Jericho’s Inform es-Sultan has not too long ago been recognized as a Planet Heritage Web site in Palestine. This declaration was created by the United Nations, which describes it as the “oldest fortified city in the globe.” Iyad Hamdan, the director basic of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Jericho, believes that this choice not only strengthens Palestinian identity but also offers international recognition.
The ruins close to the ancient city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank have been offered this unique status throughout a UN Planet Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inform es-Sultan is an oval-shaped mound situated roughly 10km northwest of the Dead Sea and almost a single mile north of contemporary-day Jericho. It includes proof of prehistoric human activity dating back to the ninth millennium BCE, as properly as a perennial spring nearby. Inside the website, archaeologists have found fortification walls, trenches, palaces, staircases, and towers from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.
According to Hamdan, Inform es-Sultan is specifically important due to the fact it represents the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural a single. It is the oldest fortified agricultural settlement in which Palestinians moved beyond hunting and gathering to the practices of agriculture and animal domestication. Hani Noureldin, a professor of archaeology at Abu Dis University in Jerusalem, believes that this website exemplifies the significance of human civilization in Palestine. Noureldin describes Inform es-Sultan as an exceptional case, as it offers insights into the improvement of civilizations in the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, and the Levant throughout the third and second millennium BCE.
Noureldin also highlights the creativity of the site’s inhabitants. The burial rituals found at Inform es-Sultan incorporate the decoration of human skulls. The skulls have been covered with a smooth layer of plaster and painted with organic colors. This practice serves as proof of the sophisticated cultural improvement of the ancient inhabitants.
With its recognition as a Planet Heritage Web site, Inform es-Sultan now joins 3 other designated websites in Palestine: the birthplace of Jesus, the old town of Hebron, and the cultural landscape of the village of Battir south of Jerusalem. These websites collectively give a wealthy tapestry of Palestinian history and heritage.