THE OLDEST CITY OF THE WORLD; JERICHO

This week we are in Jericho , the oldest city in the world.

An oasis among beatufil palms and orchards .

According to the history of religions, the sons of Adam have been roaming the earth for an estimated ten thousand years. The city of Jericho has stood for ten thousand years. The Dead Sea is right next to it, so it must have witnessed the destruction of Lot’s people. The tomb of Moses is located in these lands. Isaac, Jacob, and Solomon lived here. Jesus was tested by the devil here, and also baptized right here. Briefly; Traces of thousands of years of history have been found here. If you are ready, let our journey to Jericho begin.

We are at sea level. We have about 15 km to reach Jericho. We took a short break here. Here you can also take a camel tour and go deep into the desert.

We continue on our way. A little ahead, we will see the Al-Nabi Musa sign.

Al – Nabi Musa, located on one of the ancient roads along Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, is believed to be the burial place of Moses.

It is believed that after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1187, the Ayyubid ruler Selahaddin Eyyubi saw the place where the tomb was located in his dream and built Islamic-complex here.

The Tomb of Nabi Musa has been an annual pilgrimage site since the time of Saladin. The first structure was built by the Mamluks in 1269. It was expanded in 1470 and restored by the Turks in 1820. On the site you will see a beautiful and quiet mosque with a white domed roof and glazed mihrab.

Although there is no definite information about where the tomb of Moses is, in Islamic historical sources, It is stated that it is located in a region between Jericho and Jerusalem.

And we are in Jericho… Jericho is known as the city of Palms. Date trees, one of the palm family, greet you at the entrance of the city with their leaves opening to the lush green sky among that barren yellow soil.

Did you know that the most human-like tree is the date palm? The date palm tree is the only fruit tree with similar structural characteristics to humans.

In some religious sources, It is stated that the soil on which Adam was created was sieved, and dates were created from the soil remaining in the sieve. Date is called “nakhle” in Arabic and the Turkish equivalent of this word is expressed as “sieve remaining”.

In addition, the date palm tree has a heart. The place of the date palm, called the ‘gummar’ region, is matched with the heart of the person. Just as a person cannot live without a heart, the date palm cannot continue its life with any blow to the gummar region. There are surprising similarities between human and date palms from the color tones of the date palm fruit and the human skin to their lifespans

Now, we move towards the center of the city. There is a monastery waiting for us on the opposite hill. We take the cable car up to the Temptation Mountain.

Mount of Temptation : When Jesus comes to Jericho, he retreats to the caves on this mountain for 40 days. He fasts during this period and, as stated in the Bible, is tested by the devil in three different ways. That’s why this mountain is called the Temptation Mountain. The story is told in Matthew as follows. ‘Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tested by the devil. After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus got hungry. Then the devil approached and said, “If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread”. Jesus answered him: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, he lives by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’
Then the devil took him to the top of the Temple and said, “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down.” For it is written: God will command his angels for you. They will carry you in their hands so that your feet do not hit a stone. Jesus replied to the devil, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’

This time the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. Showing him all the countries of the world, he said, “I will give you all these if you fall down and worship me.” Jesus answered him as follows.’ Go away devil! You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him alone.’ Then the devil left Jesus and the angels came and served Jesus.

A church was built around these caves in the 6th century, Byzantine period. It was brought to its present appearance by the Orthodox Church in 1874 in the Ottoman Period.

There are shops to buy souvenirs, cafes where you can eat and drink something.

We pass to Tell-es Sultan, which is right across Mount of Temptation.

Tell-es Sultan is an archaeological site managed by UNESCO. Many archaeological artifacts dating back to 10,000 years have been found. For this reason, Jericho is called the oldest city in the world. Here, every tiny detail in the city gives us information about thousands of years ago.

Excavations and journeys to the past continue today. Who knows, maybe I’ll find out about the new facts from the page of a friend of mine who is reading these lines now and visiting here in the coming period.♡

When I researched this region, I came across very interesting information, I would like to share it with you. The oldest portrait in the British Museum is about 9500 years old, and yes, as you guess, it is a skull buried in Jericho. This real skull was hollowed out and plaster was added to it, and seashells were attached to the eye sockets. It took the curators 8 years to uncover the stories behind this skull. Found in the 1950s, this skull is the first of its kind. Since that day, it has been investigated who he belongs to, what kind of life he had and what happened to this person. In addition, as you can see in the picture, the real image of the owner of the skull was obtained thanks to the 3D illustrated tomography.

We continue our journey with the Russian Museum, which is located at the center of Jericho. During the excavations, it is determined that there is a Byzantine Monastery under it. Then it is given to Russia by Palestine. The materials obtained during these excavations are exhibited in the museum. At the entrance, photographs of the Russian presence in these lands are exhibited. The original and replica of the mosaic remain found on the floor of the monastery are also exhibited in the entrance section.

The ‘life of tree’ mosaic that we see in this section is a world-famous symbol and is the oldest mosaic that has completely preserved its originality. A lion attacking a deer represents war, and two deers on the left are the symbols of peace. There are more than 5 million small mosaic pieces in this mosaic.

We pass to the garden at the back of the museum. It is like a miracle to witness such a garden in this arid climate. This is the biblical garden with fragrant plants. In addition, the 2000-year-old tree in the garden is significant

When Jesus entered Jericho he was passing through the city. There was a rich man named Zacchaeus, who was the head of the tax collectors. He wanted to see Jesus, but he was very short. He climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus from the front. When Jesus got there, he looked up and told Zacchaeus to get down from there and stay at his house today. Zacchaeus hurried downstairs and happily welcomed him home. All those who saw this began to grumble, “He went and became a guest of a sinner,”

Zacchaeus stood up and said: ‘Lord, here I am giving half of my property to the poor. If I have taken something from someone unfairly, I will give it back four times.’ Jesus said, “This house is redeemed today because this man is also the son of Abraham. Indeed, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” The tree mentioned in the verses is located here.

One of the most important symbols of Jericho, located in the middle of the desert, is the “Hisham Palace” built in 700 AD. Now we are going to look at another history, from a different perspective.

Hisham Palace

Built by the 10th Umayyad caliph Hisham Bin Abdulmalik, this palace came to light as a result of excavations in the 1900s. This is an example of Islamic architecture.
This palace, which was built during the Umayyad period, is not an official palace. Hisham uses this place only for himself and his guests during the winter to stay, hunt, and ride horses. Therefore, the palace was designed for these purposes. It has a thermal bath, mosque, fountain, and a room where elite guests are hosted. In addition, the mosaic structures that have survived to the present day without any damage officially present a visual feast.

The star-shaped window, which is the most important part of the palace, has also become a symbol of Jericho. The purpose of this window is to benefit from the sun’s rays from different angles at every hour of the day.

Small statues, decorations, and materials used in the house are exhibited during the excavations in the museum located at the entrance of Hisham Palace.

Inside the palace is a gaudy complex. This section was used as a place where guests were hosted and rested. There is also a swimming pool with a width of 20 meters and a depth of 5 meters. It is impossible not to admire the original mosaic structures from that period on the floor of the pool.

In the third and last part of the palace, there are gardens used to grow grapes and an area where horses are tied after hunting. At the end of the palace, there is a model of the estimated image of the palace before it was destroyed after the excavations.