---
title: "Battle of Jericho Walls Fall"
year: 9600
country: "Palestine"
canonical: "https://recap.at/9600/jericho-siege"
slug: "jericho-siege"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "9600-01-01"
---

# Battle of Jericho Walls Fall

> The siege and destruction of Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho represents archaeology's earliest documented walled city conflict and military engineering in the 10000s BCE.

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.

## Summary

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.

## Key facts

- **Location**: Tell es-Sultan, Jordan Valley, West Bank
- **Approximate date**: 9600 BCE (Early Neolithic)
- **Wall height (pre-collapse)**: 7 meters (estimated)
- **Settlement age at collapse**: Occupied since circa 9650 BCE
- **Population estimate**: 1,000–3,000 residents
- **Primary excavator**: Kathleen Kenyon (1952–1958)
- **Settlement phases**: Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and B (PPNB)

## Timeline

- **1952-01-01** - 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.
- **1958-01-01** - Kenyon's excavations conclude
  Publication of findings introduces alternative explanations for wall destruction, moving away from catastrophic collapse narratives toward gradual decline and erosion.
- **9300-01-01** - Settlement resumes
  Evidence of new occupation phases at Jericho, suggesting recovery and renewed population movement into the site.
- **9400-01-01** - Wall destruction and abandonment
  Archaeological evidence indicates walls collapsed or were dismantled; settlement appears abandoned or significantly depopulated, though reasons remain debated.
- **9500-01-01** - PPNB phase begins
  Transition to Pre-pottery Neolithic B with larger settlements, expanded walls, and tower construction, including the famous circular tower.
- **9600-01-01** - Construction of stone walls
  First fortification walls built around the settlement, suggesting organized labor and communal defense strategies.
- **9650-01-01** - Jericho settlement begins
  Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) settlement established in the Jordan Valley, initially without defensive walls.

## Impact

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.

## Sources

- [Jericho, Palestine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/9600/jericho-siege