Old Jericho

Ancient Jericho is located in the Fertile Crescent . The site of Tell es-Sultan was already used as a resting place at an oasis around the 10th millennium BC, even before there was actually a city.

During the Pre-Ceramic Neolithic A (c. 9,500–8,300 BC), this grew into a settlement of approximately 4 hectares, surrounded by a stone wall and featuring a stone tower. UNESCO dates the permanent settlement to the 9th–8th millennium BC; archaeologists speak of habitation from c. 9,000 BC with continuity into historical times.

The key factor was the 'Ain es‑Sultan' spring : constant fresh water in the middle of a very dry landscape, which made agriculture and livestock farming possible.

The combination of fertile alluvial soils of the Jordan Valley , the warm climate, and irrigation possibilities made intensive agriculture (grain, legumes, and later also fruit) attractive to early sedentary groups.

Moreover, Jericho was situated on an important east-west caravan route between the Mediterranean Sea (Egypt/Canaan) and the interior towards the Jordan River and Mesopotamia, which stimulated trade and exchange. In the oldest phase (Late Epipaleolithic, Natufian culture), it appears to have started as a seasonal camp of hunter-gatherers around the oasis, with some stone structures already present even before full-fledged agriculture. With the transition to permanent agricultural communities, round houses built of loam and brushwood were constructed; excavations show circular dwellings from ca. 9,000 BC around the spring. Already in this early phase, a city wall of stone and mud bricks with a moat in front was built, plus a monumental stone tower from ca. 8,000 BC, often regarded as one of the oldest known defensive or cultic structures in the world.

Pascal Brackman