 The tower in 2010 | |
  Shown within State of Palestine | |
| Region | West Bank,Palestine |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 31°52′19″N35°26′38″E / 31.872041°N 35.443981°E /31.872041; 35.443981 |
| Type | Tower |
| Height | 8.5 m (27.9 ft) |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 8000 BC; 10025 years ago |
| Periods | PPNA |
| Cultures | Sultanian |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1952–1958 |
| Archaeologists | John Garstang,Kathleen Kenyon, Roy Liran, and Ran Barkai |
| Condition | Ruins |
TheTower of Jericho (Arabic:برج أريحا) is an 8.5-metre-tall (28 ft) stone structure built in thePre-Pottery Neolithic A period around 8000 BC.[1] It is part ofTell es-Sultan, aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in theState of Palestine, in the city ofJericho, consisting of the remains of the oldest fortified city in the world.[2][3] The Tower of Jericho has been described as one of the world's oldest towers, one of the world's oldest stone buildings, and one of the oldest works of monumental architecture.[4][5][6]
Theancient wall ofJericho was discovered byJohn Garstang during the excavations of 1930 to 1936, which he suggested were those described in theBook of Joshua in theBible and dated to around 1400 BC.[7]Kathleen Kenyon discovered the tower built against the wall inside the town during excavations between 1952 and 1958. Kenyon provided evidence that both constructions dated to much earlier, to theNeolithic, the most recent era of theStone Age, and were part of an earlyproto-city.[7] The tower highlights the importance ofJericho for the understanding of settlement patterns in theSultanian period in theSouthern Levant.[8]
The tower was constructed using undressed stones, with an internal staircase of twenty-two steps. Conical in shape, the tower is almost 9 metres (30 ft) in diameter at the base, decreasing to 7 metres (23 ft) at the top with walls approximately 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) thick. The construction of the tower is estimated to have taken 11,000working days.
Studies by Ran Barkai and Roy Liran fromTel Aviv University published in 2011 have suggestedastronomical andsocial purposes in the construction of the tower. Showing an early example ofarchaeoastronomy, they usedcomputer modelling to determine that the shadow of nearby mountains first hit the tower on the sunset of thesummer solstice and then spread across the entire town.[5] Noting that there were no known invasions of the area at the time of construction, the defensive purpose of the tower, wall and ditch at Jericho has been brought into question. No burials were found and suggestions of it being a tomb have been dismissed.
Discussing inThe Jerusalem Post, Barkai argued that the structure was used to createawe and inspiration to convince people into a harder way of life with the development ofagriculture and social hierarchies. He concluded: "We believe this tower was one of the mechanisms to motivate people to take part in a communal lifestyle."[1]
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World's tallest structure[4] c. 8000 BC - c. 2650 BC 8.5 m | Succeeded by |
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