Jericho (town)

I

Introduction

Jericho (town) (Arabic, Ariha, Hebrew, Yeriho), town in the West Bank, located in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea and west of the Jordan River. Jericho is the world's oldest known settlement and is famous in biblical history. From 1967 to 1994 Jericho was occupied and administered by Israel; in 1994 it became the first town in the West Bank to be transferred to Palestinian self-rule. Located about 244 m (800 ft) below sea level, Jericho is one of the lowest cities in the world. Its climate is hot and dry in summer and mild in winter. Population 14,744 (1997 estimate).

II

Economy

Most of Jericho's agricultural land is irrigated by small private wells that provide water throughout the year; the city draws its water from an irrigation system originating at the Ayn as Sultan Spring, which has supplied Jericho with water since ancient times. Fruit crops, including bananas, figs, dates, and citrus fruits, are grown in the region. In addition to agricultural activities, Jericho has a long-standing tourist industry. Road traffic from Jerusalem and other cities in northern Israel converges in Jericho, and roads continue south to the Dead Sea and the Negev. Traffic from the Allenby Bridge crossing on the Jordanian border passes through Jericho as well.

III

Places of Interest

Points of interest in Jericho include a 6th-century synagogue with an intact mosaic; Hisham's palace, which was built in the 700s as a winter retreat for the Umayyad Caliph Hisham and is a surviving example of early Islamic architecture (see Caliphate); and the Byzantine structure of St George's monastery. Located nearby are the Mount of Temptation (Qaranţal, Dayr al), which, according to New Testament tradition, is the site where the devil tempted Jesus Christ, and the caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947.

IV

History

Jericho is the site of the oldest settlement yet to be discovered, with significant archaeological remains dating back as far as 9000 bc. Located about 2 km (1 mi) from today's city centre, the original settlement of Jericho was excavated in the early 20th century. Remains include a walled community and a high tower. Additional findings from the period indicate that there was irrigated agriculture, revealing the prehistoric shift from nomadic to settled forms of life. Jericho is well-known in biblical history as the site of a siege by Joshua and the Israelites (see Joshua 6). The city functioned as an administrative centre for the Persians in the 6th century bc and became a royal resort in the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century bc. Around 30 bc Jericho was awarded to Herod the Great by the Roman emperor Augustus. Herod laid out new aqueducts and built a theatre and winter palace there.

Between the 4th and 7th centuries ad Jericho attracted many pilgrims and the population grew considerably. The city was taken over by Arabs in the 7th century, and during the 12th and 13th centuries Crusaders controlled Jericho and greatly expanded the cultivation of sugar cane in the region (see Crusades). After the defeat of the Crusaders by the Muslim leader Saladin, Jericho's vitality declined. In 1840 the Egyptian general Ibrahim Pasha razed the city when he withdrew his army to Egypt.

In 1920 Jericho became part of the British mandate of Palestine. By the terms of a 1947 United Nations (UN) plan calling for the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, Jericho was allocated to Arab control. Shortly after the state of Israel declared its independence in 1948, war broke out between Israel and its Arab neighbours. This war, known as the first Arab-Israeli War, lasted until 1949 and resulted in an influx of displaced Palestinians to Jericho. A number of refugee camps were built by the UN in and around the city, boosting Jericho's population and expanding its economy. The city was under the rule of Jordan from 1949 until 1967; during that time the Palestinian nationalist Musa Alami founded an agricultural school and experimental farm there to provide training for the Palestinian refugee population. Following the Six-Day War of 1967, Jericho and the rest of the West Bank were occupied and administered by the Israeli government.

Due to its distance from other West Bank population centres and its relatively small population, Jericho remained somewhat removed from the anti-Israel activity that took place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the period of the Palestinian uprising, or intifada (1987-1993). Largely for this reason, Jericho was chosen as the starting point for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank under the provisions of a 1993 agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In May 1994 an implementation accord was signed in Cairo, setting out details concerning the transfer of authority from the Israeli military administration to the PLO-directed Palestinian National Authority (PNA). By the terms of the accord, the PNA is responsible for managing Palestinian affairs in the Jericho Area, which consists of the town, its immediate environs, and a small corridor stretching north to the town of Al Awja. The Israeli government has authority over Israeli settlers and visitors, and over matters concerning external security and foreign affairs.