Jericho#Hasmonean and Herodian periods

Jericho's name in Hebrew is generally thought to derive from the Canaanite word rēḥ {{gloss|fragrant}}, but other theories hold that it originates in the Canaanite word Yaraḥ {{gloss|moon}} or the name of the lunar deity Yarikh, for whom the city was an early centre of worship.Schreiber, 2003, p. 141.

Jericho's Arabic name, {{transliteration|ar|DIN|Arīḥā}}, means {{gloss|fragrant}} and also has its roots in Canaanite Reaẖ.Bromiley, 1995, p. 1136.{{cite journal|url=http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/01-Genesis/Text/Articles-Books/Waltke_CreationIV_BSac.pdf|title=The Creation Account in Genesis 1:1–3|journal=Bibliotheca Sacra|volume=132|year=1975|pages=327–42|access-date=16 November 2008|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118231611/http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/OTeSources/01-Genesis/Text/Articles-Books/Waltke_CreationIV_BSac.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|Levantine archaeology}}

The first excavations of the site were carried out by Charles Warren in 1868. Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger excavated Tell es-Sultan and Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq between 1907 and 1909, and in 1911, and John Garstang excavated between 1930 and 1936. Kathleen Kenyon worked there between 1952 and 1958, followed by Lorenzo Nigro and Nicolò Marchetti in 1997–2000. Since 2009 the Italian-Palestinian archaeological project of excavation and restoration was resumed by Rome "La Sapienza" University and Palestinian MOTA-DACH under the direction of Lorenzo Nigro and Hamdan Taha, and Jehad Yasine since 2015.{{cite web |title= Tell es-Sultan/Jericho |website= lasapienzatojericho.it |url= http://www.lasapienzatojericho.it |access-date=6 November 2018}} The Italian-Palestinian Expedition carried out 13 seasons in 20 years (1997–2017), with some major discoveries, like Tower A1 in the Middle Bronze Age southern Lower Town and Palace G on the eastern flanks of the Spring Hill overlooking the Spring of 'Ain es-Sultan dating from Early Bronze III.

The earliest excavated settlement was located at the present-day Tell es-Sultan (or Sultan's Hill), a couple of kilometers from the current city. In both Arabic and Hebrew, tell means "mound" – consecutive layers of habitation built up a mound over time, as is common for ancient settlements in the Middle East and Anatolia. Jericho is the type site for the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) periods.

File:Calibrated Carbon 14 dates for Jericho as of 2013.jpg

File:Reconstruction of the Natufian-Jericho skull.jpg

Epipaleolithic construction at the site appears to predate the invention of agriculture, with the construction of Natufian culture structures beginning earlier than 9000 BCE, the beginning of the Holocene epoch in geologic history.

Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to {{circa|10,000 BCE}}. During the Younger Dryas period of cold and drought, permanent habitation of any one location was impossible. However, the Ein es-Sultan spring at what would become Jericho was a popular camping ground for Natufian hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescent-shaped microlith tools behind them.{{cite book |last=Mithen |first=Steven |title=After the ice: a global human history, 20,000–5000 BCE |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-674-01999-7 |page=57 |edition=1st Harvard University Press pbk. }} Around 9600 BCE, the droughts and cold of the Younger Dryas stadial had come to an end, making it possible for Natufian groups to extend the duration of their stay, eventually leading to year-round habitation and permanent settlement.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

{{Further|Tell es-Sultan|Tower of Jericho}}

File:Jerycho8.jpg in Jericho]]

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic at Jericho is divided in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B.

{{more citations needed section|date=March 2022}}

The first permanent settlement on the site of Jericho developed near the Ein es-Sultan spring between 9,500 and 9000 BCE.{{cite web |url=http://www.mama.org/exhibits/ancient/prehistoric/ |title=Prehistoric Cultures |publisher=Museum of Ancient and Modern Art |year=2010 |access-date=5 September 2013 |archive-date=3 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803074340/https://www.mama.org/exhibits/ancient/prehistoric/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5704/ |title=Ancient Jericho: Tell es-Sultan |year=2012 |access-date=5 September 2013 |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}} As the world warmed up, a new culture based on agriculture and sedentary dwelling emerged, which archaeologists have termed "Pre-Pottery Neolithic A" (abbreviated as PPNA). Its cultures lacked pottery, but featured the following:{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

• small circular dwellings
• burial of the dead under the floor of buildings
• reliance on hunting of wild game
• cultivation of wild or domestic cereals

File:Jericho Statue.png, Jerusalem.{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Patricia C. |last2=Moloney |first2=Norah |title=Biological Anthropology and Prehistory: Exploring Our Human Ancestry |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317349815 |page=636 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DcWlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT636 |language=en}}]]

At Jericho, circular dwellings were built of clay and straw bricks left to dry in the sun, which were plastered together with a mud mortar. Each house measured about {{convert|5|m}} across, and was roofed with mud-smeared brush. Hearths were located within and outside the homes.{{cite book |last=Mithen|first=Steven|title=After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000–5000 BCE|year=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=0-674-01999-7|page=54|edition=1st Harvard University Press pbk.}}

File:Ziko.jpg at Tell es-Sultan]]

The Pre-Sultan ({{Circa|8350}} – 7370 BCE){{dubious|Contradicts dates given in this paragraph: "between 9,400 and 9000", "about 9400 BCE", but fits somewhat with time when the tower was used according to Barkai & Liran: "The tower was constructed and used between ≈8300 BCE and ≈7800 BCE (Burleigh 1981, 1983)." It also fits with starting date of PPNB indicated in the next paragraph.|date=February 2016}} is sometimes called Sultanian. The site is a {{convert|40000|m2}} settlement surrounded by a massive stone wall over {{convert|3.6|m}} high and {{convert|1.8|m}} wide at the base, inside of which stood a stone tower, over {{convert|8.5|m}} high, containing an internal staircase with 22 stone steps{{cite book |last=Mithen |first=Steven |title=After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000–5000 BCE |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-674-01999-7 |page=59 |edition=1st Harvard University Press pbk.}} and placed in the centre of the west side of the tell.{{cite journal |last1=Barkai |first1=Ran |last2=Liran |first2=Roy |year=2008 |title=Midsummer Sunset at Neolithic Jericho |journal=Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture |volume=1 |issue=3 |page=279 |doi=10.2752/175169708X329345 |s2cid = 161987206 |issn = 1751-696X }} This tower and the even older ones excavated at Tell Qaramel in Syria{{cite web |first=Anna |last=Ślązak |date=21 June 2007|title=Yet another sensational discovery by Polish archaeologists in Syria|url=http://www.eduskrypt.pl/yet_another_sensational_discovery_by_polish_archaeologists_in_syria-info-6775.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001171824/http://www.eduskrypt.pl/yet_another_sensational_discovery_by_polish_archaeologists_in_syria-info-6775.html|archive-date=1 October 2011|access-date=23 February 2016 |work=Science in Poland service, Polish Press Agency}}{{cite web |first=R.F. |last=Mazurowski |year=2007|title=Pre- and Protohistory in the Near East: Tell Qaramel (Syria)|url=http://www.pcma.uw.edu.pl/index.php?id=154&L=2 |access-date=23 February 2016 |work=Newsletter 2006 |publisher=Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Warsaw University}} are the oldest towers ever to be discovered. The wall of Jericho may have served as a defence against flood-water, with the tower used for ceremonial purposes.{{cite book |last1=Akkermans |first1=Peter M. M. |last2=Schwartz |first2=Glenn M. |title=The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BCE) |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521796668 |page=57}} The wall and tower were built during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period around 8000 BCE.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=208206 |last=O'Sullivan |first=Arieh |title=World's first skyscraper sought to intimidate masses |work=The Jerusalem Post|date=14 February 2011|access-date=6 November 2018}}{{cite book |first1=Kathleen M. |last1= Kenyon |first2=Thomas A. |last2=Holland |title=Excavations at Jericho: The architecture and stratigraphy of the Tell: plates, p. 6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbptAAAAMAAJ|year=1981 |publisher=British School of Archaeology |isbn=978-0-9500542-3-0}} For the tower, carbon dates published in 1981 and 1983 indicate that it was built around 8300 BCE and stayed in use until {{Circa|7800 BCE}}. The wall and tower would have taken a hundred men more than a hundred days to construct, thus suggesting some kind of social organization.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}} The town contained round mud-brick houses, yet no street planning.{{cite web |url=http://www.ourfatherlutheran.net/biblehomelands/palestine/jericho/jericho.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220035014/http://www.ourfatherlutheran.net/biblehomelands/palestine/jericho/jericho.htm |archive-date=20 February 2008 |title=Old Testament Jericho |date=20 February 2008 |access-date=31 March 2011}} The identity and number of the inhabitants of Jericho during the PPNA period is still under debate, with estimates going as high as 2,000–3,000, and as low as 200–300. It is known that this population had domesticated emmer wheat, barley and pulses and hunted wild animals.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

{{more citations needed section|date=March 2022}}

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) was a period of about 1.4 millennia, from 7220 to 5850 BCE{{clarify|reason=Leaves two substantial gaps, one -, one +: if PPNB covers 9,500-9000, and PPN altogether ends around 6500, that leaves 1780 years belonging nowhere (9000-7220), and extends PPN from the stated 6500 by 650 years to 5850 BC. Must be addressed.|date=October 2021}} (though carbon-14-dates are few and early). The following are PPNB cultural features:{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

• Expanded range of domesticated plants
• Possible domestication of sheep
• Apparent cult involving the preservation of human skulls, with facial features reconstructed using plaster, and eyes set with shells in some cases

File:Fertile crescent Neolithic B circa 7500 BC.jpg, {{Circa|7500 BC}}, with main sites. Jericho was a foremost site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. The area of Mesopotamia proper was not yet settled by humans.]]

After a few centuries, the first settlement was abandoned. After the PPNA settlement phase, there was a settlement hiatus of several centuries, then the PPNB settlement was founded on the eroded surface of the tell. This second settlement, established in 6800 BCE, perhaps represents the work of an invading people who absorbed the original inhabitants into their dominant culture. Artifacts dating from this period include ten plastered human skulls, painted so as to reconstitute the individuals' features. These represent either teraphim or the first example of portraiture in art history,{{dubious|reason=see Tell Awad and discussion on Jericho's talk page|date=August 2013}} and it is thought that they were kept in people's homes while the bodies were buried.Janson and Janson, 2003.

The architecture consisted of rectilinear buildings made of mudbricks on stone foundations. The mudbricks were loaf-shaped with deep thumb prints to facilitate bonding. No building has been excavated in its entirety. Normally, several rooms cluster around a central courtyard. There is one big room ({{convert|6.5|x|4|m|1|abbr=on|lk=out}}{{dubious|reason=conversion via template displays unwarranted (false) precision|date=February 2018}} and {{convert|7|x|3|m|1|abbr=on|lk=out}}){{dubious|reason=conversion via template displays unwarranted (false) precision|date=February 2018}} 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.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

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 fitted into this niche.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

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.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

Other finds included flints, such as arrowheads (tanged or side-notched), finely denticulated sickle-blades, burins, scrapers, a few tranchet axes, obsidian, and green obsidian from an unknown source. There were also querns, hammerstones, and a few ground-stone axes made of greenstone. Other items discovered included dishes and bowls carved from soft limestone, spindle whorls made of stone and possible loom weights, spatulae and drills, stylised anthropomorphic plaster figures, almost life-size, anthropomorphic and theriomorphic clay figurines, as well as shell and malachite beads.{{Cite book |last=Kujit |first=Ian |title=Jericho |publisher=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-973578-5 |editor-last=Silberman |editor-first=Neil Asher |edition=2 |volume=2 |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeJMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA166}}

In the late 4th millennium BCE, Jericho was occupied during Neolithic 2{{dubious|Neol. 2 seems to be equivalent with PPNB, which ends long before M4 BCE. Unless pottery appeared at Jericho later than M4, this is a mistake AND THIS BELONGS EITHER UNDER CHALCOLITHIC OR BRONZE AGE.|date=February 2016}} and the general character of the remains on the site link it culturally with Neolithic 2 (or PPNB) sites in the West Syrian and Middle Euphrates groups. This link is established by the presence of rectilinear mud-brick buildings and plaster floors that are characteristic of the age.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

A succession of settlements followed from 4500 BCE onward.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

File:Red terracotta Ancient Bronze period 3500-2000 BC Tell es-Sultan, ancient Jericho, Tomb A IV, Louvre Museum AO 15611.jpg AO 15611.]]

In Early Bronze I, the strategraphic layers are Sultan IIIA1 (EB IA, c. 3500-3200 BCE) and Sultan IIIA2 (EB IB, c. 3200-3000 BCE).Nigro et al 2019

In Early Bronze II, the strategraphic layers are Sultan IIIB1 (EB IIA, c. 3000-2850 BCE) and Sultan IIIB2 (EB IIB, c. 2850-2700 BCE).Nigro et al 2019

In the Early Bronze IIIA ({{Circa|2700}} – 2500/2450 BCE; Sultan IIIC1), the settlement reached its largest extent around 2600 BCE.

During Early Bronze IIIB ({{Circa|2500}}/2450–2350 BCE; Sultan IIIC2) there was a Palace G on Spring Hill and city walls.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

In Early Bronze IV, the strategraphic layers are Sultan IIID1 (EB IVA; 2300-2200 BCE) and Sultan IIID2 (EB IVB; 2200-2000 BCE).Nigro et al 2019

{{For|the Biblical battle|Battle of Jericho}}

Jericho was continually occupied into the Middle Bronze Age; it was destroyed in the Late Bronze Age, after which it no longer served as an urban centre. The city was surrounded by extensive defensive walls strengthened with rectangular towers, and possessed an extensive cemetery with vertical shaft-tombs and underground burial chambers; the elaborate funeral offerings in some of these may reflect the emergence of local kings.{{sfn|Kuijt|2012|p=167}}

During 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.{{cite book|last1=Kenyon|first1=Kathleen Mary|author-link1=Kathleen Kenyon|title=Digging Up Jericho|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_z33N1QsSHEC|publisher=Ernest Benn Limited|date=1957|location=London, England|isbn=978-0510033118|pages=213–218|access-date=26 February 2018|language=en}} Bronze Age Jericho fell in the 16th century at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, the calibrated carbon remains from its City-IV destruction layer dating to 1617–1530 BCE. Carbon dating {{circa}} 1573 BCE confirmed the accuracy of the stratigraphical dating {{circa}} 1550.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

Chronology (Nigro 2016)

• Middle Bronze IA, Tell es-Sultan IVa1 (c. 2000/1950-1900 BC)
• Middle Bronze IB, Tell es-Sultan IVa2 (c. 1900-1800 BC)
• Middle Bronze IIA, Tell es-Sultan IVb1 (c. 1800-1700 BC)
• Middle Bronze IIB, Tell es-Sultan IVb2 (c. 1700-1650 BC)
• Middle Bronze IIC/III, Tell es-Sultan IVc (c. 1650-1550 BC)

Decades after the destruction of the Middle Bronze Age city, it recovered again on a smaller scale during the Late Bronze Age (1450–1200 BC), with the previous Middle Bronze city wall being refurbished by adding a mudbrick wall on top of its emerging crest.{{sfn|Nigro|2020|p=202}}{{cite book |title=Durch die Zeiten - Through the Ages: Festschrift für Dieter Vieweger / Essays in Honour of Dieter Vieweger |last=Nigro |first=Lorenzo |publisher=Gütersloher Verlagshaus |year=2023 |isbn=978-3-579-06236-5 |pages=599–614 |editor-last=Soennecken |editor-first=Katja |chapter=Tell es-Sultan/Jericho in the Late Bronze Age: An Overall Reconstruction in the Light of most Recent Research |editor-last2=Leiverkus |editor-first2=Patrick |editor-last3=Zimni |editor-first3=Jennifer |editor-last4=Schmidt |editor-first4=Katharina}} Excavations have found a structure known as the "Middle Building" which apparently served as the residence of the city's local rulers, then vassals of the Egyptian empire.{{rp|605}} Ultimately, the Middle Building was destroyed, although it was later reused in the early Iron Age.{{cite web |title=Scientific Report of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition to Tell es-Sultan (2020), Palestine: XVI Campaign |url=https://sites.google.com/uniroma1.it/sapienzatojericho/results/season-2020 |last=Nigro |first=Lorenzo |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Sapienza Expedition to Tell es-Sultan/Jericho |year=2020 |quote=The Late Bronze Age building, to be identified with John Garstang's 'Middle Building' was also destroyed and was in turn reused in the Early Iron Age |ref=none}} According to Nigro (2023), the Late Bronze IIB layers of the tell were heavily cut by levelling operations during the Iron Age, which explains the scarcity of 13th century BCE materials.{{rp|602}}

;Hebrew Bible narrative

The Hebrew Bible tells the story of the Battle of Jericho led by Joshua, leading to the fall of the Canaanite city, the first one captured by the Israelites in the Promised Land. The historicity of biblical account is not generally accepted by scholars.{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=James Maxwell|author-link1=J. Maxwell Miller (biblical scholar)|last2=Hayes|first2=John Haralson|title=A History of Ancient Israel and Judah|pages=71–72|publisher=The Westminster Press|location=Philadelphia|year=1986|isbn=978-0-664-21262-9|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00mill/page/71/mode/1up}}{{cite book|last1=Dever|first1=William G.|title=Recent Archeological Discoveries and Biblical Research|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ab7_GFJ-dKQC&q=Dever+Joshua+destroyed+even+there&pg=PA47 |access-date=7 January 2013|year=1990|orig-year=1989|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=US|isbn=0-295-97261-0|page=47 |chapter=2. The Israelite Settlement in Canaan. New Archeological Models|quote=(Of course, for some, that only made the Biblical story more miraculous than ever—Joshua destroyed a city that wasn't even there!)}} Italian archaeologist Lorenzo Nigro suggests that the story might have developed from local memories of the destructions suffered by the Canaanite city in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, which were later used by the biblical writers to create their narrative.{{sfn|Nigro|2020|p=204}}

Occupation in Tell es-Sultan appears to have resumed in the 11th century BCE, with the town becoming fortified again in the 10th century.{{sfn|Nigro|2020|p=206}} Of this new city not much more remains than a four-room house on the eastern slope.{{cite book |editor-last= Negev |editor-first= Avraham |editor-link= Avraham Negev |editor-last2= Gibson |editor-first2= Shimon |editor-link2= Shimon Gibson |chapter= Jericho |title= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |year= 2001 |location= New York and London |publisher= Continuum |page= 259 |isbn=0-8264-1316-1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JtAAAAMAAJ |access-date=26 July 2021}} (Snippet view). By the 7th century, Jericho had become an extensive town, but this settlement was destroyed in the Babylonian conquest of Judah in the late 6th century.{{sfn|Jacobs|2000|p=691}}

After the destruction of the Judahite city by the Babylonians in the late 6th century,{{sfn|Jacobs|2000|p=691}} whatever was rebuilt in the Persian period as part of the Restoration after the Babylonian captivity, left only very few remains. The tell was abandoned as a place of settlement not long after this period. During the Persian through Hellenistic periods, there is little in terms of occupation attested throughout the region.{{sfn|Jacobs|2000|p=691}}

Jericho went from being an administrative centre of Yehud Medinata ("the Province of Judah") under Persian rule to serving as the private estate of Alexander the Great between 336 and 323 BCE after his conquest of the region.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} In the middle of the 2nd century BCE Jericho was under Hellenistic rule of the Seleucid Empire, when the Syrian General Bacchides built a number of forts to strengthen the defences of the area around Jericho against the revolt by the Macabees.1 Maccabees 9:50 One of these forts, built at the entrance to Wadi Qelt, was later refortified by Herod the Great, who named it Kypros after his mother.Murphy-O'Connor, 1998, pp. 289–291.

After the abandonment of the Tell es-Sultan location, the new Jericho of the Late Hellenistic or Hasmonean and Early Roman or Herodian periods was established as a garden city in the vicinity of the royal estate at Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq and expanded greatly thanks to the intensive exploitation of the springs of the area. The new site consists of a group of low mounds on both banks of Wadi Qelt.{{sfn|Jacobs|2000|p=691}} The Hasmoneans were a dynasty descending from a priestly group (kohanim) from the tribe of Levi, who ruled over Judea following the success of the Maccabean Revolt until Roman influence over the region brought Herod to claim the Hasmonean throne.Magnusson, Magnus (1977). Archaeology of the Bible. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 219. {{ISBN|9780671240103}}.

The rock-cut tombs of a Herodian- and Hasmonean-era cemetery lie in the lowest part of the cliffs between Nuseib al-Aweishireh and Mount of Temptation. They date between 100 BCE and 68 CE.

File:Jerycho50.jpg's palace]]

Herod had to lease back the royal estate at Jericho from Cleopatra, after Mark Antony had given it to her as a gift. After their joint suicide in 30 BCE, Octavian assumed control of the Roman Empire and granted Herod absolute rule over Jericho, as part of the new Herodian domain. Herod's rule oversaw the construction of a hippodrome-theatre (Tell es-Samrat) to entertain his guests and new aqueducts to irrigate the area below the cliffs and reach his winter palaces built at the site of Tulul Abu el-Alaiq (also written ʾAlayiq). In 2008, the Israel Exploration Society published an illustrated volume of Herod's third Jericho palace.Rozenberg, Silvia; Netzer, Ehud (2008). Hasmonean and Herodian palaces at Jericho: final reports of the 1973–1987 excavations. 4, "The decoration of Herod's third palace at Jericho". Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society & Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. {{ISBN|9789652210715}}. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/758612875 WorldCat website]

The murder of Aristobulus III in a swimming pool at the Hasmonean royal winter palaces, as described by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus, took place during a banquet organized by Herod's Hasmonean mother-in-law. After the construction of the palaces, the city had functioned not only as an agricultural center and as a crossroad, but also as a winter resort for Jerusalem's aristocracy.[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/012discuss.html Jericho – (Ariha)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307205816/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/012discuss.html |date=7 March 2016 }} Studium Biblicum Franciscum – Jerusalem.

Herod was succeeded in Judea by his son, Herod Archelaus, who built a village in his name not far to the north, Archelaïs (modern Khirbet al-Beiyudat), to house workers for his date plantation.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

First-century Jericho is described in Strabo's Geography as follows:

{{blockquote|Jericho is a plain surrounded by a kind of mountainous country, which in a way, slopes toward it like a theatre. Here is the Phoenicon, which is mixed also with all kinds of cultivated and fruitful trees, though it consists mostly of palm trees. It is 100 stadia in length and is everywhere watered with streams. Here also are the Palace and the Balsam Park.}}

File:El Greco - Christ Healing the Blind - WGA10420.jpg

The Christian Gospels state that Jesus of Nazareth passed through Jericho where he healed blind beggars ({{bibleverse|Matthew|20:29}}), and inspired a local chief tax collector named Zacchaeus to repent of his dishonest practices ({{bibleverse|Luke|19:1–10}}). The road between Jerusalem and Jericho is the setting for the Parable of the Good Samaritan.{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NIV |title=The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25 |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=31 March 2011}}

John Wesley, in his New Testament Notes on this section of Luke's Gospel, claimed that "about twelve thousand priests and Levites dwelt there, who all attended the service of the temple".Wesley, J. (1754), [http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/john-wesleys-notes-on-the-bible/notes-on-the-gospel-according-to-st-luke/#Chapter+X Notes on The Gospel According to St Luke] on chapter X, accessed on 31 March 2025

Smith's Bible Names Dictionary suggests that "Jericho was once more 'a city of palms' when our Lord visited it. Here he restored sight to the blind ({{bibleverse|Matthew|20:30}}; {{bibleverse|Mark| 10:46}}; {{bibleverse|Luke| 18:35}}). Here the descendant of Rahab did not disdain the hospitality of Zacchaeus the publican. Finally, between Jerusalem and Jericho was laid the scene of his story of the good Samaritan."[https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/smiths-bible-names-dictionary/Jericho Smith's Bible Names Dictionary: Jericho]. Retrieved 6 February 2017.

After the fall of Jerusalem to Vespasian's armies in the Great Revolt of Judea in 70 CE, Jericho declined rapidly, and by 100 CE it was but a small Roman garrison town. A fort was built there in 130 and played a role in putting down the Bar Kochba revolt in 133.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

{{see also|Ancient synagogues in the Palestine region}}

File:PikiWiki Israel 15003 Jericho synagogue mosaic.JPG

Accounts of Jericho by a Christian pilgrim are given in 333. Shortly thereafter the built-up area of the town was abandoned and a Byzantine Jericho, Ericha, was built 1600 metres (1 mi) to the east, on which the modern town is centered.Losch, 2005, p. 117–118. Christianity took hold in the city during the Byzantine era and the area was heavily populated. A number of monasteries and churches were built, including the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba in 340 CE and a domed church dedicated to Saint Eliseus. At least two synagogues were also built in the 6th century CE. The monasteries were abandoned after the Sasanian invasion of 614.

The Jericho synagogue in the Royal Maccabean winter palace at Jericho dates from 70 to 50 BCE. A synagogue dating to the late 6th or early 7th century CE was discovered in Jericho in 1936, and was named Shalom Al Yisrael Synagogue, or "peace unto Israel", after the central Hebrew motto in its mosaic floor. It was controlled by Israel after the Six Day War, but after the handover to Palestinian Authority control per the Oslo Accords, it has been a source of conflict. On the night of 12 October 2000, the synagogue was vandalized by Palestinians who burned holy books and relics and damaged the mosaic.{{cite web |url=http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=377&PID=1852&IID=1923 |title=The Palestinian Authority and the Jewish Holy Sites |publisher=JCPA |access-date=21 February 2010 |archive-date=21 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621022226/http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=377&PID=1852&IID=1923 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishjericho.org.il/english/places/shalomalyisrael.html |title=Jewish life in Jericho |publisher=Jewishjericho.org.il |access-date=5 May 2009}}

The Na'aran synagogue, another Byzantine era construction, was discovered on the northern outskirts of Jericho in 1918. While less is known of it than Shalom Al Yisrael, it has a larger mosaic and is in similar condition.

File:Arabischer Mosaizist um 735 001.jpgic Umayyad mosaic from Hisham's Palace in Jericho]]

Jericho, by then named "Ariha" in Arabic variation, became part of Jund Filastin ("Military District of Palestine"), part of the larger province of Bilad al-Sham. The Arab Muslim historian Musa b. 'Uqba (died 758) recorded that caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab exiled the Jews and Christians of Khaybar to Jericho (and Tayma).Several hadith collections: e.g. Bukhari, Sahih as translated Muḥammad Muḥsin Khân, The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari (India: Kitab Bhavan, 1987) 3.39.531 and 4.53.380, and Muslim Sahih trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqui (Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1976) 10.3763.

By 659, that district had come under the control of Mu'awiya, founder of the Umayyad dynasty. That year, an earthquake destroyed Jericho.The Maronite Chronicle, written during Mu'awiya's caliphate. For propaganda reasons it dates the earthquake to the wrong year: Andrew Palmer, The Seventh Century in the West-Syrian Chronicles (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1993), 30, 31, 32. A decade later, the pilgrim Arculf visited Jericho and found it in ruins, all its "miserable Canaanite" inhabitants now dispersed in shanty towns around the Dead Sea shore."The Pilgrimage of Arculf in the Holy Land", De Locis Sanctis as translated by Rev. James Rose MacPherson (W. London: BD. 24, Hanover Square, 1895), ch. I.11.

A palatial complex long attributed to the tenth Umayyad caliph, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) and thus known as Hisham's Palace, is located at Khirbet al-Mafjar, about 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) north of Tell es-Sultan. This "desert castle" or qasr was more likely built by Caliph Walid ibn Yazid (r. 743–744), who was assassinated before he could complete the construction.Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700, Oxford University Press 2008, pp. 342–344. The remains of two mosques, a courtyard, mosaics, and other items can still be seen in situ today. The unfinished structure was largely destroyed in an earthquake in 747.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}

Umayyad rule ended in 750 and was followed by the Arab caliphates of the Abbasid and Fatimid dynasties. Irrigated agriculture was developed under Islamic rule, reaffirming Jericho's reputation as a fertile "City of the Palms".Shahin, 2005, p. 285. Al-Maqdisi, the Arab geographer, wrote in 985 that "the water of Jericho is held to be the highest and best in all Islam. Bananas are plentiful, also dates and flowers of fragrant odor".Shahin, 2005, p. 283. Jericho is also referred to by him as one of the principal cities of Jund Filastin.al-Muqaddasi quoted in Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/39/mode/1up 39]

In 1179, the Crusaders rebuilt the Monastery of St. George of Koziba, at its original site 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the center of town. They also built another two churches and a monastery dedicated to John the Baptist, and were credited by 19th-century authors with introducing sugarcane production to the city,Hull, 1855. although now scholars date it to the pre-Crusader, Early Arab period. The Crusaders, however, have raised sugar production to the level of a large-scale industry. The site of Tawahin es-Sukkar (lit. "sugar mills") holds remains of a Crusader sugar production facility. In 1187, the Crusaders were evicted by the Ayyubid forces of Saladin after their victory in the Battle of Hattin, and the town slowly went into decline.

File:Nuremberg chronicles f 50r 1.png]]

In 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi said of Jericho, "it has many palm trees, also sugarcane in quantities, and bananas. The best of all the sugar in the Ghaur land is made here." In the 14th century, Abu al-Fida writes there are sulfur mines in Jericho, "the only ones in Palestine".al-Hamawi and Abu-l Fida quoted in Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/397/mode/1up 397]

File:Jerico1.jpg

Jericho was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1545 a revenue of 19,000 Akçe was recorded, destined for the new Waqf for the Haseki Sultan Imaret of Jerusalem.Singer, 2002, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA50 50], [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA52 52] The villagers processed indigo as one source of revenue, using a cauldron specifically for this purpose that was loaned to them by the Ottoman authorities in Jerusalem.Singer, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA120 120] Later that century, the Jericho revenues no longer went to the Haseki Sultan Imaret.Singer, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA126 126]

In 1596 Jericho appeared in the tax registers under the name of Riha, being in the nahiya of Al-Quds in the liwa of Al-Quds. It had a population of 51 households, all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards and fruit trees, goats and beehives, water buffaloes, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 40,000 Akçe. All of the revenue still went to a Waqf.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 114

The French traveller Laurent d'Arvieux described the city in 1659 as "now desolate, and consists only of about fifty poor houses, in bad condition ... The plain around is extremely fertile; the soil is middling fat; but it is watered by several rivulets, which flow into the Jordan. Notwithstanding these advantages only the gardens adjacent to the town are cultivated."Graham, 1836, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_0ZYCAAAAQAAJ#page/n136/mode/1up 122]

File:Roman aquaduct near Jericho.jpg

In the 19th century, European scholars, archaeologists and missionaries visited often. At the time it was an oasis in a poor state, similar to other regions in the plains and deserts.Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua. [http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf "The Sanjak of Jerusalem in the 1870s"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722211520/http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/Article_36.8.pdf |date=22 July 2020 }}. In Cathedra, 36. Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi. 1985. pp. 80–82 Edward Robinson (1838) reported 50 families, which were about 200 people,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n302/mode/1up 280] Titus Tobler (1854) reported some 30 poor huts, whose residents paid a total of 3611 kuruş in tax.Titus Tobler, Topographie von Jerusalem und seinen Umgebungen, Berlin, 1853–1854, p. 642 Abraham Samuel Herschberg (1858–1943) also reported after his 1899–1900 travels in the region{{cite encyclopedia |title= Herschberg, Abraham Samuel (1858–1943) |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Judaica |editor-first=Fred |editor-last=Skolnik |pages=42–43 |volume=9 |edition=2nd |publisher=Keter, Thomson Gale |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-02-865930-5 |url=http://www.jevzajcg.me/enciklopedia/Encyclopaedia%20Judaica,%20v.%2009%20(Her-Int).pdf |access-date=23 May 2019}} of some 30 poor huts and 300 residents.{{cite book |first=A. S. |last=Hershberg |title=In the Land of the East |publisher=Vilna |year=1899 |page=469 }} At that time, Jericho was the residence of the region's Turkish governor. The main water sources for the village were a spring called Ein al-Sultan, lit. "Sultan's Spring", in Arabic and Ein Elisha, lit. "Elisha Spring", in Hebrew, and springs in Wadi Qelt.

J. S. Buckingham (1786–1855) describes in his 1822 book how the male villagers of er-Riha, although nominally sedentary, engaged in Bedouin-style raiding, or ghazzu: the little land cultivation he observed was done by women and children, while men spent most of their time riding through the plains and engaging in "robbery and plunder", their main and most profitable activity.{{cite book |title=Near Eastern Tribal Societies During the Nineteenth Century: Economy, Society and Politics Between Tent and Town |chapter=Raiding and robbing |first=Eveline |last=van der Steen |publisher=Routledge |year= 2014 |isbn=9781317543473 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-_OBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT115}}

An Ottoman village list from around 1870 showed that Riha, Jericho, had 36 houses and a population of 105, though the population count included men only.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/159/mode/1up 159]Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n932/mode/1up 124], noted 34 houses

The first excavation at Tell es-Sultan was carried out in 1867.

File:מאהל לצד מלון הירדן ביריחו-JNF022256.jpeg

File:Air views of Palestine. Air route following the old Jerusalem-Jericho Road. Modern Jericho. Taken above the Ain Sultan road looking S. LOC matpc.22116.jpg

The Greek Orthodox monasteries of St. George of Choziba and John the Baptist were refounded and completed in 1901 and 1904, respectively.

File:AN AERIAL PHOTO OF JERICHO. צילום אויר של יריחו.D332-058.jpg

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Jericho came under British rule, as part of Mandatory Palestine.

According to the 1922 census of Palestine, Jericho had 1,029 inhabitants (931 Muslims, 92 Christians, and six Jews).Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jericho, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n21/mode/1up 19] The Christian population consisted of 45 Orthodox, 12 Roman Catholics, 13 Greek Catholics (Melkite Catholics), 6 Syrian Catholic, 11 Armenians, four Copts and one Church of England.Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n47/mode/1up 45]

In 1927, an earthquake struck and affected Jericho and other cities. Around 300 people died,{{cite web |url=http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/10/22/israel-hit-by-fifth-minor-quake-in-a-week/ |title=Israel hit by fifth minor quake in a week |publisher=Ya Libnan |date=22 October 2013 |access-date=27 December 2013}} but by the 1931 census the population had increased to 1,693 inhabitants (1,512 Muslims, 170 Christians, seven Druze, and four Jews), in 347 houses.Mills, 1932, p.[https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 45]

In the 1938 statistics, Jericho lists a population of 1,996 people (including five Jews).{{Cite web |title=Village statistics, February 1938. |url=https://rosetta.nli.org.il/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE13978876 |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=rosetta.nli.org.il}}

In the 1945 statistics, Jericho's population was 3,010 (2,570 Muslims, 260 Christians, 170 Jews, and 10 "other"Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p24.jpg 24]) and it had jurisdiction over 37,481 dunams of land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jerusalem/Page-057.jpg 57] Of this, 948 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 5,873 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 9,141 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Jerusalem/Page-102.jpg 102] while a total of 38 dunams were urban, built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jerusalem/Page-153.jpg 153]

During World War II The British built fortresses in Jericho with the help of the Jewish company Solel Boneh, and bridges were rigged with explosives in preparation for a possible invasion by German allied forces.Friling and Cummings, 2005, p. 65.

Jericho came under Jordanian control after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Jericho Conference, organized by King Abdullah and attended by over 2,000 Palestinian delegates in 1948 proclaimed "His Majesty Abdullah as King of all Palestine" and called for "the unification of Palestine and Transjordan as a step toward full Arab unity". In mid-1950, Jordan formally annexed the West Bank and Jericho residents, like other residents of West Bank localities became Jordanian citizens.Benvenisti, 1998, pp. 27–28.

In 1961, the population of Jericho was 10,166,Government of Jordan, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p13.pdf 13] of whom 935 were Christian, and the rest were Muslim.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, pp. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-pp115-116.pdf 115–116]

File:2018 OCHA OpT map Jericho.jpg map of the area, showing the Israeli occupation arrangements]]

Jericho has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967 along with the rest of the West Bank. It was the first city handed over to Palestinian Authority control in accordance with the Oslo Accords.{{cite journal |last= Prusher |first= Ilene R. |title=At 10th anniversary, a far poorer Palestinian Authority |date=14 September 2004 |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |url= http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0914/p01s04-wome.html}} The limited Palestinian self-rule of Jericho was agreed on in the Gaza–Jericho Agreement of 4 May 1994. Part of the agreement was a "Protocol on Economic Relations", signed on 29 April 1994.{{cite news|last=Simons |first=Marlise |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EED91530F933A05757C0A962958260 |title=Gaza-Jericho Economic Accord Signed by Israel and Palestinians |location=Jericho (West Bank); Middle East; Gaza Strip |newspaper=The New York Times|date=30 April 1994 |access-date=31 March 2011}} The city is in an enclave of the Jordan Valley that is in Area A of the West Bank, while the surrounding area is designated as being in Area C under full Israeli military control. Four roadblocks encircle the enclave, restricting Jericho's Palestinian population's movement through the West Bank.{{citation|last=Ġānim|first=Asʻad|title=Palestinian Politics After Arafat: A Failed National Movement|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2010|page=35|isbn=9780253354273}}

In response to the 2001 Second Intifada and suicide bombings, Jericho was re-occupied by Israeli troops. A {{convert|2|m|adj=on}} deep trench was built around a large part of the city to control Palestinian traffic to and from Jericho.ARIJ & LRC, 20 March 2001, [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=138 The Tightening of the Siege on Jericho: Israel Employs a New Policy of Trench Digging] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613235138/http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=138 |date=13 June 2013 }}

On 14 March 2006, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Bringing Home the Goods, raiding a Jericho prison to capture the PFLP general secretary, Ahmad Sa'adat, and five other prisoners, all of whom had been charged with assassinating the Israeli tourist minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4806714.stm Israel holds militant after siege] 14 March 2006 BBC News

After Hamas assaulted a neighborhood in Gaza mostly populated by the Fatah-aligned Hilles clan, in response to their attack that killed six Hamas members, the Hilles clan was relocated to Jericho on 4 August 2008.[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331192135&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull Jerusalem Post] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121547/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331192135&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |date=11 May 2011 }} 4 August 2008 IDF: Hilles clan won't boost terrorism Yaacov Katz And Khaled Abu Toameh

In 2009, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs David Johnson inaugurated the Presidential Guard Training Center in Jericho, a $9.1 million training facility for Palestinian Authority security forces built with U.S. funding.{{cite web|url=http://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov/pr150309.html|title=Training Center for Palestinian Authority Security Forces Opens in Jericho|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217143329/http://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov/pr150309.html|archive-date=17 February 2013}} In 2024, a Jericho street was named after Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. soldier who self-immolated in support of Palestine.{{cite web |last1=Greyman-Kennard |first1=Danielle |title=West Bank city names street after self-immolating US soldier Aaron Bushnell |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-791570 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 March 2024 |access-date=15 March 2024}}

Jericho is located {{convert|258|m|ft}} below sea level in an oasis in Wadi Qelt in the Jordan Valley, which makes it the lowest city in the world.{{cite book |author=Holman |title=The Holman Illustrated Study Bible-HCSB |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x7kIHAAACAAJ |location= |publisher=Broadman & Holman |page=1391 |date=15 September 2006 |isbn=1586402765|author-link=Holman Christian Standard Bible }} The nearby spring of Ein es-Sultan produces 3.8 m³ (1,000 gallons) of water per minute, irrigating some {{convert|2500|acre|km2|order=flip}} through multiple channels and feeding into the Jordan River, {{convert|6|mi|0|order=flip}} away.Ring et al., 1994, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R44VRnNCzAYC&dq=jericho+babylonian+ring&pg=RA1-PA367 p. 367–370].

{{Wide image|Jericho Panorama.jpg|1200px|Panorama of Jericho}}

A {{Convert|3,500|ha|acre|abbr=on|adj=on}} site encompassing the city of Jericho and its immediate surrounds has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of black francolins, lanner falcons, lesser kestrels, and Dead Sea sparrows.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jericho-iba-palestinian-authority-territories|title= Jericho|author= |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 26 February 2021}}

Annual rainfall is {{convert|204|mm|abbr=on}}, mostly concentrated in the winter months and into early spring. The average temperature is {{convert|11|C}} in January and {{convert|31|C}} in July. According to the Köppen climate classification, Jericho has a hot desert climate (BWh). Rich alluvial soil and abundant spring water have made Jericho an attractive place for settlement.

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = Jericho

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

| Jan high C = 19.0

| Feb high C = 20.6

| Mar high C = 24.4

| Apr high C = 29.5

| May high C = 34.4

| Jun high C = 37.0

| Jul high C = 38.6

| Aug high C = 37.9

| Sep high C = 35.8

| Oct high C = 32.7

| Nov high C = 28.1

| Dec high C = 21.4

|year high C = 30.0

| Jan mean C = 10.7

| Feb mean C = 12.6

| Mar mean C = 16.3

| Apr mean C = 22.4

| May mean C = 26.6

| Jun mean C = 30.4

| Jul mean C = 30.9

| Aug mean C = 30.4

| Sep mean C = 28.6

| Oct mean C = 25.8

| Nov mean C = 22.8

| Dec mean C = 16.9

|year mean C = 22.9

| Jan low C = 4.4

| Feb low C = 5.9

| Mar low C = 9.6

| Apr low C = 13.6

| May low C = 18.2

| Jun low C = 20.2

| Jul low C = 21.9

| Aug low C = 21.1

| Sep low C = 20.5

| Oct low C = 17.6

| Nov low C = 16.6

| Dec low C = 11.6

|year low C = 15.1

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 59

| Feb precipitation mm = 44

| Mar precipitation mm = 20

| Apr precipitation mm = 4

| May precipitation mm = 1

| Jun precipitation mm = 0

| Jul precipitation mm = 0

| Aug precipitation mm = 1

| Sep precipitation mm = 2

| Oct precipitation mm = 3

| Nov precipitation mm = 5

| Dec precipitation mm = 65

|year precipitation mm = 204

| Jan humidity = 77

| Feb humidity = 81

| Mar humidity = 74

| Apr humidity = 62

| May humidity = 49

| Jun humidity = 50

| Jul humidity = 51

| Aug humidity = 57

| Sep humidity = 52

| Oct humidity = 56

| Nov humidity = 54

| Dec humidity = 74

| year humidity = 61

| Jan sun = 189.1

| Feb sun = 186.5

| Mar sun = 244.9

| Apr sun = 288.0

| May sun = 362.7

| Jun sun = 393.0

| Jul sun = 418.5

| Aug sun = 396.8

| Sep sun = 336.0

| Oct sun = 294.5

| Nov sun = 249.0

| Dec sun = 207.7

|year sun =

| Jand sun = 6.1

| Febd sun = 6.6

| Mard sun = 7.9

| Aprd sun = 9.6

| Mayd sun = 11.7

| Jund sun = 13.1

| Juld sun = 13.5

| Augd sun = 12.8

| Sepd sun = 11.2

| Octd sun = 9.5

| Novd sun = 8.3

| Decd sun = 6.7

|yeard sun = 9.8

|source 1 = Arab Meteorology Book{{cite web

| url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf

| title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data

| publisher = Springer

| access-date = 25 October 2015

| archive-date = 4 March 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf

| url-status = dead

}}

|date=August 2010

}}

File:PikiWiki Israel 1536 Jericho municipality עיריית יריחו.jpg

In the first census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in 1997, Jericho's population was 14,674. Palestinian refugees constituted 43.6% of the residents or 6,393 people.[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t6.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118181551/https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t6.aspx |date=18 November 2008 }} Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The gender make-up of the city was 51% male and 49% female. Jericho has a young population, with nearly half (49.2%) of the inhabitants being under the age of 20. People between the ages of 20 and 44 made up 36.2% of the population, 10.7% between the ages of 45 and 64, and 3.6% were over the age of 64.[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t1.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614231532/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t1.aspx |date=14 June 2008 }} (PCBS). In the 2007 census by the PCBS, Jericho had a population of 18,346.[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1487.pdf#page=109 2007 PCBS Census] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210081942/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1487.pdf |date=10 December 2010 }}. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

In a 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi, 3,010 inhabitants is the figure given for Jericho, of which 94% (2840) were Arab and 6% (170) were Jews.Hadawi, 1970, [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jerusalem/Page-057.jpg p.57] Today, the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim.{{Citation|first=Dan|last=Fisher|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-02-mn-142-story.html|title=World's Oldest City Retains Lure : Biblical Jericho: Winter Oasis for the West Bank|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 February 1987}} The Christian community makes up around 1% of the population.{{cite web |title= HOLY LAND/ Jericho: A small Christian community and their school |url= http://www.ilsussidiario.net/News/English-Spoken-Here/From-the-World/2012/5/24/HOLY-LAND-Jericho-A-small-Christian-community-and-their-school/283382/ |access-date=28 August 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170910220321/http://www.ilsussidiario.net/News/English-Spoken-Here/From-the-World/2012/5/24/HOLY-LAND-Jericho-A-small-Christian-community-and-their-school/283382/ |archive-date=10 September 2017 |url-status= dead}} A large community of black Palestinians lives in Jericho.

File:PikiWiki Israel 1539 The market of Jericho השוק ביריחו.jpg

In 1994, Israel and Palestine signed an economic accord that enabled Palestinians in Jericho to open banks, collect taxes and engage in export and import in preparation for self-rule.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/30/world/gaza-jericho-economic-accord-signed-by-israel-and-palestinians.html|title=Gaza-Jericho Economic Accord Signed by Israel and Palestinians|first=Marlise|last=Simons|date=30 April 1994|work=The New York Times}}

Agriculture is another source of income, with banana groves ringing the city.

The Jericho Agro-Industrial Park is a public-private enterprise being developed in the Jericho area. Agricultural processing companies are being offered financial concessions to lease plots of land in the park in a bid to boost Jericho's economy.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/jun/18/jericho-business-park-palestine-sustainability|title=Jericho business park aims to inch Palestine towards sustainability|first=Liz|last=Ford|date=18 June 2012|work=The Guardian}}

File:Jerycho9.jpg

In 1998, a $150 million casino-hotel was built in Jericho with the backing of Yasser Arafat.{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/07/26/walls-going-up-in-jericho-construction-of-casino-hotel-palestinians-israelis-have-role-in-project/|title=Walls going up in Jericho – construction of casino-hotel Palestinians, Israelis have role in project|access-date=28 August 2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102854/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-07-26/news/1998207031_1_casinos-austria-play-in-casinos-jericho|url-status=live}} The casino is now closed, though the hotel on the premises is open for guests.

In 2010, Jericho, with its proximity to the Dead Sea, was declared the most popular destination among Palestinian tourists.{{cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Gavin |title=Palestinians aim to push tourism beyond Bethlehem |date=11 February 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7214355/Palestinians-aim-to-push-tourism-beyond-Bethlehem.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7214355/Palestinians-aim-to-push-tourism-beyond-Bethlehem.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}

Christian tourism is one of Jericho's primary sources of income. There are several major Christian pilgrimage sites in and around Jericho.

• Ein es-Sultan, known as the Spring of Elisha to Jews and Christians;
• Qasr al-Yahud on the Jordan River, across from Bethany beyond the Jordan, traditionally identified as the location of the baptism of Jesus;
• Mount of Temptation (Jebel Quruntul), traditionally identified as the location of the Temptation of Jesus;
• The Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation halfway up the mountain, beside a cave said to be the location where Jesus fasted for 40 days. It is connected to Jericho by a cable car;
• 2 sycamore trees, both identified as the one mentioned in relation to Zacchaeus;
• Deir Hajla, the monastery of St. Gerasimos in the Jordan Valley near Jericho;
• Saint George Monastery in Wadi Qelt above Jericho.

• Stone, Bronze and Iron Age cities at Tell es-Sultan;
• Hasmonean and Herodian winter palaces at Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq;
• Byzantine-period synagogues at Jericho (Shalom Al Yisrael Synagogue) and Na'aran;
• Umayyad palace at Khirbet al-Mafjar known as Hisham's Palace;
• Crusader sugar production facility at Tawahin es-Sukkar (lit. "sugar mills");
• Nabi Musa, the Mamluk and Ottoman shrine claimed to be the resting place of Moses ("Prophet Musa" to the Muslims)

In 1925, Christian friars opened a school for 100 pupils that became the Terra Santa School. The city has 22 state schools and a number of private schools.

In April 2010, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of the Jericho Governmental Hospital. USAID is providing $2.5 million in funding for this project.{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/pr_April_14_2010.html|title=USAID to Renovate the Jericho Governmental Hospital|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318001142/http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/pr_April_14_2010.html|archive-date=18 March 2011}}

The sports team Hilal Areeha plays association football in the West Bank First Division. They play home games in the 15,000-spectator Jericho International Stadium.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstadiums.com/middle_east/countries/palestine.shtml|title=World Stadiums – Stadiums in Palestine|website=worldstadiums.com|access-date=2 September 2012|archive-date=15 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915044808/http://www.worldstadiums.com/middle_east/countries/palestine.shtml|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the State of Palestine}}

Jericho is twinned with:{{cite web|title=العلاقات التي تربط مدينة أريحا بالمدن الأجنبية|url=https://www.jericho-city.ps/ar_page.php?id=ct5MDP5Csna2396520AuRpyFejJ38|website=jericho-city.ps|publisher=Jericho|language=ar|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=6 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206141356/http://www.jericho-city.ps/ar_page.php?id=ct5MDP5Csna2396520AuRpyFejJ38|url-status=dead}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|ITA}} Alessandria, Italy (2004)
• {{flagicon|BRA}} Campinas, Brazil (2001)
• {{flagicon|HUN}} Eger, Hungary (2013)
• {{flagicon|CHL}} Estación Central, Chile (2007)
• {{flagicon|MAR}} Fez, Morocco (2014)
• {{flagicon|BRA}} Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil (2012)
• {{flagicon|ROU}} Iași, Romania (2003)
• {{flagicon|GRC}} Ilion, Greece (1999)
• {{flagicon|SRB}} Kragujevac, Serbia (2011)
• {{flagicon|NOR}} Lærdal, Norway (1998)
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Pisa, Italy (2000)
• {{flagicon|ITA}} San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy (2004)
• {{flagicon|BRA}} Santa Bárbara, Brazil (1998)
• {{flagicon|JOR}} Al-Shuna al-Shamalyah, Jordan (2016)

{{div col end}}

• Musa Alami

{{Portal|Asia}}

• Ancient underground quarry, Jordan Valley, some {{Convert|5|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of Jericho
• al-Auja, Jericho, a Palestinian village north of Jericho
• Battle of Jericho, biblical story
• Cities in the Book of Joshua
• Hasmonean royal winter palaces, actually Hasmonean and Herodian, at Tulul Abu al-'Alayiq south of Jericho proper
• History of pottery in Palestine
• Jawa, Jordan, the oldest proto-urban settlement from Jordan (late 4th millennium BC – Early Bronze Age)
• Mevo'ot Yericho, Israeli settlement just north of Jericho
• Tower of Jericho, the Neolithic stone tower, c. 10,000 years old, excavated at Tell es-Sultan
• Wall of Jericho, the Neolithic stone wall, c. 10,000 years old, excavated at Tell es-Sultan

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{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

{{wikivoyage|Jericho}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Jericho_525/index.html Welcome to Jericho]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180504092545/http://vprofile.arij.org/jericho/pdfs/factsheet/Jericho%20City_FS_EN.pdf Jericho City (Fact Sheet)], Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20141021115509/http://vprofile.arij.org/jericho/pdfs/vprofile/Jericho_en_FINAL.pdf Jericho City Profile], ARIJ
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180504092634/http://vprofile.arij.org/jericho/images/english/Jericho_ap_en.jpg Jericho aerial photo], ARIJ
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180504092401/http://vprofile.arij.org/jericho/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Jericho%20City_N_EN.pdf Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Jericho City], ARIJ
• [http://www.jericho-city.ps/english.php Jericho Municipality Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206022015/http://www.jericho-city.ps/english.php |date=6 February 2021 }}
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 18: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8380 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.18.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080917020530/http://www.jericho-city.org/etemplate.php?id=19 Jericho Municipality Official Website Historical site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140104070704/http://jericho-cablecar.com/ Jericho Cable Car]
• [http://www.BiblicalArcheology.Net/ Resources on Biblical Archaeology]
• [http://ljames1.home.netcom.com/jericho99.html Jericho: Tel es-Sultan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013030856/http://ljames1.home.netcom.com/jericho99.html |date=13 October 2008 }}
• [http://www.biblicalchronologist.org/answers/bryantwood.php The walls of Jericho fell in 1550 BCE]

{{Jericho Governorate}}

{{Cities in the West Bank}}

{{New Testament places associated with Jesus}}

{{Characters and names in the Quran}}

{{Ark of the Covenant}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Archaeological type sites

Category:Archaeology of Palestine (region)

Category:Bronze Age sites in Palestine

Category:Cities in the Great Rift Valley

Category:Cities in the West Bank

Category:Hebrew Bible cities

Category:Historic Jewish communities

Category:Important Bird Areas of Palestine

Category:Municipalities of Palestine

Category:Natufian sites

Category:Neolithic settlements

Category:Neolithic

Category:Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

Category:Prehistoric art

Category:Palestinian Christian communities

Category:Tegart forts

Category:Tells (archaeology)

Category:Torah cities

Category:Populated places established in the 10th millennium BC

Category:Hellenistic fortifications