# Canonical recap data for Jericho's First Fortification (9000)
# Source: https://recap.at/9000/jericho-fortification
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: jericho-fortification
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/9000/jericho-fortification"
title: Jericho's First Fortification
aliases:
- Tower of Jericho
- Jericho's stone wall
- Pre-pottery Neolithic fortification
subtitle: Jericho's tower and walls represent the earliest monumental defensive architecture, indicating organized territorial conflict and communal labor coordination.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 9000-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 9000
decade: 9000
country:
name: Palestine
slug: palestine
summaryShort: Jericho Historic District is a national historic district located at East Hampton, New York in Suffolk County, New York. The district includes three contributing buildings. They are three early the 19th century, Federal style residences; the remnants of a historic settlement known as "Jericho." All are built of heavy t
summaryLong: Jericho Historic District is a national historic district located at East Hampton, New York in Suffolk County, New York. The district includes three contributing buildings. They are three early the 19th century, Federal style residences; the remnants of a historic settlement known as "Jericho." All are built of heavy timber-frame construction with shingled exterior sheathing.
lede: "Around 9000 BCE, the inhabitants of Jericho built the first known defensive wall, a 7-meter-high structure of stone that encircled their settlement in the Jordan Valley. This fortification marked a decisive shift: humans were no longer just settling in permanent towns, but actively defending them, signaling both the value of accumulated resources and the emergence of organized conflict."
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Jericho-east-hampton.jpg/1280px-Jericho-east-hampton.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Jericho Historic District"
importance: 85
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Wall height
  value: Approximately 7 meters
- label: Settlement population
  value: Estimated 600–2,000 inhabitants
- label: Wall circumference
  value: Roughly 270 meters
- label: Archaeological period
  value: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)
- label: Construction material
  value: Fieldstone
- label: Tower discovery
  value: Round tower approximately 9 meters in diameter, interior staircase of 22 steps
- label: Location
  value: Jordan Valley, West Bank, near modern Jericho
timeline:
- date: 9100-09000-01-01
  title: Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement established
  description: Early Jericho shows evidence of permanent habitation without ceramic production, relying on hunting and gathering with emerging cultivated plants.
- date: 9000-01-01
  title: Stone fortification wall constructed
  description: A massive defensive wall built from fieldstone encircles the settlement, approximately 7 meters high and 270 meters in circumference, marking the earliest known monumental defensive architecture.
- date: 8900-01-01
  title: Round tower added
  description: A circular tower structure approximately 9 meters in diameter, featuring an internal staircase of 22 steps, is constructed near or integrated with the defensive wall system.
- date: 8800-01-01
  title: Wall maintenance and rebuilding cycles
  description: Archaeological evidence indicates multiple phases of wall reconstruction and reinforcement, suggesting sustained threat perception and community commitment to defense.
- date: 8000-01-01
  title: PPNA settlement transitions
  description: Jericho enters the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period; architectural patterns shift and the intensive focus on fortification wanes as settlement dynamics change.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_Historic_District"
  title: Jericho Historic District
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Jericho's fortification revealed that organized defense infrastructure emerged thousands of years earlier than previously understood. The wall's existence redefined how archaeologists conceived of early urbanism, property, and the social coordination required to construct monumental architecture before pottery or agriculture had fully developed.
categories:
- war
metaDescription: "9000 BCE: Jericho's stone fortification, humanity's first known defensive wall, signals organized conflict and property defense."
wikidataQid: Q6182165
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20250809071947/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_Historic_District"
  capturedAt: 2025-08-09
  label: Jericho Historic District
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_Historic_District"
taxonomy:
domain: scientific
eventTypes:
- discovery
canonicalClasses:
- discovery
- creation
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Jericho_Sims.jpg/1280px-Jericho_Sims.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Jericho_Sims.jpg/800px-Jericho_Sims.jpg"
  caption: Jericho Sims
  credit: Wikipedia · "Jericho Sims"
  width: 330
  height: 477
