Delving deep into Ancient Jericho, Palestine's new UNESCO World Heritage Site

To the untrained eye, Ancient Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank appears to be little more than piles of sandy rocks fringed by palm trees. But dig deep and you’ll discover evidence of a foregone civilisation revered for developing sophisticated agricultural methods, architecture practices and defence systems – 4,000 years before anyone else. Fortunately, archaeologists have done the digging for us – and their work at the UNESCO World Heritage Site – also known as Tell es-Sultan – reveals a fascinating insight into one of the world’s earliest and most advanced civilisations.  

Situated 1.5km north of the modern city of Jericho, Ancient Jericho owes its existence to a perennial spring, Ain es-Sultan. The water source and region’s balmy climate nourished the surrounding land, persuading hunter-gatherers to settle on a neighbouring mound around 10500 BC. By 9000 BC, a permanent Neolithic community had been established on the 21m mound, or tell. The inhabitants were among the first humans to rely on agriculture for subsistence. As well as cultivating fields and building irrigation channels and aqueducts, the residents domesticated animals and constructed granaries and houses. Of course, all this couldn’t have been done without hammers or axes, so they created those too – and invented pottery while they were at it.  

After a day’s work, residents in 8500 BC would return home to round, rudimentary semi-subterranean houses. These evolved into more advanced rectangular houses with stone foundations, which featured dried mud bricks and polished lime-plastered floors. At the same time, the burgeoning society developed some of the world’s earliest political and economic systems and religious beliefs.  

Cultic funerary traditions indicate the Neolithic people worshipped their ancestors and believed in life after death. They commonly exhumed bodies, removed the heads, plastered and painted the skulls with precious cinnabar pigment, then decorated the eye sockets with seashells before re-burying them beneath the floors of their residences and sacred structures. The custom of plastering skulls was gradually replaced with creating plaster statues and clay animal figurines – practices that influenced other sites in the Middle East.  

By 9000 BC, Ancient Jericho had morphed into the world’s earliest fortified settlement. Experts can’t agree on why the town was bolstered, with theories including military defence, protection from wild animals, flood control from nearby rivers or cultic practices. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that the town was surrounded by a wall etched out of bedrock and assembled from stones set in mud mortar. A second, six-metre-tall wall was subsequently added, along with a three-metre-deep ditch and stone tower – the remains of which stand at eight metres tall. Inside, the tower features a steep staircase and walls coated in mud plaster embedded with labourers’ fingerprints.  

Read next: Exploring Masada, Israel's ancient desert fortress

Despite a period of decline between 4000 BC and 2000 BC in the Early Bronze Age, Jerichoans repaired or rebuilt their fortification systems, and by 1000 BC, Ancient Jericho was a thriving cultural centre with a population of 3,000 indigenous Canaanites. With their new bronze tools, residents designed streets lined with furnished houses alongside cemeteries and public buildings including a temple and multi-storey palace (2700–2300 BC). Hyksos Palace was erected on the ruins of the first royal residence. 

Surplus agricultural production and handicrafts such as baskets meant the town’s inhabitants were in a position to trade. Ancient Jericho’s location on a key east-west route between Asia, the Mediterranean and Africa transformed it into a significant commercial hub, contributing to the exchange of goods along with ideas, beliefs and values. 

By the Middle Bronze Age, Ancient Jericho was one of Palestine’s most important Canaanite cities. However, its trailblazing earthen ramparts didn’t deter the Egyptian Pharaohs, who repeatedly attacked all Canaanite cities, eventually destroying Ancient Jericho. By 1550 BC, the city’s glory days were over. Barely inhabited, it was almost forgotten about – until archaeologists turned their attention to it in 1868.  

Since then, sensitive excavations and preservation techniques such as the application of reversible mud plaster and new mud bricks to protect vulnerable structures have maintained its authenticity. This, and the chance to experience a prehistoric town that was occupied for 10,000 years, attracts 91,000 visitors a year. Not bad for a pile of rocks.  

Need to know 

Location: Jericho is 40km east of Jerusalem in Palestine. 

Getting there: There are no direct flights to the West Bank. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly direct from London Heathrow to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, in five hours. EasyJet and Wizz Air fly from Luton, and Wizz Air also flies from Gatwick. Collective taxis depart from Ben Gurion for Jerusalem (two hours). Ask the driver to drop you off at the Damascus Gate bus station, where you can take a bus to Jericho.  
 
Getting around: Han Tourism hosts low-impact tours on farmers’ horse-drawn carriages to Ancient Jericho. It also rents bikes.
 
When to go: April to May and September to October, when temperatures peak around 25°C and rainfall is low.  
 
Accommodation: Jericho’s places to stay range from youth hostels to guesthouses and hotels. Mount41 Hostel has smart dorms; Auberg-Inn Guesthouse is a villa with dorm rooms and a four-acre garden and farm, while Jericho Resort Village has a pool.  

Further information: Bucket! Guide to the Holy Land (Bradt Travel Guide, 2022). 

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