Subject: JUICE Geography 8 - Jericho
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 00:23:56 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: JUICE Administration <juice@virtual.co.il>
To: geography@virtual.co.il
Subject: JUICE Geography 8
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World Zionist Organization
Jewish University In CyberspacE
birnbaum@jer1.co.il juice@jer1.co.il
http://www.jer1.co.il/gate/juice
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Course: Biblical Geography
Lecture: 8/12
Lecturer: Robin Treistman
The web page for this lecture is located at:
http://www.wzo.org.il/juice/map/jericho/index.html
Jericho
The association that often comes to mind when hearing "Jericho"
is Joshua and tumbling walls. The fascinating Biblical account
of the Israelites' first conquest upon entering the land of
Canaan is one of the more popular stories known by people of all
ages. When examining the city and its history, one finds that the
Biblical story is a chronologically tiny (but highly significant)
piece of a larger and very rich past.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION:
Jericho is situated in the lower Jordan Valley, about 7km west
of the Jordan River, and 9 km north of the Dead Sea. At 820 feet
(250m) below sea level, it sits on the intersection between 2
major roadways: The East-West road from the direction of Amman
(Jordan) connecting with Jerusalem, and the North-South road
connecting to Bet-Shean in the north. Within the modern city
(which is about 1.5km southeast of the site of the ancient city)
are the draw-pools of a spring called Ayn as-Sultan or in Hebrew,
the Spring of Elisha. The spring's abundant waters together with
the year-long warm climate fashioned a true desert oasis within
which Jericho is located. The abundance of rare vegetation (to
the region) that grows easily in Jericho has always been one of
its primary sources of income and prominence.
PRE-BIBLICAL HISTORY:
Before delving into Jericho's Biblical history, I must add a note
about the city's history prior to that period: Excavations on Tel
as-Sultan - the site of the ancient city, 1.5km northwest of the
modern city - reveal the world's oldest excavated urban center,
dating back to the Neolithic period, about 7000 BCE or earlier.
(Note: A tel is an archaeological mound. Typically, it is an out-
of-place hill containing layers of archaeological ruins from
different historical periods.) The city of that period was
characterized by a stone wall 2m thick and connected to a round
stone tower with an estimated height of 9 meters. Permanent
housing (as opposed to huts) from this period was also found
within the city walls.
Further archaeological findings on the tel (which covers about
34 dunams or 8.5 acres) show the repeated pattern in which
communities in Jericho would flourish, be destroyed, and then
rebuilt on the ruins of the previous town. For example, in one
historical period alone - the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium
BCE) the walls of the city were destroyed and rebuilt an
estimated 17 times. After another cycle of destruction, by the
Middle Bronze Age II, the city prospered amid an impressive
series of fortifications besides the wall and the tower. It is
assumed that's how the city looked at the time it was conquered
by Joshua and the Israelites.
BIBLICAL HISTORY:
Jericho makes its first appearance in the Bible in Numbers 22;1.
It is referred to as "Jordan-Jericho," usually translated as
"Jordan (the river) *near* Jericho." The reference there and in
another 8 places in Numbers are all in the same context of
describing the bearings of the Israelites at their final desert
encampment on the eastern side of the Jordan River. The repeated
description of their position was in the "Moav Plains opposite
(or by) Jordan-Jericho." (See Numbers 26;3,63 / 31;12 / 33;48,50
/ 34;15 / 35;1 / 36;13 - here "Jericho" is the last word in the
Book of Numbers.)
If the city's name is simply Jericho (as it appears in
Deuteronomy and then in Joshua), why is it consistently alluded
to in Numbers as Jordan-Jericho? Most likely, the reference
wasn't to the city itself, rather to the whole area which covers
the western Jordan basin between the Dead Sea and the city of
Jericho. As was mentioned in the lecture on Shechem, the entire
land of Canaan, from Abraham's time through the conquest by
Joshua, was dotted with individual kingdoms. These consisted of
large areas of land with a walled city of the same name serving
as the capital. Jerusalem and Shechem were two such examples, and
Jericho was another. The heavily fortified city was the capital
of the greater area stretching from the Dead Sea to Jericho,
covering the entire valley in between. When the Bible mentions the
Israelites' encampment opposite Jordan-Jericho, it is referring to
the entire area and not just the city.
Jericho is mentioned 3 times in Deuteronomy in connection with
the impending death of Moses. The text (32;49 / 34;1,3) describes
Moses' ascent on Mt. Nevo (located in modern Jordan) to view the
Land of Israel in its entirety before dying there. He was
instructed to climb "opposite" or "on the face of" Jericho (and
not "Jordan-Jericho"). In this case, it appears to mean due-east
of the city itself, as the final reference calls Jericho the
"City of the Date Palms."
This depiction of Jericho brings me to the subject of its name.
"Jericho" could refer to one or both of the following
interpretations: The Hebrew word, "Yericho" is derived from the
word "YaReaCH" meaning "moon" - Jericho was a city whose
inhabitants were known for their lunar worship. AND/OR the name
of "Yericho" is derived from the Hebrew word "Re-aCH" meaning
"scent." Jericho was also famous for the rare and exotic perfumes
and colognes derived from the vegetation there which were traded
all over the region.
We are now at Jericho's most famous Biblical incident, the first
conquest of Joshua and the Israelites in the Land of Israel. It
is advised that you familiarize yourself with the account by
reading in the Book of Joshua chapters 2, 5, and 6 in their
entirety. I will not summarize the story but I will refer to
parts of it below.
Why was Jericho first? Of course, this question would always have
to be asked no matter which city it was. In any case, two
Midrashic sources (Bamidbar Rabbah 15;15 and Midrash Tanhuma,
Beha-alotcha 10) answer the question in the following simple
manner: Jericho was like a key or a latch to the rest of Canaan -
once Jericho is conquered, the rest of the land will fall easily.
Of course, this answer provokes another question: Why was Jericho
like a "key" or a "latch"? What was special about Jericho that
made it like a key to the conquest of the rest of the country?
The answer to this question centers around two areas of concern:
The strategic-military and the psychological. We will deal with
each individually, though they are really inseparable.
Strategically, Jericho was an ideal place to begin the conquest.
The last encampment of the Israelites before entering the land
was basically east of Jericho. After crossing the Jordan, the
nearest city was Jericho, making it a convenient starting point.
But there was more to it: Taking Jericho first enabled the
Israelites to set up an open and secure line of communication and
transit to the Israelite tribes who settled on the East of the
Jordan (Reuven, Gad, and part of Menashe). Also, by conquering
the land starting at the easternmost stronghold and moving
westward from there, the Israelites were able to prevent foreign
armies from coming in from the East to help the locals in battle.
The conquest of Jericho was also a sort-of military test of
fortitude. Besides the fact that it was first, it was also going
to be the Israelites' toughest battle in terms of the
fortifications they were up against. As mentioned earlier, the
components of Jericho's fortifications were among the most
advanced and impenetrable at the time. If the Israelites (true,
with Divine aid) would be able to conquer this city, then
militarily speaking, they should be able to conquer any other
city. By the way, in the Biblical text, there is a reference to
this idea. The verse in Joshua 6;1 describes Jericho as being
"closed up and locked." The double language there ("sogeret
umesugeret") is a Biblical tool used for emphasis. This verse is
emphasizing Jericho's fortifications and security measures taken
in defense against the Israelites.
This idea is of course connected to the psychological factor of
the conquest of Jericho. The psychological element worked both
ways: Knowing that Jericho will probably be the most difficult
of battles, the Israelites would receive a critical boost of
confidence with a victory. On the other hand, the local Canaanite
population, knowing that Jericho is the most secure of the
cities, would be devastated at its defeat. Their will to fight
would be shattered, making the subsequent battles for the
Israelites relatively easy.
The truth is that the Biblical text suggests that the
psychological state of the people was already shaky. Rahab, the
woman who hid the Israelite spies, told them that the peoples'
"hearts are melting" from fear of the Israelites (see Joshua 2;9-
11, 24); the general description of the situation in the land
also makes that point (see 5;1). The locals essentially had
nowhere else to turn but to their stronghold in Jericho. Many
people from outside of Jericho who were fearful crowded into the
city hoping that it would survive the attack.
The war in Jericho boosted the confidence of the Israelites in
two ways: One was the mere fact that they made their first
successful conquest. The second had to do with the supernatural
manner in which they conquered the city. There was reason for the
Israelites to fear that God would intervene less in the daily
matters of the people. As soon as they crossed the Jordan River,
things became a lot more temporal for them: The manna stopped
falling, the clouds of glory went away, etc... making life more
"normal." The Israelites may have wondered whether God was also
going to leave them to their own devices in the conquest of the
land. This battle, in which God did the tricky part and left the
rest for the people, proved to them that they were not going to
be abandoned in subsequent battles.
The Divine nature of the battle was one of its kind. According
to Maimonides (Guide to the Perplexed, 3;3), Joshua wanted people
of all coming generations to be able to see evidence of the
miracle involved in the conquest of Jericho. Apparently, it was
clearly visible that the walls of Jericho were not destroyed in
any normal manner. Joshua therefore placed a curse on the ancient
city against anyone who would build on its ruins (see 6;26). From
about 1240 BCE until about 870 BCE, the city of Jericho lay in
ruins and no one touched it. During the reign of the Israelite
King Ahab, a man named Chi-el rebuilt the city on its ruins, and
Joshua's curse comes true (see Kings I 15;34).
Now that Jericho had been rebuilt, it once again became an
inhabited city, part of the Kingdom of Israel. It comes to light
again in Kings II. Read chapter 2 through verse 22: The city
became a central resting point for those travelling in the
desert. Additionally, not only was it a resting point, but it was
a nice place to live (verse 19). There was just one problem: The
water was contaminated and it was causing a lot of fatal disease
in the city. At that point, the people of the city, after seeing
that Elisha was a true prophet, asked him to fix their waters.
Using salt and some Divine backing, Elisha managed to "sweeten"
or cleanse the water in such a way that it became drinkable and
irrigatable. For this reason, the spring in the locality received
the name "the Spring of Elisha" which still sticks today.
In the final battle over Jerusalem in 587 BCE, there is an
incident in which Zedekiah, the King of Judea, flees Jerusalem
and ends up being captured by the Babylonians in the Jericho area
(Kings II 25;5 and Jeremiah 39;5). A related midrashic account
quoted by Rashi describes that there was a secret tunnel leading
from the palace in Jerusalem to Jericho. When Zedekiah escaped
through that tunnel, Babylonian soldiers near Jericho were
hunting a deer. That deer ran to the opening of the tunnel just
as Zedekiah was emerging from it, and the soldiers caught him.
After the return of the exiles from Babylon 70 years later, 345
inhabitants of Jericho were enumerated with those who returned
to Israel (Ezra 2;34 / Nehemia 7;36).
POST-BIBLICAL HISTORY
After the return of the Babylonian exiles to Israel, the
community in Jericho was revived. However, it didn't remain long
in the area of Tel as-Sultan; by the end of Persian rule, (c. 330
BCE) the settlement in Jericho moved southward, closer to the
center of today's modern city.
During the Second Temple period, Jericho flourished once again,
probably due to three already familiar reasons: The exploitation
of the natural resources of the oasis; her location on the roads
that connected to Jerusalem; and the attraction of Jericho as a
convenient respite due to the mild winter weather.
>From the time of the House of Ptolemy's reign over Israel (301
BCE) through the Roman conquest of Israel, Jericho's land was
taken into the direct possession of the ruling monarch. The
economic value of the natural resources found or raised there was
too costly to overlook, so any profit from trade would go
directly into the State's treasury. The production and export of
perfumes and natural medications (especially from the rare
persimmon fruit) was a great boon to anyone involved.
The two roadways on which Jericho sits became major highways
leading to Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple: The North-
South Jordan Valley Pass became a major path to Jerusalem from
the North while the East-West road connecting Jerusalem and
"Rabbat Amon" (Amman) was also a very popular road. For this
reason and for that of Jericho's temperate winter climate,
Jericho became a sort of "resort" city - a stopover point for
travellers, and a winter resort for the upper and ruling classes.
Rulers of the Hasmonean Dynasty (167-64 BCE) had built various
fortifications in the area to protect Jericho as well as the
Jerusalem corridors; Herod (ruled 37-4 BCE) refortified some of
the older buildings in addition to building himself a winter
palace and other impressive administrative structures. Of course,
let us not forget the famous story about Herod, who upon claiming
the Kingdom of Judea, carried out a series of murders directed
at those posing a threat to him. One of these was Aristobulus,
the brother of his wife, Mariamne. Aristobulus, who occupied the
position of High Priest against Herod's will, was drowned in a
pool in Jericho by Herod's secret orders.
Jericho's splendor continued through the time of the destruction
of the Second Temple. In fact, Josephus Flavius, in the Wars of
the Jews likens Jericho to the Garden of Eden. From this time
period, Jericho has many references in the Talmud. Two such
examples follow: In the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 11,
there is an account of three sages dining in Jericho (remember
its role as a resort) when a Divine voice made itself heard to
them. A second reference is in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate
Brachot 54: In a discussion of special blessings upon seeing
extraordinary things, the sages mention that upon seeing the
remnants of the walls of Jericho, one must offer special praise
to God. Apparently during that time, something visible about the
ruined walls at the abandoned tel reminded one easily of the
miracle of Joshua's time.
After the Roman conquest (70 CE), Jericho became part of a
district separate from the rest of the country. The area became
the station of one of the Roman military legions. From that time
through the time of the Great Revolt of Bar Kochba , the Jewish
presence in Jericho declined. By the time of the Byzantine rule,
the Jewish presence inside the city was negligible - the majority
of the remnants of that time are churches and related artifacts.
During this time period, the city moved to its present location.
The Arab conquest of 638 CE actually brought with it a revival
of the Jewish presence in Jericho. A Jewish "tribe" which was
expelled from Arabia settled in Jericho. The "ancient" synagogue
of Jericho (with a very intact mosaic floor) is thought to date
back to this time. Some experts suggest that the synagogue, which
is actually north of the city then and now, may have dated back
to the Byzantine period in which there was no significant Jewish
population inside the city. The synagogue in this specific
location would serve Jews from surrounding villages. This being
the case, the Jews who settled in Jericho during the Arab rule
simply refurbished an already existing structure.
Though the Omayyad Caliph, Hisham, built a winter palace in
Jericho, its grandeur declined. Through the early Middle Ages,
the city subsisted mostly on income from the trade of sugar cane.
The city was captured by the Crusaders, and then retaken
peacefully by Saladin in 1187. From this time until the 19th
century, Jericho was sparsely inhabited and continued to survive
on the production of sugar. By the end of the 19th century, the
desert had essentially reclaimed the oasis, and it was inhabited
by a few Beduin families.
The beginning of the 20th Century saw a revival of Jericho for
precisely the same three reasons it thrived in the Second Temple
Period: The natural springs utilized to irrigate the surrounding
areas, bringing to life the date and other tropical fruit groves;
its location on the roads to Jerusalem; the mild winter climate
which attracted the wealthy from surrounding Arab states who
built winter homes there.
After the Israeli War of Independence, Jericho and the
surrounding refugee camps became part of Jordan until the 1967
War. Following that war, Jericho became one of the major cities
in the "Occupied Territories." Today, Jericho is once again in
the realm of a "first:" It is part of the Jericho-and-Gaza-First
Autonomy Plan for the Palestinian people. Jericho is now
autonomous under the Palestinian Authority, though the military
patrols around its border are carried out in cooperation with the
Israeli Defense Forces.
References:
Bible and Biblical Commentaries
Elitzur, Y. and Kiel, Y. (1993) _Atlas Daat Mikra_ (Hebrew),
Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem.
Orni, E., and Efrat, E. (1973) _Geography of Israel_, Israel
Universities Press: Jerusalem.
Rappel, Joel (ed.) (1984) _History of Eretz-Israel: From
Prehistory up to 1882_, (Hebrew) Tel Aviv: Ministry of
Defense.
Yitzchaki, A. (ed.) (1980) _Israel Guide: Judea_ (Hebrew), Keter
and the Defense Ministry: Jerusalem.
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