Jericho - City of Israel

Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate.

Situated well below sea level on an east-west route 16 kilometers 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 of the world.

Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BC, providing important information about early human habitation in the Near East. The first permanent settlement was built near the Ein es-Sultan spring between 8000 and 7000 BC by an unknown people, and consisted of a number of walls, a religious shrine, and a 23 feet 0 inches tower with an internal staircase.

After a few centuries, it was abandoned for a second settlement, established in 6800 BC, perhaps by an invading people who absorbed the original inhabitants into their dominant culture. Artifacts dating from this period include ten skulls, plastered and painted so as to reconstitute the individuals' features. These represent the first example of portraiture in art history, and it is thought that these were kept in people's homes while the bodies were buried.

The dramatic murder of Aristobulus III in a swimming pool at Jericho, as told by the Roman historian Josephus, took place during a banquet organized by Herod's Hasmonean mother-in-law. The city, since the construction of its palaces, functioned not only as an agricultural center and as a crossroad, but as a winter resort for Jerusalem's aristocracy.

After the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War I, Jericho, like other places in Ottoman Palestine, fell under the rule of the British Mandate. The British built fortresses in Jericho during World War II with the help of the Jewish company Solel Boneh, and bridges were rigged with explosives in preparation for a possible invasion by German allied forces.

Jericho was re-occupied by Israel during the Al-Aqsa Intifada of 2001.

Greek Orthodox Monastery of Temptation overlooking modern JerichoOn March 14, 2006, the Israel Defense Forces took captive six inmates from a Jericho prison following a 10-hour siege. Israel's reason for the siege was to capture PFLP general secretary, Ahmad Sa'adat and five other inmates for the alleged assassination of Israeli tourist minister Rehavam Zeevi because of announcements of their upcoming release. Both sides of the siege were armed and at least two people were killed and 35 wounded in the incident. Before the siege British and American monitors were guarding the prison but withdrew, citing lax security arrangements.

The siege caused an uproar amongst the PFLP members and supporters as well as other PLO factions, and as a result Palestinian militants raided and kidnapped British and European citizens in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The event is considered controversial and somewhat hampered Palestinian relations with the UK and US.