The first excavations of Jericho was in 1868,and a scientific study of the site began in 1907 In 1907 Drs. Stellin and Watzinger began the first scientific excavation of Tell Es-Sultan (Jericho) which was first excavated in modern times by Warren in 1868.Professor Garstang began extensive work there in 1930.Dr Garstang had been Director of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine from 1920-26.During his directorship he had walked the exact course Joshua took in His conquests,and identified the sites of many of the cities,the exact location of which had been long forgotten.Dr.Garstang examined over 100,000 potsherds from Jericho and dated the destruction of the city to 1400 BCE.The central city of Jericho covered about 12 acres,average for a city at that time.To the west Garstang found a complete unplundered necropolis.He found 80 Egyptian scarabs which bore cartouches of Egyptian Kings the latest of whom was Amenhotep III (1413-1377 BCE).There was no evidence of burials after that date.In His book,"Wonders of the Past" 1937,Garstang wrote of His discoveries at Jericho:
"Four main epochs in its occupation (referring to Jericho) are attested by that number of separate and successive periods of fortification.........Even the rampart which was constructed in the early bronze age can only be traced in intervals in deep soundings at a depth of about 20ft..........The walls were Babylonian in style.........This period of occupation is to be assigned to the last centuries the third millennium BC say 2300-2000 BC and corresponds therefore with the first Semitic Dynasty of Babylon, the remote age of Hammurabi and Abraham." "About 2000 BC the site of Jericho was enclosed by definitive defensive ramparts comprising a stout wall of brick 12-14ft in thickness supported by an inner screen in front.........The area of the city was only about 8 acres.......The city gateway was narrow and near the spring (Now called Elisha's Fountain M.S.S.) and both these features were dominated by a massive guard-house, 60ft by 30ft containing three rooms in the line of the city walls." "About 1800 BC, A DATE DEPENDING ULTIMATELY UPON EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY, the city of Jericho was re-fortified upon a more ample scale..............The area of Jericho now attained its maximum of about 12 acres. From the standpoint of military architecture the defensive works of Jericho at this time were unparalleled comprising the three fold principal of glacis, parapet and outer fosse."
Not only was Jericho a large city with walls, it was destroyed around 1400 bc, which agrees with history. For that reason, skeptics claim that Jericho,along with other cities,was destroyed when Joshua arrived. That is based on the past believe that the conquest took place around 1220 bce. The Bible does not agree with that date. In Kings 6:1.Solomon began building the Temple in His fourth year, which was the 480th year of the Exodus. As history has established, His reign can be placed around 980 b.c. The widely accepted Egyptian contemporary to Solomon was Siamun. The beginning of His reign is set at 978 bce. That is based on inscriptions from Karnak. King Solomon was given His daughter to marry, which could not have been earlier than 978 bc.1 Kings 2:39 gives a reference to three years and according to 1 Kings:3:1 was before Solomon's marriage to Siamun's daughter.The marriage would have taken place in Siamun's first year, and Solomon began building the Temple in His fourth year,the 48th year after the exodus ( I Kings 4:1 ), or 1458 bc. Regardless of how accurate that year is, it leaves no doubt that the Exodus could not have taken place in 1220 bce.
Dame Kathleen Kenyon followed in the footsteps of Garstang in examining the rubble that once was the city of Jericho. She dated the ruins to 1550 BCE. Dr. Bryant Wood, who is currently excavating the site, found that Kenyon's early date was based on faulty assumptions about pottery found at the site. Garstang's date of 1400 BCE, now seems to be accurate, because of the Egyptian scarabs. Since the reign of Amenhotep began in 1413 BCE, it is apparent the city would still be active with an Egyptian garrison. Some critics still hold to Kenyon's dating, but can't seem to explain the presence of Egyptian scarabs from a king who began His rule 137 years after Jericho was supposedly completely destroyed. Finally, a piece of charcoal found in the debris was carbon-14 dated to be 1410 B.C. The evidence lead Wood to the conclusion that:
"The pottery, stratigraphic considerations,scarab data and a carbon-14 date
all point to a destruction of the city around the end of the Late Bronze Age,about 1400 BCE."{8}
One of the most amazing discoveries was the way the wall had fell. Large piles of bricks were found at the base of both the inner and outer walls, forming a ramp which would have allowed invaders to easily enter the city. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an earthquake in the area, which damed the Jordan river, above the city of Adama, and completely stopped the flow of water for several hours,(Joshua 3:16). It's the belief of some archaeologists that the earthquake caused the walls to collapse, while some believe they were weakened by the earthquake, allowing Joshua's army to push them over. There was also evidence of a massive fire, which Kathleen Kenyon described:
"The destruction was complete.Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire and every room was filled with fallen bricks."{7}
Kenyon was among the first to agree on a date of 1400 bce, and was disappointed that the date did not fit the believed date in the 13th century bce. She discovered the city had been surrounded by a double, which was usual in Canaanite architecture.The two walls had been spanned by timbers to allow for the building of houses,similar to that described in Joshua 2: 15, that claims Rehob's house was upon the town wall. If the Israelites had left Egypt 200 years later and found a destroyed Jerico, they would not have known the city was built with double walls, much less with houses on top of them. It is common belief among archeologists that it was not local Cannanites that added the inner wall, but the Hyksos who had been run out of Egypt.
Joshua and the Israelites would have entered Canaan at the time the war between the Habaru and local Egyptian city-states began. The reason for the Egyptian army not intervening is explained in "The Conquest", which will be posted at a later date.
