Jericho - biblical city in Palestine

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

What is this city famous for? The phrase "trumpets of Jericho" entered the Russian language. It means a loud cry foreshadowing disaster. We also know that Jericho is the oldest city in Palestine, and probably on the entire planet. Archaeologists have discovered that people have lived in this place continuously for ten thousand years! Jericho is also interesting in terms of geographical location: it is located 250 m below sea level. It is the deepest city on earth. And, of course, as soon as we open the Bible, we soon come across a mention of Jericho.

In the Old Testament it is mentioned in the books: Deuteronomy, Judges, 2 Chronicles, Joshua. But in the Gospel, the biblical city in Palestine is also not ignored. Approaching him, our Lord healed the blind from birth. Entering the city walls on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus Christ met Zacchaeus, who was small in stature, and therefore climbed onto a fig tree in order to see the Messiah because of the surrounding people. By the way, this tree is still alive, and it is shown to those who wish.

"These are all legends," says the non-Bible believer. What do the facts, that is, material evidence, say about the “City of Palms” (according to one version, the name of the city of Yoriho came from here)? Indeed, at the end of the 19th century, when the first archaeological expedition of the British arrived in the biblical city, it was a quiet provincial village. English scientists in 1868 dug up quite a bit. After 40 years, another expedition arrived in the village, this time consisting of Germans. This mission, led by archaeologist E. Sellin, immediately began to dig deep. As a result, scientists discovered the ancient city wall in 1908.

To date, through the efforts of archaeologists, the biblical city in Palestine has revealed 23 layers of bygone civilizations. The first settlement west of the marketplace of modern Jericho dates back to the 8th millennium BC. e. But this is not important: the settlement was not a camp of wild nomads, but a city. This is evidenced by a powerful eight-meter tower dating from the pre-ceramic Neolithic era. The settlement of the Bronze Age (7300 BC) struck scientists with the scale of the city's fortifications. It is almost unbelievable that such powerful walls could be erected by people who do not know iron.

There are many artifacts of later eras in Jericho: the necropolis of the Chalcolithic period, the ruins of the winter residence of King Herod, the palace of the period of Arab culture of the 7th century. But what allows us to say that Jericho is precisely the biblical city in Palestine? In-First, it is a source near the hill Tel-as-Sultan, called the key of Elisha. In the Fourth Book of Kings (2:19-22) we read that the city was good for everyone, only the water in it was not good. The prophet Elisha threw s alt into it, making the spring drinkable. And not far from the city rises a mountain on which Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the Devil.

But what does "trumpets of Jericho" mean? The book of Joshua tells that the ancient Jews decided to capture this very successful place in the oasis, since Yahweh promised to support them. The army surrounded the biblical city in Palestine and began to loudly trumpet and issue war cries. As a result, powerful fortifications collapsed, and the Israelis killed all the inhabitants with the exception of one house of the collaborator and harlot Rahab. Does this mystical story have any material confirmation? Indeed, the fortress wall of a huge city (17 hectares, which is unheard of in antiquity) collapsed in several places at once. But the reason for this was not the sound of a trumpet, but an earthquake.