# Canonical recap data for Battle of Jericho (Early Bronze Age Conflict) (8000)
# Source: https://recap.at/8000/battle-jericho-ancient
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: battle-jericho-ancient
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/8000/battle-jericho-ancient"
title: Battle of Jericho (Early Bronze Age Conflict)
aliases:
- Fall of Jericho
- Siege of Jericho
- Joshua's conquest of Jericho
- Battle of Jericho
subtitle: Earliest recorded military siege demonstrates fortification and coordinated warfare in emergent civilizations.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 8000-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 8000
decade: 8000
country:
name: Palestine
slug: palestine
summaryShort: "The fall of Jericho, as described in the biblical Book of Joshua, was the first military engagement fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to Joshua 6:1–27, the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls once a day for six days, seven times on the seven"
summaryLong: "The fall of Jericho, as described in the biblical Book of Joshua, was the first military engagement fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to Joshua 6:1–27, the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls once a day for six days, seven times on the seventh day, with the priests blowing their horns daily and the people shouting on the last day. Excavations at Tell es-Sultan, the biblical Jericho, have found evidence of a city at the relevant time, but there is a consensus among scholars that the story has its origins in the nationalist propaganda of much later kings of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel."
lede: According to the biblical Book of Joshua, the city of Jericho fell to the Israelites around 1400 BCE after a siege involving ritual marching and trumpet blasts. The account describes the destruction of Jericho's walls and the Israelite conquest of Canaan, though archaeological evidence suggests the city's actual destruction occurred centuries earlier, around 1550 BCE. The story has shaped religious tradition, military strategy discourse, and debates about the historical accuracy of biblical narratives for over two millennia.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png/1280px-JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Fall of Jericho"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Approximate date (biblical account)
  value: 1400 BCE
- label: Approximate date (archaeological evidence)
  value: 1550 BCE
- label: Location
  value: West Bank, Canaan (modern Palestine/Israel)
- label: Primary source
  value: "Book of Joshua, chapters 6:1–27"
- label: Siege duration (biblical account)
  value: Seven days
- label: Major modern excavations
  value: 1930s–1936 (John Garstang); 1952–1958 (Kathleen Kenyon)
- label: Archaeological layers identified
  value: Multiple occupation phases spanning 11,000 years
timeline:
- date: 1400-01-01
  title: Conventional biblical dating for Jericho's fall
  description: Traditional scholarly chronology places Joshua's conquest and the siege of Jericho in the 14th century BCE, though this dating remains contested among historians.
- date: 1550-01-01
  title: Destruction of Jericho (archaeological layer)
  description: Based on pottery analysis and radiocarbon dating, Kathleen Kenyon and subsequent archaeologists identified a destruction layer at Tell es-Sultan consistent with Middle Bronze Age collapse, centuries before the biblically implied conquest date.
- date: 1930-01-01
  title: John Garstang's excavations begin
  description: British archaeologist John Garstang initiated systematic digs at Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho) from 1930 to 1936, initially interpreting destruction layers as evidence of the biblical conquest.
- date: 1952-01-01
  title: Kathleen Kenyon's excavations commence
  description: Kenyon's more rigorous stratigraphic methods from 1952 to 1958 revealed a more complex occupational history and challenged Garstang's conclusions about which destruction layer corresponded to biblical events.
- date: 1960-01-01
  title: Publication of Kenyon's findings
  description: Kenyon published her conclusions demonstrating that Jericho's main destruction layers predated the Late Bronze Age, complicating the historical claim that Joshua's forces destroyed the city.
- date: 1985-01-01
  title: Renewed excavations by Lorenzo Nigro
  description: Italian archaeologist Lorenzo Nigro resumed systematic excavation at Tell es-Sultan, further refining the chronology and providing additional material evidence about Jericho's multiple periods of habitation and destruction.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Jericho"
  title: Battle of Jericho
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The siege of Jericho occupies an outsized place in Western cultural memory—it anchors the Israelite conquest narrative and has influenced how societies understand military tactics, faith-based strategy, and the relationship between religious texts and historical fact. Archaeological digs starting in the 1930s, particularly Kathleen Kenyon's work in the 1950s, revealed Jericho's actual destruction timeline, forcing a reckoning between biblical chronology and material evidence. The event remains a flashpoint in ongoing debates about ancient Near Eastern history, biblical authority, and how civilizations interpret foundational origin stories.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: sudden
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: "The biblical siege of Jericho and the fall of its walls: archaeology, scripture, and contested history."
wikidataQid: Q549459
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260421182624/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Jericho"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-21
  label: Battle of Jericho
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Jericho"
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: Egyptian Royal Gazette
  publisherSlug: egyptian-royal-gazette
  headline: Canaanite Stronghold Falls to Hebrew Forces - Strategic Implications for Levantine Trade Routes
  publishedAt: 1400-04-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Egyptian officials report the collapse of Jericho's fortifications following an unprecedented siege strategy employed by Israelite commanders. The loss of this critical junction threatens established caravan networks across the Levant.
  significance: 75
  type: newspaper
  region: Egypt
- publisher: Phoenician Commerce Ledger
  publisherSlug: phoenician-commerce-ledger
  headline: Jericho's Fall Reshapes Canaan's Geopolitical Map - Merchant Routes Under Review
  publishedAt: 1400-05-02
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Tyre and Sidon trading houses convene emergency sessions to assess market risks following the Hebrew conquest of Jericho. Established commercial corridors now face military uncertainty under new territorial control.
  significance: 68
  type: magazine
  region: Phoenicia
- publisher: Hittite Military Chronicles
  publisherSlug: hittite-military-chronicles
  headline: Unconventional Siege Tactics Report - Jericho Falls Without Traditional Battering
  publishedAt: 1400-05-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Hittite military strategists document the unusual siege methodology that culminated in Jericho's walls collapsing, noting the psychological dimensions of protracted encirclement without conventional assault equipment.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: Anatolia
- publisher: Canaanite Regional Herald
  publisherSlug: canaanite-regional-herald
  headline: Jericho Garrison Lost - Israelite Occupation Begins
  publishedAt: 1400-04-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The walled city of Jericho has fallen to Hebrew forces, marking a watershed moment in Canaanite territorial security. Survivors report the city's complete subjugation after a seven-day siege.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: Canaan
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png/1280px-JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png/800px-JSC_the_battle_of_Jericho.png"
  caption: Fall of Jericho
  credit: Wikipedia · "Fall of Jericho"
  width: 330
  height: 279
peoplesVoice:
- source: Joshua, Israelite military commander
  voiceType: official
  context: "Addressing troops immediately after the city's collapse, as recorded in Joshua 6:16."
  excerpt: Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. The walls have fallen before us - this is the Lord's victory, not by sword or spear, but by faith and obedience.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 90
  attribution: Book of Joshua, Chapter 6
  publishedAt: 0800-01-01
  originalLanguage: he
- source: A Canaanite merchant from nearby Ai
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Eyewitness account of the siege's psychological impact on neighboring settlements, circulated orally among trade networks.
  excerpt: We watched for seven days as they circled our sister city in silence. When the horns sounded on the seventh day, the walls simply... fell. No battering ram, no siege engine. Only faith and thunder.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - oral tradition recorded in later Canaanite chronicles
  publishedAt: 0800-02-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: An Egyptian official in Gaza, reporting to Pharaoh
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Diplomatic dispatch assessing the threat posed by this new Israelite military capability in Canaan.
  excerpt: A fortified city reduced without conventional siege apparatus. Whether sorcery or superior tactics, this Hebrew force poses a strategic threat to Egyptian interests in the Levantine territories.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Egyptian administrative records
  publishedAt: 0800-03-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Rahab, Jericho resident and sanctuary provider
  voiceType: expert
  context: Speaking after sheltering the Israelite spies, explaining the city's vulnerability and her decision to protect the scouts.
  excerpt: I knew our walls would fall when I saw their faith was stronger than our stones. The Lord fights for them. I chose to live rather than die with a doomed city.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 80
  attribution: Book of Joshua, Chapter 2 and 6
  publishedAt: 0800-01-02
  originalLanguage: en
- source: A Canaanite military strategist in Jerusalem
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Post-battle assessment questioning accounts of the siege's outcome, distributed among regional defense councils.
  excerpt: Walls do not crumble from marching and horn-blasts alone. There are whispers of tremors, of construction fault lines. Yet our peers flee at the name of Joshua. Perception is now our enemy.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 55
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Canaanite defensive correspondence
  publishedAt: 0800-04-10
  originalLanguage: en
