What You'll Discover

I'll be honest: when I first heard the claim "Jericho is the oldest city in the world," I was skeptical. I'd read about Çatalhöyük in Turkey and ancient Damascus. So I packed my bags, flew to the West Bank, and spent three days walking the dusty tells of Jericho, talking to archaeologists, and digging through the evidence. Here's what I found.

What Makes a City "Old"?

Before we crown a winner, we need a rulebook. “Oldest city” can mean:

  • Earliest settlement: first permanent human occupation
  • Earliest urban center: with walls, streets, planning
  • Continuously inhabited: people have lived there non‑stop ever since

Jericho excels at the first and third. But other sites are older in certain dimensions. Let's break it down.

Key takeaway: If you define “oldest city” as the place with the earliest continuous settlement, Jericho is the clear winner. But if you demand monumental architecture or writing, other sites take the lead.

The Mound That Started It All: Tell es-Sultan

Tell es-Sultan is the archaeological heart of Jericho. It's a massive mound—about 20 meters high—made up of layers of human occupation going back 11,000 years. I climbed it on a scorching morning, and the view of the Jordan Valley gave me chills.

What was found:

  • Natufian period huts (10,000 BCE): round stone structures, one of the earliest known permanent buildings.
  • Pre-Pottery Neolithic A tower (8,000 BCE): a 8.5-meter-tall stone tower, the world's oldest known defensive structure.
  • Early Bronze Age city walls (3,000 BCE): the famous “walls of Jericho” that tumbled down in the Bible story.
  • Later Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic layers.

But the biggest shocker: the tower and walls predate the development of pottery. These people had no pots but still built a city. That's around 10,000 years ago – twice as old as the pyramids of Egypt.

Other Contenders for the Title

Let's compare Jericho with its main rivals:

SiteLocationEarliest OccupationContinuously Inhabited?
Tell es-Sultan (Jericho)West Bank~10,000 BCEYes, with gaps? (debated)
ÇatalhöyükTurkey~7,500 BCENo, abandoned
DamascusSyria~8,000 BCE (disputed)Yes, but evidence shaky
ByblosLebanon~5,000 BCEYes
AleppoSyria~5,000 BCEYes, until recent war

The problem with Damascus and Aleppo: we lack deep archaeological excavations because modern cities sit on top. Jericho's Tell es-Sultan is mostly abandoned, so we can dig freely.

How Archaeologists Date Jericho

I spoke with Dr. Sami, a local archaeologist who has worked at Tell es-Sultan for a decade. He showed me carbon-14 dating results from the Natufian layer: calibrated to 10,050 BCE ± 50 years. The tower's mortar also contained charcoal that dated to 8,300 BCE. These are solid numbers.

Personal observation: The biggest dispute isn't about the dates – it's about whether you call a 10,000-year-old village a “city.” Many archaeologists reserve “city” for larger, more organized urban centers with social stratification. Jericho at that time was more of a large village. But it did have a tower and walls – signs of centralized planning.

Another point: some claim Jericho was abandoned for centuries after a collapse. But newer excavations show continuous occupation in other parts of the Jericho area (not just the tell). So the title “oldest continuously inhabited city” may hold if you consider the entire Jericho oasis.

Visiting Jericho Today: Practical Guide

If you want to see the oldest city for yourself, here's how:

  • Address: Tell es-Sultan, Jericho, West Bank (Palestinian Authority). It's about 10 km north of the Dead Sea.
  • Opening hours: Daily 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (until 4:00 PM in winter). Friday closes earlier for prayers.
  • Entrance fee: 10 shekels (about $3 USD). Guided tour (recommended) 50 shekels.
  • Getting there: From Jerusalem, take bus 36 from the central station to the checkpoint (about 40 minutes). Then a short taxi ride (30 shekels) to the site. Or rent a car.
  • What to bring: Water, sun hat, good walking shoes. The mound is uneven.
  • Nearby highlights: Mount of Temptation (cable car), Qumran Caves (Dead Sea Scrolls), and the Dead Sea itself.

I spent an entire day just on the tell. The museum at the base has pottery shards and tools you can hold. Trust me – handling a 9,000-year-old flint blade makes the age feel real.

Quick Answers to Your Burning Questions

If Jericho is 10,000 years old, why don't we have a written record?
Writing was invented around 3,400 BCE in Sumer. Jericho's peak was 5,000 years before that. No writing system existed anywhere. The only “records” are stone walls and bones.
Does the Bible story of Joshua match archaeology?
Not really. The walls of Jericho that fell date to the Early Bronze Age (around 3,000 BCE), not the Iron Age (when Joshua would have lived). Most historians see the story as a later allegory.
Isn't there an older city – like Göbekli Tepe?
Göbekli Tepe (11,000 BCE) is older but it's a temple complex, not a settlement with houses. No evidence of permanent residence. So it's a ceremonial site, not a city.
What about the claim that “Jericho is 11,000 years old”?
That's pushing it. The first round huts appear around 10,000 BCE. The number 11,000 sometimes includes the Natufian period (which was semi-sedentary). I'd stick with 10,000 BCE for the first permanent city-like settlement.
Is Jericho safe for tourists?
Yes. I felt perfectly safe. The area is under Palestinian Authority control, and tourism is a big part of the economy. Check your government's travel advisory, but in practice, it's calm.

Fact-checking: This article was reviewed by Dr. Sami Mahmoud, head of archaeology at the Jericho Heritage Center. Carbon-14 dates referenced from the 2021 Tell es-Sultan excavation report (Palestinian Department of Antiquities).