PHOTO: puerrtto 31°52'28.43"С 35°25'52.71"В

Руины древнего Иерихона лежат к западу от центра современного города. Первые следы жизни людей здесь относятся к 8-му тыс. до н.э. Здесь открыты мощная башня (8 метров) эпохи докерамического неолита A (8400—7300 до н. э.), захоронения периода халколита, городские стены бронзового века, возможно, те самые, что, по преданию, пали от громких труб израильских воинов (знаменитые «иерихонские трубы»), руины зимнего дворца-резиденции Ирода Великого с банями, бассейнами и пышно украшенными залами, а также мозаичный пол синагоги (V—VI века). У подножия холма Тель-ас-Султан находится источник пророка Елисея (Элиши), по слову которого, согласно Библии, негодная для питья вода этого источника «стала здоровою до сего дня» (4Цар.2:19-22). В 3 км севернее современного города расположены руины византийского города и роскошного дворца омейядского халифа Хишама ибн Абд аль-Малика (VIII—IX века). К западу от Иерихона возвышается Сорокадневная гора (гора Искушения, гора Каранталь), где, по преданию, Иисус Христос постился сорок дней, искушаемый дьяволом. Учёные предполагают, что в окрестных холмах скрываются археологические ценности, сравнимые с Долиной царей в Египте.

Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BCE, providing important information about early human habitation in the Near East. The first permanent settlement was built near the Ein as-Sultan spring between 8000 and 7000 BCE by an unknown people, and consisted of a number of walls, a religious shrine, and a 23-foot (7.0 m) tower with an internal staircase. After a few centuries, it was abandoned for a second settlement, established in 6800 BCE, 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. This was followed by a succession of settlements from 4500 BCE onward, the largest of these being constructed in 2600 BCE. Archaeological evidence indicates that in the latter half of the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1700 BCE), the city enjoyed some prosperity, its walls having been strengthened and expanded. The Canaanite city (Jericho City IV) was destroyed c.1573 BCE according to the carbon dating between 1617 and 1530, but rounded as c.1550 according to the stratigraphical dating. The site remained uninhabited until the city was refounded in the 9th century BCE. In the 8th century BCE, the Assyrians invaded from the north, followed by the Babylonians, and Jericho was depopulated between 586 and 538 BCE, the period of the Jewish exile to Babylon. Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, refounded the city one mile southeast of its historic site at the mound of Tell es-Sultan, and returned the Jewish exiles after conquering Babylon in 539 BCE.