Jericho

Jericho is one of the most ancient cities in the Middle East. It is situated on the west side of the Jordan, not far from Jerusalem. Jericho is best known as the city that the Israelites walked around, so that the city walls fell down. In the New Testament Jericho is mentioned a few times in the stories about Jesus.

Jericho was inhabited from 9500 BC onwards. It is therefore one of the oldest cities in the ancient Near East.
Jericho is situated in a fertile area. Many date palms grow there, which is why Jericho is also called “the city of palm trees” in the Bible (Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13).

Jericho is situated to the west of the Jordan, around 15 kilometres from the Dead Sea and 30 kilometres from Jerusalem. The city lies at a crossroads of important routes. You have to pass through Jericho if you cross the Jordan from the east.
Jericho is an important point of orientation in the Old Testament. Jericho is also frequently mentioned in descriptions of the border area.

According to the book of Joshua, Jericho is the first city in the land of Canaan which the people of Israel take possession of. After the Israelites have walked around the city for seven days, the city walls collapse. The Israelites destroy the city and kill all its inhabitants. They spare only Rahab and her family, because she helped two Israelite spies to escape from Jericho.
Jericho is dedicated to God. The Israelites are therefore not permitted to keep the plunder from Jericho for themselves but must bring all the gold and silver objects to the sanctuary. Joshua also pronounces a curse on anyone who tries to rebuild this city (Joshua 6:26).
A few hundred years later, in the time of King Ahab, Hiel rebuilds the city of Jericho. Hiel’s eldest son dies when laying the foundations and his youngest son dies when he reinforces the city walls, as Joshua had predicted (1 Kings 16:34).

Jericho is mentioned in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story, someone travels from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30). In addition, at the gate of Jericho the blind man Bartimaeus is healed by Jesus (Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35), and Jericho is the place where the tax collector Zacchaeus lives, who climbed up a tree to see Jesus.