Results of Archaeological Dig in Palestine
ROME, MAY 24 (ZENIT.org).- Since 1996, an Italian-Palestinian mission has discovered many houses in Jericho, a Palestinian city dating from the third millennium before Christ. This is one of the most promising Biblical archaeological enterprises of the last few years.
Jericho, known today by the Arabic name Ariha, is the capital of the West Bank region, and is situated 250 meters below sea level, making it the lowest city in the world. It is famous for a number of reasons, among which is the fact it was considered the oldest city in history and the first city of Canaan captured by Joshua, Moses' successor (Jos. 2,1), after the Hebrew tribes crossed the Jordan.
It was in Jericho that the prophet Elisha blessed a spring and purified the city's waters in response to the request of the inhabitants petition. It was also near Jericho where, having been taken to the desert, Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.
In Jericho there are actually vestiges of two historic cities: that of the Old Testament, located in today's Tell es-Sultan, where the events connected with Joshua mentioned above occurred, and the Jericho of the New Testament, today partly covered by the modern city. The New Testament city was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great, who lived there on and off and eventually died there. In the 4th century, a pilgrim from Bordeaux visited Jericho for the first time and, with Bible in hand, found quite a few of the ancient places hidden in it.
There have been 4 years of excavations, tenaciously and prudently administered under the guidance of Nicolo Marchetti and Lorenzo Nigro, archaeologists of "La Sapienza" University of Rome, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Palestine. The work has been carried out on a surface of 6 hectares, in an effort to decipher Jericho's history at that time, to reconstruct life, and to study the political and economic aspects of the city referred to in the Bible's book of Joshua.
"The excavation of Jericho originated, precisely, in the experience of our master Paolo Mattia, who for 30 years directed excavations and research on the origins of the city and the development of the urban civilization in the third and second millennium, B.C. Our objective was to research the birth and evolution of the city in Palestine," Marchetti explained.
The fact that Jericho presents different layers and that the city grew in height can also be explained, according to Marchetti. "Ancient architecture used 'unbaked' clay and straw bricks, kneaded and sun-dried. A building of this kind does not last longer than one human generation, which means that every 20 years it must be knocked down and reconstructed. As a result, great accumulations of earth are formed, which in the course of centuries become veritable hills."
The Jordan Valley of the third millennium before Christ was richer in terms of volume of water and therefore, more fertile than it seems at present. The archaeologists' hypothesis is confirmed by the skeleton of a hippopotamus found in a Jericho house of about 2,5000 B.C. Thanks to the abundance of water, in the third millennium, the city had its first flowering, immediately manifesting a simple but efficient economic structure, based on hunting and agriculture. Already in this first phase the signs of a flourishing city-state appear, with thick fortified walls. It is in the period from 2,000 to 1,500 B.C. when Jericho doubled in size, strengthened the structure of the walls and became a city of flowering businesses, as some Egyptian objects and shells from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean found in the excavations, indicate.
However, shortly after the city suffered a sudden decline. "Indeed, the inhabitants of Jericho experienced a very prosperous phase, which was brusquely interrupted around 1550 B.C. by destruction. Some scholars put forward the hypothesis that there was a great earthquake, which put an end to the life of the city. In our opinion, it is more likely that it was due to the military campaigns of the founder of the 18th dynasty, who, from his base in Thebes, continued in Palestine with a series of successful campaigns and the earlier Egyptian domination of Asia begins. The 4 years of excavations have brought to light new houses, a walled enclosure and a great tower which was most likely burnt by the Egyptians some 5000 years ago."
Indeed, this last discovery might lead archaeologists to identify the city's door, as Lorenzo Nigro points out: it has been sought for 150 years. We are probably quite close to the goal, because we have found a fortress at the foot of the settlement, where the so-called 'Jerusalem Door,' facing in the direction of Jerusalem is found. We are hoping to bring it out into the light in the next dig."
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