Ancient Town Tell es-Sultan

The settlement history of Tell es-Sultan spans over 11,500 years, with 23 superimposed layers forming a 21-meter-high settlement mound. The first traces of human presence date back to the Epipalaeolithic period (10th-9th millennium BC). In the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, around 8050 BC, the oldest known stone tower in the world, the Tower of Jericho, with a 20-step staircase, was built as part of the city's fortifications within the 4-hectare settlement. Residents lived in round mud-brick structures and practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. After a period of abandonment, the site was reoccupied in the late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B and C from 7220 BC, now in rectangular mud-brick houses. Notable are the secondary burials of human skulls, some with faces reconstructed with plaster and eyes replaced by shells. During the Bronze Age, the city experienced several destructions, including by fire and earthquakes, and phases of reduced settlement, before remaining uninhabited from around 1300 BC until the Iron Age.

The ancient city of Tell es-Sultan is located in Jericho, in the Jericho district, in the West Bank region of the Palestinian Territories. It lies at an elevation of approximately -215 m below sea level.

The remains of the ancient city are now accessible to visitors and can be explored. The site is actively being researched and prepared for its touristic development as an archaeological park.

• Crusader Castle Maldouin (fortress), approx. 9.8 km away
• Lion's Gate (city fortification), approx. 22.0 km away
• Golden Gate (city fortification), approx. 22.1 km away
• Herod's Gate (city fortification), approx. 22.2 km away