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Jericho
Jericho (Arabic , ?Ar???; Hebrew , Standard Y?ri?o Tiberian Y?rî?ô / Y?rî?ô; Greek ??????) is a town in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories, located within the Jericho Governorate, near the Jordan River. Its name may be derived from the word meaning "moon" in Hebrew and Canaanite, as the city was an early center of worship for lunar deities.[1] Despite the city's long history, Jericho was first mentioned in the Book of Numbers. Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world,[2] and archaeologists have unearthed the remains of over 20 successive settlements there, dating back to 11,000 years ago (9000 BCE).[3] Jericho has a population of approximately 25,000 Palestinians.[4] The current mayor is Hassan Saleh, a former lawyer. Three separate settlements have existed at or near the current location for more than 11,000 years. The position is on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea. Jericho has been described as a "city of Palm trees" where the copious springs of both tepid and cold waters gave rise to orchards of Lemons, Oranges, Bananas, Caster Oil plants and where melons, figs and grapes were grown. The cultivation of sugar cane was introduced by the crusaders.[5]
HistoryRoman and Byzantine periodJericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world,[6] dating back to 9000 BCE. Jericho is where Bacchides is said to have built one of his fortresses (1 Macc 9:50). Later, Ptolemy was made governor of the Jordan Valley and the area was the scene of the massacre of Simon and his sons (1 Macc 16:1117).[7] The first developments of Jericho, probably took place in the days of John Hyrcanus I included the construction of a long well-built water channel to carry water from the Wadi Qelt springs to the city, a royal estate and the first phase of a winter palace. During Herod the Great's reign of Jericho, he managed to build three independent palaces at the same site, which ultimately functioned as one. In 371 BCE, the Hasmonean family continued to use his palace in Jericho. The dramatic murder of Aristobulus III in a swimming pool at Jericho, as told by the Roman historian Josephus, took place during a banquet organized by Herod's Hasmonean mother-in-law. In 330 BCE, Jericho was taken from Herod and transferred to the control of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. The city, since the construction of its palaces, functioned not only as an agricultural center and as a crossroad, but as a winter resort for Jerusalem's aristocracy.[7] The Christian Bible states that Jesus passed through Jericho where he cured two blind men and converted a local tax collector named Zacchaeus. Christianity took hold in the city during the Byzantine era and a domed church dedicated to Saint Eliseus was erected there.[7] ArchaeologyThe first archaeological excavations of the site were made by Charles Warren in 1868. Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger excavated Tell es-Sultan and Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq between 1907-1909 and in 1911 John Garstang excavated between 1930 and 1936. Extensive investigations using more modern techniques were made by Kathleen Kenyon between 1952 and 1958. Lorenzo Nigro and Nicolo Marchetti conducted a limited excavation in 1997. Later that same year, Dr. Bryant Wood also made a visit to the site to verify the findings of the earlier 1997 team. Tell es-Sultan
Hisham's Palace archaeological site just north of central Jericho Epipaleolithic — construction at the site apparently began before the invention of agriculture, with construction of stone of the Natufian culture structures beginning earlier than 9000 BCE, virtually at the very beginning of the Holocene epoch in geologic history. 
Greek Orthodox monastery overlooking modern Jericho. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, 8350 BCE to 7370 BCE. Sometimes it is called Sultanian. The site is a 40,000 square metre settlement surrounded by a stone wall, with a stone tower in the centre of one wall. This is so far the oldest wall ever to be discovered, thus suggesting some kind of social organization. The town contained round mud-brick houses, yet no street planning.[8] The 2000-3000 dwellers[9] (population weighed to the former value) used domesticated emmer wheat, barley and pulses and hunted wild animals. The true population of Jericho during the PPN A period is still under debate. Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, 7220 BCE to 5850 BCE (but carbon-14-dates are few and early). Expanded range of domesticated plants. Possible domestication of sheep. Apparent cult involving the preservation of human skulls, with facial features reconstructed from plaster and eyes set with shells in some cases. After the PPN A settlement-phase there was a settlement hiatus of several centuries, then the PPN B settlement was founded on the eroded surface of the tell. The architecture consisted of rectilinear buildings made of mudbricks on stone foundations. The mudbricks were loaf-shaped with deep thumb prints to facilitate bounding. No building has been excavated in its entirety. Normally, several rooms cluster around a central courtyard. There is one big room (6.5 x 4 m and 7 x 3 m) with internal divisions, the rest are small, presumably used for storage. The rooms have red or pinkish terrazzo-floors made of lime. Some impressions of mats made of reeds or rushes have been preserved. The courtyards have clay floors. Kathleen Kenyon interpreted one building as a shrine. It contained a niche in the wall. A chipped pillar of volcanic stone that was found nearby might have fit into this niche. The dead were buried under the floors or in the rubble fill of abandoned buildings. There are several collective burials. Not all the skeletons are completely articulated, which may point to a time of exposure before burial. A skull cache contained seven skulls. The jaws were removed and the faces covered with plaster; cowries were used as eyes. A total of ten skulls were found. Modelled skulls were found in Tell Ramad and Beisamoun as well. Other finds included flints: arrowheads (tanged or side-notched), finely denticulated sickle-blades, burins, scrapers, a few tranchet axes. 1% obsidian, Ciftlik and green obsidian from unknown source. There were also querns, hammerstones, a few ground-stone axes made of greenstone. Other discovered items included dishes and bowls carved from soft limestone, spindle whorls made of stone and maybe loom weights, spatulae and drills, Stylised anthropomorphic plaster figures, almost life-size, Anthropomorphic and theriomorphic clay figurines, shell and malachite beads In the late 4th millennium BCE, Jericho was occupied during Neolithic 2 and the general character of the remains on the site link it culturally with Neolithic 2 sites in the West Syrian and Middle Euphrates groups. There are the characteristic rectilinear mud-brick buildings and plaster floors. Bronze ageDuring the Middle Bronze Age Jericho was a small prominent city of the Canaan region, reaching its greatest Bronze Age extent in the period from 1700 to 1550 BCE. It seems to have reflected the greater urbanization in the area at that time, and has been linked to the rise of the Maryannu, a class of chariot-using aristocrats linked to the rise of the Mitannite state to the north. Kathleen Kenyon reported ?...the Middle Bronze Age is perhaps the most prosperous in the whole history of Kna'an. ... The defenses ... belong to a fairly advanced date in that period? and there was ?a massive stone revetment... part of a complex system? of defenses (pp.213-218).[10] Walls of JerichoThe Biblical account of the destruction of Jericho is found in the Book of Joshua. The Bible describes the destruction as having proceeded from the actions of Joshua, Moses' successor. The Exodus is usually dated to the 13th century BCE (based on Ussherian calculation) ? according to interpretation of archaeological evidence from the Merneptah Stele. That was followed by new settlements in the next century. At that time the Pharaoh of Egypt would have been Ramses II. Alternatively, the exodus is dated to the 15th century BCE according to a prevailing Christian reckoning of biblical chronology, which is synchronized with several ancient calendars with astronomical observation. At that time the Pharaoh would have been Thutmose III (1490-1430). Neither biblical chronology matches the popular interpretation of the archaeological evidence at Jericho. Joshua instructs his spies to "Go, view the Land, especially Jericho" ??? ??? ??-???? ???-?????(Joshua 2:1). Archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon commented that this order "is an illustration of the position of Jericho in the age-long process of penetration by nomads and seminomads from the desert area in the east into the fertile coastal lands," due to the town's position in the Jordan valley at the foot of a passage through the Judean hills to the west. 
The Taking of Jericho, by Jean Fouquet The widespread destructions of the 16th century BCE are often linked with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt around this time. The 1st-century historian Josephus, in Against Apion, identified the Exodus of Israelites according to the Bible as the Expulsion of the Hyksos according to the Egyptian texts. A few scholars follow the controversial new chronology of David Rohl, which postulates that the entire mainstream Egyptian chronology is 300 years misplaced; with the consequence that, among other things, the exodus would be dated to the 16th or 17th century BCE, and hence the archaeological record on Jericho would be much more aligned with the biblical account. Despite this, a number of literalist Christians, most prominently the respected Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, have vehemently attacked Rohl's chronology, since it introduces a number of other problems and issues (such as identifying the biblical Shishak as Ramses II, rather than the far more obviously named Shoshenq). Tulul Abu el-'AlayiqA later settlement spanned the Hellenistic, New Testament, and Islamic periods, leaving mounds located at Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq, 2 km west of modern Ariha. Synagogues
An ancient synagogue was discovered in Jericho in 1936, named Shalom Al Israel, or "peace unto Israel", after the central Hebrew motto in its mosaic floor. It was controlled by Israel after the 1967 Six Day War, but after the handover to Palestinian Authority control per the Oslo Accords, especially during the Al-Aqsa Intifada it has been a source of conflict, and it was partially destroyed. The ancient Na'aran synagogue was discovered on the northern outskirts of Jericho in 1918. While less is known of it than Shalom Al Israel, it has a larger mosaic and is in similar condition. Biblical referencesJericho is mentioned over 70 times in the Old Testament. Here are some examples:
The walls of Jericho crumble as the priest blows his horn in this illustration from a 14th century Icelandic manuscript.
Jericho is also mentioned several times in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Hebrews. For example:
Recent historyThe present city was captured from Jordan by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 along with the rest of the West Bank. It was one of the first cities handed over to Palestinian Authority control in 1994, in accordance with the Oslo accords, which saw construction of the Oasis casino. The other city handed over to the Palestinians was Gaza. Jericho was re-occupied by Israel during the Al-Aqsa Intifada of 2001. Jericho prison siegeOn March 14, 2006, the Israel Defense Forces took captive six inmates from a Jericho prison following a 10-hour siege. Israel's reason for the siege was to capture PFLP general secretary, Ahmad Sa'adat and five other inmates for the alleged assassination of Israeli tourist minister Rehavam Zeevi because of announcements of their upcoming release. Both sides of the siege were armed and at least two people were killed and 35 wounded in the incident. Before the siege British and American monitors were guarding the prison but withdrew, citing lax security arrangements. The siege caused an uproar amongst the PFLP members and supporters as well as other PLO factions, and as a result Palestinian militants raided and kidnapped British and European citizens in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The event is considered controversial and somewhat hampered Palestinian relations with the UK and US.[18] Sister citiesSee also
ReferencesExternal links
ar:????? be:????? ?????? bs:Jerihon bg:??????? ca:Jericó cv:??????? ???? cs:Jericho da:Jeriko de:Jericho et:Jeeriko es:Jericó (Cisjordania) eo:Jeriko fa:????? fr:Jéricho hr:Jerihon id:Yerikho it:Gerico he:????? lv:J?rika lt:Jerichas nl:Jericho ja:??? no:Jeriko pl:Jerycho pt:Jericó ro:Ierihon ru:??????? sh:Jerihon fi:Jeriko sv:Jeriko uk:?????? zh:??? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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