(Gray sign posted on Tel Sultan-- Jericho 2011 after Italian excavations)

Middle Bronze Age City Defensive Wall -- Jericho, April 13, 2011

The University of Rome (Sapienza) excavations revealed part of the stone Middle Bronze Age wall defending Jericho destroyed c. 1550 BC.  The wall foundations were dug below earlier Middle Bronze Age structures and cut through them.  The excavations are in the south side of the mound near Kathleen Kenyon's Trench III.  To date there is no evidence of a LBA walled city.  These findings have cast doubt on the Biblical story of Joshua and the conquest of Jericho.  There is evidence for a small settlement in the vicinity during the LBA during the era when the Egyptians operated in the region.  There were a few Egyptian New Kingdom scarabs found in tombs adjacent to the mound and very little LBA pottery.     

Walls of Jericho Seen in 2011

MBA Walls of Jericho after the Sellin-Watzinger Expedition

Aerial View of Jericho

University of Rome Jericho Expeditions Web Site 1997-2000, 2009-2010 Excavation Reports

^{Israel Photos III - Old Jericho}