JERICHO HILL (TEL ES-SULTAN)

This is the ancient city of Jericho, proposed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Archaeologists have uncovered the successive layers of the city's occupation. The remains are not spectacular, but they are significant for the history of mankind. In this temperate environment, newly sedentary tribes erected their first houses and planted their first crops. This is the oldest town ever found. The first village was built almost 12,000 years ago. Excavations reveal that the first dwellings were characterized by small circular constructions made of clay and dried mud bricks. The floor was covered with animal bones left over from hunting, flint and wild or cultivated cereal seeds. The fireplace was located outside the house. Around 9,400 BC, Jericho was home to some 70 houses, or 2,000 to 3,000 people. The village was protected by a massive defensive wall 3.5 m high and 1.8 m thick. A tower 9 m in diameter was the first ever built by man. This wall served to protect the village from the flooding of the Jordan River. Decorative objects were found, including ten skulls modeled, plastered and painted. This was the first "portrait" art conceived by humans. It was kept in homes while the body was buried. Other remains testify to the relative prosperity of the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1700 BC).