Jericho, meaning "moon," is located about 8 miles north of the Dead Sea. The Hebrew Bible town of Jericho lies underneath tell es-Sultan close to one of the most productive springs in Palestine. The spring, ain es-Sultan, produces about 30,000 cubic feet of water daily which irrigates approximately 2,500 acres as it moves toward the Jordan River. The rich soil, perennial spring, and sunshine made Jericho an attractive place for settlement. It was an oasis with no major settlement in sight of its town and was situated between Jerusalem in the west and Amman in the east. Thus the city became important particularly in movements back and forth across the Jordan River.
The earliest traces of building on the site dates to 9,250 B.C.E. By 8,000 B.C.E. a town of 10 acres enclosed by a wall had been constructed making Jericho the oldest city in the world. As the years passed Jericho developed a formidable defense system of ramparts and walls although many scholars suspect that when Israel moved across the Jordan River to take Canaan Jericho was a small settlement either without walls or with minimum walls.
The New Testament Jericho was about 1 1/2 miles south of Hebrew Bible Jericho in the wadi Qelt (or Kelt). Herod built three palaces in Jericho, the first one not far from the palace used by the Hasmoneans.
Many biblical passages refer to Jericho. The Israelites camped across the Jordan River from Jericho (Num. 21:1, 26:3) and from their camp Joshua later sent two spies to reconnoiter in Jericho (Josh. 2:1). Jericho was the first city captured by the Israelites after they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan (Josh. 6:1-25). Benjamin received Jericho as part of its territorial allotment (Josh. 18:21) but the city quickly became an outpost for Eglon, King of Moab (Judg. 3:13 - Jericho is the "city of the palms"). In the time of Elijah and Elisha a group ofprophets lived in Jericho (2 Kings 2:4-5). Later when the Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem, King Zedekiah fled Jerusalem by night but was captured by the Babylonian army near Jericho (2 Kings 25:4-7).
Photograph by Bob Dunston