Tag: Jericho

Jericho ( /ˈdʒɛrɪkoʊ/; Arabic: أريحا‎ Ārīḥā [ʔæˈriːħɑː] ( listen)); Hebrew: יְרִיחוֹ‎‎ Yəriḥo [jeʁiˈħo] ( listen) is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently inhabited site on earth. It is also believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Described in the Old Testament as the “City of Palm Trees”, copious springs in and around Jericho have made it an attractive site for human habitation for thousands of years. It is known in Judeo-Christian tradition as the place of the Israelites’ return from bondage in Egypt, led by Joshua, the successor to Moses. Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of more than 20 successive settlements in Jericho, the first of which dates back 11,000 years (9000 BCE), almost to…