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Battle of Jericho (biblical)
Depiction by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (1794–1872)
Location Tell es-Sultan (biblical Jericho) Result Hebrew victory
Belligerents
Israelites	Canaanites
Commanders and leaders
Joshua	King of Jericho †
Strength
40,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Nil	Massacre of all inhabitants (excluding Rahab and her family).

v t e The Bible and warfare
Hebrew Bible battles	Torah / Pentateuch battles Battle of Siddim Crossing the Red Sea Battle of Refidim Golden calf War against the Midianites Joshua and Judges battles Fall of Jericho Battle of Ai Battle of Hazor Battle of the Waters of Merom Battle of Mount Tabor Gideon's campaign (Well of Harod) Micah's Idol / Sack of Laish Benjamite War / Battle of Gibeah Battle of Aphek Battle of Mizpah United monarchy period Battle of Michmash David or Elhanan versus Goliath Battle of Mount Gilboa Pool of Gibeon Siege of Jebus Battle of the Wood of Ephraim Baal-perazim Jeroboam's Revolt Shishak's raid of Jerusalem Battle of Mount Zemaraim Israel and Judah period Battle of Zephath Israelite–Aramean War Syro-Ephraimite War Sennacherib's campaign in Judah Siege of Lachish Assyrian siege of Jerusalem Battle of Megiddo (609 BC) Judah's revolts against Babylon Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC) Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) Exilic period Purim war (Book of Esther)
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The Battle of Jericho is an incident from the Book of Joshua, being the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to Joshua 6:1–27, the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day then blew their trumpets. Archeologists also found evidence for a massive destruction by fire - about three feet in depth - from the same time period. The city of Jericho was founded 3-4,000 years ago and 1-2,000 years BC

Biblical account

The Book of Joshua is the story of how Israel conquered Canaan. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, sent two spies to Jericho, the first city of Canaan that they decided to conquer, and discovered that the land was in fear of them and their God. The Israelites marched around the walls once every day for six days with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day they marched seven times around the walls, then the priests blew their ram's horns, the Israelites raised a great shout, and the walls of the city fell. Following God's law they killed every man and woman of every age, as well as the oxen, sheep, and donkeys. Only Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who had sheltered the spies, her parents, brothers and all "those who belonged to her" were spared. Joshua then cursed anybody who rebuilt the foundations and gates, with the deaths of their firstborn and youngest child respectively. This was eventually fulfilled by Hiel the Bethelite under King Ahab's reign. God destroyed Jericho because of their evil sinful ways and pagan ideas not to mention He also gave the people the opportunity to repent; instead they continued on in their hedonistic, ritual murder, and defilement ways and chose to keep sinning . To keep them from being a bad influence to others He destroyed the city .

Origins and historicity

In 1868, Charles Warren identified Tell es-Sultan as the site of Jericho. In 1930–1936, John Garstang conducted excavations there and discovered the remains of a network of collapsed walls which he dated to about 1400 BC. Kathleen Kenyon re-excavated the site over 1952–1958 and demonstrated that the destruction occurred at an earlier time, during a well-attested Egyptian campaign of that period, and that Jericho had been deserted throughout the mid-late 13th century BCE, the supposed time of Joshua's battle. Sources differ as to what date Kenyon instead proposed; either ca. 1500 BC or ca. 1580 BC. Kenyon's work was corroborated in 1995 by radiocarbon tests which dated the destruction level to the late 17th or 16th centuries BC. A small unwalled settlement was rebuilt in the 15th century BC, but the tell was unoccupied from the late 15th century until the 10th/9th centuries BC.

Scholars agree almost unanimously that the Book of Joshua holds little historical value. Its origin lies in a time far removed from the times that it depicts, and its intention is primarily theological in detailing how Israel and her leaders are judged by their obedience to the teachings and laws (the covenant) set down in the Book of Deuteronomy. The story of Jericho and the rest of the conquest represents the nationalist propaganda of the Kingdom of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel after 722 BCE; those chapters were later incorporated into an early form of Joshua likely written late in the reign of King Josiah (reigned 640–609 BC), and the book was revised and completed after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586, and possibly after the return from the Babylonian exile in 538.

See also

• Ai (Bible)
• Biblical archaeology
• "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho", African-American spiritual about the battle

References

1. Joshua 4:13
2. Wagemakers 2014, pp. 122ff.
3. ^ Dever 2006, pp. 45–46.
4. ^ Bruins & van der Plicht 1995, p. 213.
5. Jacobs 2000, p. 691.
6. Killebrew 2005, p. 152.
7. Creach 2003, pp. 9–10.
8. Laffey 2007, p. 337.
9. Coote 2000, p. 275.
10. Creach 2003, pp. 10–11.

Bibliography

• Bruins, Hendrik J.; van der Plicht, Johannes (1995). "Tell Es-Sultan (Jericho): Radiocarbon Results…" (PDF). Radiocarbon. 37 (2). Proceedings of the 15th International ¹⁴C Conference: 213–20. doi:10.1017/S0033822200030666.
• Coote, Robert B. (2000). "Conquest: Biblical narrative". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032.
• Creach, Jerome F.D. (2003). Joshua. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664237387.
• Dever, William G. (2006). Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802844163.
• Jacobs, Paul F. (2000). "Jericho". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032.
• Killebrew, Ann E. (2005). Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 9781589830974.
• Laffey, Alice L. (2007). "Deuteronomistic history". In Espín, Orlando O.; Nickoloff, James B. (eds.). An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814658567.
• Moore, Megan Bishop; Kelle, Brad E. (2011). Biblical History and Israel's Past. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802862600.
• Wagemakers, Bart (2014). Archaeology in the 'Land of Tells and Ruins': A History of Excavations in the Holy Land Inspired by the Photographs and Accounts of Leo Boer. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297246-4.

External links

• Media related to The Battle of Jericho at Wikimedia Commons

• Battles involving the Canaanites
• Hebrew Bible battles
• Book of Joshua
• Massacres in the Bible