow them ram horns," Joshua said "Cause the battle is in our hands." Then the lamb ram sheep horns began to blow the trumpets began to sound. Joshua commanded the children to shout and the walls came a-tumbling down.

The tower was constructed within a village of settled hunter-gatherers who grew crops and were beginning to prosper within a growing society.

Photo: Mount of Temptation. The Mount of Temptation is said to be the hill in the Judean desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil. The devil took him up to this high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and said unto Jesus, "All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Jesus said unto him, "Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

This sign gives you are lot of interesting details about Jericho.

Next we are going to see the Sultan Springs. This place is significant because according to scripture the spring was healed and is considered pure water today. Elisha took up Elijah's mantle and cured the spring in 2 Kings 2:19-22: Elisha saw that the city of Jericho was pleasant but the water was not and the ground was barren. And he said, "Bring me a new cruze and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, "Thus saith the Lord. I have healed these waters. There shall not be from hence anymore death or barren land." So the waters were healed unto this day according to the sayings of Elisha.

Photo: Pot from the Noelithic (stone age) period.

Photo: Water fountain.

Important things to remember about Jericho: Jesus met with Zacchaeus in Jericho. (Luke 19:1-10). Elijah taught the "sons of the prophets" and Elisha at Jericho. (2 Kings 2) Elijah divided the Jordan and rose to heaven. Jericho was repopulated by returning Jewish exiles and they helped rebuild Jerusalem. (Ezra 2:34)