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Jericho (Tell es-Sultan)

Collapsed walls, burned grain jars, and a century-long dating debate

Conquest & Judges · city / site, fortification / gate, destruction layer · Debated · found 1907

Deep excavation trench through an earthen mound with stone walls exposed
Photo: Deror_avi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons — Kenyon's Trench III cut through the ramparts of Tell es-Sultan, Jericho.

Found 1907 — Ernst Sellin & Carl Watzinger (German-Austrian expedition); later John Garstang (1930–36), Kathleen Kenyon (1952–58), Lorenzo Nigro (Italian-Palestinian, 1997–)

Where Tell es-Sultan, beside Ein es-Sultan spring, Jericho (West Bank (Palestinian Territories))

Dates from c. 1550–1400 BCE (destruction of City IV; date disputed) · Middle Bronze III – Late Bronze I · Conquest under Yehoshua (Joshua)

Now at Site (open archaeological park); finds in the Rockefeller Museum (Jerusalem), Jordan Archaeological Museum (Amman), British Museum and Palestine Exploration Fund (London)

How Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) was found

Sellin and Watzinger first cut trenches through the tell in 1907–09. Garstang found a fallen mudbrick wall and a burned city he dated to c. 1400 BCE. Kenyon's stratigraphic trenches redated the same destruction to c. 1550 BCE. Bryant Wood (1990) argued from the pottery that Garstang was right; most excavators still follow Kenyon.

What it is

A 10-acre mound beside a strong spring, occupied from about 9000 BCE. The Middle Bronze city had a sloping plastered rampart topped by a mudbrick wall. Its final Bronze Age city (Kenyon's City IV) ended in a fierce fire: walls collapsed outward, houses burned, and storage jars full of charred grain were left in the rubble.

Why it matters for the Bible

The burned city with fallen walls and full grain jars matches several details in Yehoshua 6: a short siege in spring after harvest, walls that fell, and a city burned rather than plundered. The problem is the date. Kenyon and most excavators today place the destruction around 1550 BCE, a century and a half before a 1400 BCE conquest and far too early for a 13th-century one, and they find almost nothing from the Late Bronze Age. Wood and others argue that the pottery, scarabs, and radiocarbon dates can be read to support c. 1400 BCE. Readers should know that both positions are held by serious scholars and that the question is not settled.

Debated: The destruction is real; its date is the debate. Kenyon (c. 1550 BCE) is the majority view; Wood (c. 1400 BCE) and some radiocarbon readings are used to argue for a later date. No Late Bronze II (13th-century) city has been found.

The Hebrew word: cho-MAH

חוֹמָה

חוֹמָה is pronounced cho-MAH and means city wall (Strong's H2346).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Fall of Jericho (Joshua 6) · Rahab and the spies (Joshua 2) · Joshua's curse on rebuilding Jericho (Joshua 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34)

Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) in Scripture

Numbers 22:1 First mention of Jericho in Scripture.

Joshua 6:20 The wall fell down flat and the people went straight in; Garstang and Kenyon both found a collapsed mudbrick wall at the site.

Joshua 6:24 The city was burned with everything in it; the destruction layer holds burned houses and jars still full of grain, which raiders normally would have taken.

Questions people ask

What is Jericho (Tell es-Sultan)?
A 10-acre mound beside a strong spring, occupied from about 9000 BCE. The Middle Bronze city had a sloping plastered rampart topped by a mudbrick wall. Its final Bronze Age city (Kenyon's City IV) ended in a fierce fire: walls collapsed outward, houses burned, and storage jars full of charred grain were left in the rubble.

When was Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) discovered?
It was found in 1907 by Ernst Sellin & Carl Watzinger (German-Austrian expedition); later John Garstang (1930–36), Kathleen Kenyon (1952–58), Lorenzo Nigro (Italian-Palestinian, 1997–), at Tell es-Sultan, beside Ein es-Sultan spring, Jericho.

Where is Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) today?
Site (open archaeological park); finds in the Rockefeller Museum (Jerusalem), Jordan Archaeological Museum (Amman), British Museum and Palestine Exploration Fund (London).

Which Bible verses does Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) relate to?
Numbers 22:1, Joshua 6:20, Joshua 6:24.

Is Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) authentic?
The destruction is real; its date is the debate. Kenyon (c. 1550 BCE) is the majority view; Wood (c. 1400 BCE) and some radiocarbon readings are used to argue for a later date. No Late Bronze II (13th-century) city has been found.

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Sources

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