Published in Archaeology and Biblical Research Premiere Issue (1987): 6–16.

Uncovering the Truth at Jericho

Bryant G. Wood

Introduction
One of the major problems in biblical archaeology concerns the city of Jericho. Currently accepted dates for the ruins
buried beneath the ancient tell indicate that the city was unoccupied at the time of the Israelite Conquest, whether one
adopts the early date for that event (approximately 1400 B.C.) or a late date (approximately 1230 B.C.). This has led
scholars to reject the validity if the biblical account of the capture of Jericho in particular and the conquest event in
general. An evaluation of the pottery from Jericho, however, indicates that the date for the destruction of the final city
should be revised.

Since Jericho has a copious spring (Ain es-Sultan, "Elisha's Spring") and a favorable climate, the growing of crops here
is relatively easy. Because of this, the site has been occupied since the earliest times of settled habitation. In fact, it is
often called "the world's oldest city." Jericho enjoys yet another distinction. At 250 meters below sea level, it is the
lowest town on the surface of the earth.

Garstang’s Results
The first excavator to use modern techniques to probe the secrets of Tell es-Sultan was John Garstang, who dug there
between 1930 and 1936. He found a double wall running around the top of the mound which he theorized was from the
time of Joshua, approximately 1400 B.C. He also excavated a residential area of the last Bronze Age city, his "City
IV," on the southeast slope of the tell. It had been thoroughly destroyed in a violent conflagration. Based on pottery
found in the destruction debris and scarabs recovered from the town cemetery, Garstang dated the destruction to the
late 15th-early 14th century B.C. and ascribed it to the Israelites.

Following the destruction of City IV, there was a long period of abandonment, interrupted only by the construction of a
large building, which Garstang called the "Middle Building," above the spring on the southeast side of the site. He
dated the structure to the end of the 14th century B.C. and associated it with the palace of Eglon, king of Moab, referred
to in Judges 3. The next occupation of Jericho was in the Iron Age, in the time of the divided kingdom.

Kenyon’s Results
Kathleen Kenyon became interested in Jericho when she undertook a reevaluation of Garstang's work, published in
1951. As an outgrowth of questions raised in this critique, she conducted further explorations at the site from 1952-
1958, using the most up-to-date excavation techniques. Her results considerably revised Garstang's conclusions. She
determined that the double wall was not from the time of Joshua as Garstang believed, but was from the Early Bronze
Age some 1,000 years earlier. In addition, she redated the destruction of City IV to approximately 1550 B.C., well
before the time of the Conquest. Concerning the date of the Middle Building, she was in agreement with Garstang,
placing it in the late 14th century B.C.

Kenyon's results, then, indicate that Jericho was unoccupied during the 15th century B.C., the time put forward for the
"early date" of the Israelite entry into Canaan, and both Kenyon and Garstang agreed that there was no occupation at
Jericho in the 13th century B.C., the suggested time frame for the "late date" of the Israelite settlement. As a result of
these conclusions, Jericho, along with Ai, has become a showcase example of the "unhistorical" nature of the biblical
narrative.
A Suggested Revision
There is little doubt that Kenyon was correct in redating Garstang's double wall to the Early Bronze period, and all
investigators are in agreement on the date of Garstang's "Middle Building." There is good reason, however, to question
Kenyon's date for the demise of City IV.

Until recently, it was necessary to rely on Kenyon's word for the date of the destruction of City IV. With the
publication in 1982 and 1983 of the pottery from this destruction, however, it is now possible to perform an
independent analysis of the date of the final Bronze Age city at Jericho. A careful review of the pottery from the
terminal phase of City IV by the present writer, both that published by Garstang and by Kenyon, leaves little doubt that
Garstang's date is the correct one and that the city was destroyed around 1400 B.C., the approximate date for the
Conquest according to biblical chronology. What is more, when the proper date is assigned to the destruction of
Jericho, the archaeological evidence and the biblical data harmonize with one another in amazing fashion.

The Time of Year

The Bible states that the Israelites crossed the Jordan river when it was in flood at the time of harvest (Josh. 3:15). This
was in the springtime. Additional indications that the campaign against Jericho took place in the spring are that Rahab
was drying freshly-harvested flax on the roof of her house (Josh. 2:6) and the Israelites celebrated Passover just prior to
attacking the city (Josh. 5:10).

Both Garstang and Kenyon found that Jericho was amply supplied with grain, indicating that the harvest had only
recently been completed. Large jars full of grain were found stored in the houses. This also gives testimony to the fact
that the siege of the city was short and that "Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went
out, and none came in" (Josh. 6:1). The people of Jericho had no opportunity to remove their precious food supply
before the end came.

The Fortification System

Although Garstang was in error in his evaluation of the fortifications at Jericho, Kenyon's excavations revealed the true
nature of the defensive system of the final Bronze Age city. It was even more extensive than Garstang had thought. At
the base of the mound was a stone revetment wall 4.65 meters high. This held in place a massive earthen embankment
which was covered with a plaster facing and extended to the top of the tell. On top of the embankment a wall ran
around the circumference of the city.

The Bible records that after the Israelites marched around the city for seven days, the walls of Jericho "fell down flat"
(Josh. 6:20). Again, the archaeological evidence accords with the biblical narrative. Although the top of the earthen
embankment has eroded away, approximately two-thirds of the final revetment wall at the base of the mound has
survived. In the only place where excavations were conducted outside of this wall, Kenyon found "fallen red bricks
piling nearly to the top of the revetment." She concluded that these bricks "probably came from the wall on the summit
of the bank" (Excavations at Jericho, Vol 3: The Archaeology and Stratigraphy of the Tell, by K. M. Kenyon; T. A.
Holland, ed., p. 110. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 1981.) In other words, the archaeological
evidence indicates that the final Bronze Age city wall collapsed and slid down the embankment.

Of interest in this regard is the fact that both Garstang and Kenyon found evidence that there was earthquake activity at
the time the city was destroyed. Earthquakes are quite common in the Jordan valley and possibly this was the means
God used to stop the Jordan River (Josh. 3:16) and bring down the walls of Jericho. The medieval chronicler Nowairi
recorded an earthquake in 1267 in which part of the cliff along the Jordan River at Damiya (approximately 17 miles
north of Jericho) collapsed and dammed up the river for some 10 hours. As recently as 1927 a similar event occurred
when an earthquake caused an embankment to give way, again at Damiya, causing the Jordan to stop flowing for 21 1/2
hours.

A Massive Destruction
After the Israelites gained entry into the city, the Bible records that they "burned the city with fire, and all that was
therein" (Josh. 6:24). Here, the archaeological confirmation is most striking.

The only area of the tell where the final phase of City IV survived the ravages of nature and man is on the southeast
slope, just above the perennial spring. Garstang dug an area of approximately 35 x 45 meters here. Although Kenyon
opened up five 8 x 8 meter squares north of Garstang's area, she found remains of the final Bronze Age city in but two
of these squares. Both excavators found that City IV had been massively destroyed by fire. This left a layer of
destruction debris a meter or more thick across the entire excavation area. Kenyon describes the calamity as follows:

The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with
fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt, but the collapse of
the walls of the eastern rooms seems to have taken place before they were affected by the fire. (Jericho Vol. 3, p.
370.)

Jericho in the Time of Eglon

Above the destruction debris is a thick erosion layer which accumulated during a period of abandonment following the
demise of City IV. The thickness of the erosion layer indicates that the period of abandonment was considerable,
although it is not possible to be precise about the exact length of time. This hiatus can be related to Joshua's curse on
the city recorded in Joshua 6:26. On top of this erosion layer Garstang found the remains of a substantial building
which he called the "Middle Building" because of its stratigraphic position between the ruins of City IV and a large
Iron Age structure above. In her two squares, Kenyon found fragmentary remains contemporary with the Middle
Building which she labeled "Phase 54."

Compared with the buildings which preceded it, Garstang's Middle Building is a rather impressive structure. It is
approximately 14.5 x 12 meters, with a large retaining wall on the downhill side. In addition to its size, the abundance
of painted pottery found in and around the building, and an inscribed clay tablet found just outside the east wall attest to
a high-level administrative function for the complex. Both Garstang and Kenyon agree that this structure dates to the
later half of the 14th century B.C.

Again, this discovery matches the biblical record of events at Jericho. During the period of the Judges, Eglon king of
Moab raised an expeditionary force comprised of Moabites, Ammonites and Amalekites and "possessed the city of
palm trees" (Judges 3:12-13), i.e., Jericho (Deut. 34:3; 2 Chr. 28:15). Eglon lived in a residency at Jericho according to
the biblical narrative (Judges 3:20-25). This took place toward the end of the 14th century B.C. (Judges 2:7-10;
3:8,11,14) and thus can be equated with the "Middle Building" discovered by Garstang.

The Middle Building was occupied for a relatively short period of time and then it was abandoned according to the
archaeological evidence (compare Judges 3:29-30). Following this, Jericho remained unoccupied for several centuries
until a new city was built in the Iron Age.

Jericho and the Bible

In summary, when the final Bronze Age city at Jericho is properly dated, it is seen that there is a remarkable correlation
between the biblical narrative and the archaeological findings. What was once thought to be an irreconcilable problem
turns out to be a case where archaeology strongly supports the historicity of the Bible. The points of comparison
suggested in this brief study are summarized below.

• City strongly fortified (Josh. 2:5, 7, 15; 6:5,20).

• Attacked at the time of harvest in the spring (Josh. 2:6; 3:15: 5:10).

• Siege was short (Josh. 6:15).

• Walls levelled, possibly by an earthquake (Josh. 6:20).

• Inhabitants had no opportunity to flee with their foodstuffs (Josh. 6:1).

• Burned at the end of the 15th century B.C. (Josh. 6:24).

• Unoccupied following the destruction (Josh. 6:26).

• Residency constructed toward the end of the 14th century B.C. (Judg. 3:20-25).

• Residency abandoned after a short period of time (Judg. 3:29-30).

• Unoccupied until the Iron Age (1 Kings 16:34).