Based on the archaeologist’s rule of thumb of 200 persons per acre, the population of the upper city would have been about 1,200. Within the upper wall was an area of approximately six acres, while the total area of the upper city and fortification system was 50% larger, or about nine acres. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for the Israelites to penetrate the impregnable bastion of Jericho. This is what loomed high above the Israelites as they marched around the city each day for seven days. 4 At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 14 meters (46 feet) above the ground level outside the retaining wall (see diagram). On top of that was a mudbrick wall two meters (six feet) thick and about six to eight meters (20–26 feet) high. The retaining wall was some four to five meters (12–15 feet) high. The mound, or “tell” of Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart, or embankment, with a stone retaining wall at its base. Schematic cross-section diagram of the fortification system at Jericho based on Kenyon's west trench. (end of the Late Bronze I period), exactly when the Bible says the conquest occurred. An in-depth analysis of the evidence, however, reveals that the destruction took place around 1400 B.C. She concluded that the Bronze Age city of Jericho was destroyed about 1550 B.C. Unfortunately, she misdated her finds, resulting in what seemed to be a discrepancy between the discoveries of archaeology and the Bible. The meticulous work of Kenyon showed that Jericho was indeed heavily fortified and that it had been burned by fire. Fortifications of Jerichoīefore the Israelites entered the promised land, Moses told them that they were now about to cross the Jordan river, to dispossess nations which were greater and stronger than themselves, with large cities having walls that reached, as it were, to the sky ( Deuteronomy 9:1). However, a careful examination of the archaeological evidence collected throughout this century leads to quite another conclusion. Holland, who was editor and co-author of Kenyon’s excavation reports, summarized the apparent results as follows: “Kenyon concluded, with reference to the military conquest theory and the LB walls, that there was no archaeological data to support the thesis that the town had been surrounded by a wall at the end of LB I. The excavation of Jericho, therefore, has thrown no light on the walls of Jericho of which the destruction is so vividly described in the Book of Joshua.” 1 She concluded, “It is a sad fact that of the town walls of the Late Bronze Age, within which period the attack by the Israelites must fall by any dating, not a trace remains …. The main reason for this negative outlook is the excavations at the site carried out in the 1950s under the direction of British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon. It is a wonderful story of faith and victory, but did it really happen? The skeptic would say no, it is merely a folk tale to explain the ruins at Jericho. The name “Jericho” brings to mind Israelites marching, trumpets sounding and walls falling down. Heavily fortified, with a virtually impregnable double wall, what caused her sudden destruction? And find out why it is significant that even her inhabitants” foodstores could still be seen in our time, where they were left . . .
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