Jericho’s Inform es-Sultan declared a UNESCO Globe Heritage | Historic News

Jericho’s Inform es-Sultan was lately recognized as a Globe Heritage Web-site in Palestine. This declaration was created by the United Nations, which describes it as “the oldest fortified city in the planet”. Iyad Hamdan, director common of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Jericho, believes that this choice not only strengthens Palestinian identity but also guarantees international recognition.

Ruins close to the ancient city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank had been offered this particular status for the duration of a meeting of the UN Globe Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inform es-Sultan is an oval-shaped mound situated about ten km northwest of the Dead Sea and practically a mile north of present-day Jericho. It consists of proof of prehistoric human activity dating back to the ninth millennium BC, as effectively 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 especially important for the reason that it represents the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural one particular. It is the oldest established agricultural settlement exactly where the Palestinians switched from hunting and gathering to the practice of agriculture and animal domestication. Hani Nureldin, a professor of archeology at Abu Dis University in Jerusalem, believes the website exemplifies the value of human civilization in Palestine. Nureldin describes Inform es-Sultan as an exceptional case, as it delivers insight into the improvement of civilizations in the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia and the Levant for the duration of the third and second millennium BC.

Nureldin also highlights the creativity of the site’s residents. The funerary rituals found at Inform es-Sultan consist of the decoration of human skulls. The skulls had been covered with a smooth layer of plaster and painted with all-natural colors. This practice serves as proof of the sophisticated cultural improvement of the ancient inhabitants.

With its recognition as a Globe Heritage Web-site, Inform es-Sultan now joins 3 other designated web sites in Palestine: the birthplace of Jesus, the old city of Hebron, and the cultural landscape of the village of Batir south of Jerusalem. With each other, these web sites supply a wealthy tapestry of Palestinian history and heritage.