In short
Around 9600 BCE, the walls of Jericho—one of humanity's oldest continuously inhabited settlements—fell, though the archaeological record suggests this happened gradually over centuries rather than in a single dramatic collapse. The city's destruction marked a transition in the Jordan Valley's settlement patterns and remains one of archaeology's most debated events, partly because biblical accounts describe a supernatural collapse that contradicts what excavations have revealed.
How it unfolded.
The five-minute version
What actually happened.
Jericho is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. The city is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west.
Year by year.
Across 7703 years, 7 pivotal moments.
Timeline
How it actually unfolded.
Kathleen Kenyon excavations begin
British archaeologist Kenyon begins systematic excavation of Tell es-Sultan, challenging earlier interpretations and establishing modern stratigraphic methods for the site.
Kenyon's excavations conclude
Publication of findings introduces alternative explanations for wall destruction, moving away from catastrophic collapse narratives toward gradual decline and erosion.
Settlement resumes
Evidence of new occupation phases at Jericho, suggesting recovery and renewed population movement into the site.
Wall destruction and abandonment
Archaeological evidence indicates walls collapsed or were dismantled; settlement appears abandoned or significantly depopulated, though reasons remain debated.
PPNB phase begins
Transition to Pre-pottery Neolithic B with larger settlements, expanded walls, and tower construction, including the famous circular tower.
Construction of stone walls
First fortification walls built around the settlement, suggesting organized labor and communal defense strategies.
Jericho settlement begins
Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) settlement established in the Jordan Valley, initially without defensive walls.
The numbers.
3 numbers that anchor the scale.
By the numbers
The countable parts.
Approximate date
0 BCE (Early Neolithic)
Wall height (pre-collapse)
0 meters (estimated)
Population estimate
0–3,000 residents
The chain begins -
The chain of consequence.
Impact
What followed.
Jericho's transformation around 9600 BCE reshaped understanding of early urban development in the Levant and raised enduring questions about how archaeology, oral tradition, and physical evidence relate to each other. The site became central to debates about the Neolithic Revolution and the emergence of defensible settlements.
Captured in time.
Captured before it changed
The web as it looked, the day it happened.
Wayback Machine snapshots of the pages people actually loaded that day. Click any card to open the archive at full size.
Sources & citations.
Sources
Where this came from.
Every claim on this page traces to a public, license-clean source. We don't asterisk well.
Wikipedia
1 source- 1.Jericho, Palestine
en.wikipedia.org