The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed the ancient city of Jericho (Tel al-Sultan) on its World Heritage List, following a vote by the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations on Sunday, without objection from any member state of the organization.
Tal al-Sultan, which dates back more than 8,000 years and is considered older than the pyramids of Egypt, is in the Jordan Valley (in the occupied West Bank), an oval hill containing prehistoric sediments from human activity, and includes the Ain al-Sultan spring next to it, and the site is located 10 kilometers north of the Dead Sea, and 2 kilometers north of the city center of Jericho.
Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Maayaa said that “Palestine succeeded in registering the ancient site of Jericho (Tel al-Sultan) on the UNESCO World Heritage List during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.”
On the importance of the site, the Palestinian minister said that it “represents the exceptional civilization of the first successful model of permanent human settlements, and represents the oldest walled agricultural town in the world built in the Neolithic period more than 10,000 years ago in the lowest spot on earth (250 meters below sea level) near the Ain al-Sultan spring, which encouraged the human transition from a life of capture to settlement based on the domestication of plants and animals, the construction of architectural structures and other systems for the development of human civilization.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed UNESCO’s decision, describing it as “very important and proof of the authenticity and history of the Palestinian people,” according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
“The State of Palestine will continue to preserve this unique site.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement that UNESCO’s inclusion of the city of Jericho contains “a consensus on the authenticity of the Palestinian heritage and came to preserve and protect the rights of the Palestinian people, including cultural rights.”
The ministry called for the need to “preserve Palestine and its World Heritage sites and protect them from the deliberate vandalism attempts against them by the occupation authorities and its tools, which try to obliterate heritage and falsify history and the novel.”
On the tenth of September, the 45th session of the Labor Heritage Committee began its work in Riyadh, where it will continue until the 25th of the same month.
“The oldest fortified city”
West Bank archaeologists consider Tell al-Sultan a site that tells the story of human history through Neolithic remains that continue until the Byzantine period.
The city contained a huge circular tower, as well as fences to protect the site. The place has been excavated for more than a century and has resulted in the remains of a self-inhabited city that is the oldest inhabited city on the planet. On its official website, UNESCO describes Old Jericho as one of the regions of the ancient Middle East and can be described as the cradle of civilization, with a rich and long-standing cultural heritage, stretching from prehistoric times, and attested to by the diverse material culture that still exists in the trenches dug at the site.
Archaeological investigations documented 23 layers of ancient civilizations from the Natufian period (tenth millennium BC) until the end of the Byzantine period (seventh century AD), and included urban centers from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, in addition to great urbanization during later periods.
The waters of the Ain al-Sultan spring have been the source of Jericho’s life for thousands of years and have played a key role in shaping its history. In addition, Jericho served as a transit point for ancient road networks stretching from north to south and from east to west, and served as an intermediate place for culture and trade.
An older city than history All these cultural features qualified Tell al-Sultan to be one of the oldest cities on earth, as evidenced by the ruins of the first fortified agricultural settlement built in human history, according to UNESCO.
In his blog published in Al Jazeera Net quotes Ahmed Dabash researcher in the history of the ancient Palestinian British historian Jess Milart in his book “The oldest civilizations in the Near East” mentioned the fortifications of Jericho, and wrote “The exceptional effort that went into the establishment of these fortifications means the presence of abundant labor force and the presence of power bitterAs a consequence, it has planned, organized, directed and led the executive work, while at the same time providing an economic and material surplus to bear the costs to accomplish such work. Its effects indicated that there was a strong central administration at the time that organized its affairs, and that there was a strong leader or ruler of this city.”
The discovery of a fortified settlement on the outskirts of the Middle and Neolithic Ages – according to the Russian historian Igor Diakonv – seems a great surprise to archaeologists, as it was assumed until then that the clashes between the primitive tribes were nothing more than a fight over hunting land or women, but the conditions of life in Palestine in the eighth and seventh millennia BC, were apparently worried, so that the inhabitants had to spend too much time building strong fortifications as well, as the rubble conveys.
Jericho residents are believed to have prepared what look like ground cisterns to store rainwater for use when needed. In addition to these fortifications, central buildings were uncovered, including a temple and a water reservoir, all of which remained as a puzzle.
“Thus, we may say that the first nucleus of a government arose here. William Howells says in his book Beyond History that ancient Jericho already had all the characteristics of a true city. Therefore, Jericho was considered the oldest city in history.-(Al Jazeera Net)
