6054 x 3339 px | 51,3 x 28,3 cm | 20,2 x 11,1 inches | 300dpi
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Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. Jericho is believed to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BC, providing important information about early human habitation in the Near East. The first permanent settlement was built near the Ein es-Sultan spring between 8000 and 7000 BC by an unknown people, and consisted of a number of walls, a religious shrine, and a 23 feet 0 inches (7.0 m) tower with an internal staircase. After a few centuries, it was abandoned for a second settlement, established in 6800 BC, 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 BC onward, the largest of these being constructed in 2600 BC. Archaeological evidence indicates that in the latter half of the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1700 BC), the city enjoyed some prosperity, its walls having been strengthened and expanded. The Canaanite city (Jericho City IV) was destroyed c.1200 BC, and the site remained uninhabited until the city was refounded in the 9th century BC. In the 8th century BC, the Assyrians invaded from the north, followed by the Babylonians, and Jericho was depopulated between 586 and 538 BC, 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 BC.
