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The city of Jericho is located on a dry plain next to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on Earth, at the border of the Judean Hills, after the mountains of Palestine had calmed down and progressively smoothed out their wrinkles. The city doesn’t resemble the rest of the nation at all.
The only area in the West Bank with flat, abundant terrain is Jericho. Jericho is always hot, in contrast to the rest of the area, which is typically described as a peaceful landscape of rolling green hills dotted with olive groves and gray Israeli settlements. Its environment is covered in a brownish-yellow mixture of sand and dirt, and the prominent features are miles-long groves of palm palms that end at Israeli settlements.
Therefore, it is no accident that Jericho is the most popular domestic vacation spot in the West Bank. The first thing on your right after passing the Israeli checkpoint at the town’s entrance is a sizable, deserted casino. Israelis used to flock to Jericho in droves in the 1990s, drawn there by the country’s ban on gambling as well as by a long-standing Israeli association of Arab cities with hedonism, “Oriental” pleasures, and corruption that dates back to the founding of Zionism and the establishment of Tel Aviv next to Jaffa.
The city center, which consists of a few blocks of businesses and a tiny plaza populated by middle schoolers flirting, teens sipping Arabic coffee during lunch, and elderly men in dingy suits on afternoon strolls, is in front of you on the road. Stately mansions erected by rich Jerusalem families during the British Mandate period are located five minutes by bicycle from the square; fifty meters farther down the road is a split-level that wouldn’t look out of place on The Brady Bunch. Hundreds of deserted resort villas, remnants of the decades upon decades of Palestinian holidays that have taken place here, are scattered among the palm palms and along the dusty roads that meander lazily out from the plaza.
The attractiveness of Jericho to Palestinians is driven by the heat and sense of uniqueness. Jericho is an example, offering a charming depiction of the kinds of landscapes that the world typically imagines “Arabs” to dwell. These landscapes are frequently painted on inexpensive fabric for travelers looking to purchase mementos from the Holy Land. Jericho is the closest some Palestinians can go to the desert world they’re taught their legendary ancestors once called home since they were weaned on foreign cartoons that dabble in such fantasies as well as local children’s tales that exaggerate them for effect.
The fact that a sizable portion of Jericho’s native population is black may contribute to the city’s attraction as an exotic resort with an Arabian evenings motif. In Jericho, the color scale starts at black and moves lighter; in many Palestinian cities, skin tones range from pale to olive to “asmar” (similar to the English “bronze”); the paler tones more common elsewhere serve as a giveaway that one is either a visitor, a domestic migrant, or a member of an elite family. There are several black Palestinians throughout the country, particularly in the south, in numerous towns, cities, and refugee camps, proving that blackness in Palestine is not just restricted to Jericho.
The oldest wall in the world, the oldest stairway in the world, and a huge, elongated defense tower that dates to before 7000 BC are all evident in Tel es Sultan, an ancient Jericho.
The monastery offers a spectacular view of Jericho and represents the location of Jesus’ third temptation. It is located in Deir Quruntal. During the temptation of Satan, Jesus fasted and meditated here for 40 days and nights.
Herod the Great erected his winter palace near the location of Tulul Abu Al Alaieq, while the city was at its height.
Jericho flourished in the early Islamic era. Hisham Palace The ruins of the Umayyad palace “Qaser Hisham” show the opulence of the city.
A sycamore tree near Jericho is mentioned in the biblical story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, a short-statured tax collector who, according to the Gospel of Luke, climbed the tree to obtain a closer view of Jesus. This sycamore is said to be over 2000 years old.
There are various explanations to explain the city’s name. When you arrive at Jericho’s entrance, there is a roundabout where a pillar bearing the inscription “Jericho, city of the moon” is located.
The Canaanite term for moon, Yareah, and Yarikh, the name of the moon deity, would both help to explain this. Early moon worship was centered in Jericho. You may also imagine that the moon, which is rather large in Palestine, would shine brightly, reflect in the Dead Sea, and be revered as a divinity here in the desert.
Because Jericho has a fantastic environment for palm trees and abundant water, it is also known as the “city of palms.” Jericho has several springs because of the precipitation that descends from the mountain range to the lowest place.
Arabic for “riha” is “fragrance” or “smell.” It is an area rich in citrus trees, banana trees, date palms, but also maize and all types of vegetables. Imagine the scent of all the flowers and fruit trees here in bloom. There are two harvests each year for some crops in this region due to the warm environment and ample water supply. And the olive harvest, for instance, begins at least a month sooner than in mountainous locations.