Jericho’s Inform es-Sultan has not too long ago been recognized as a Planet Heritage Web page in Palestine. This declaration was produced by the United Nations, which describes it as the “oldest fortified city in the planet.” 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 delivers international recognition.
The ruins close to the ancient city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank had been provided this specific status through a UN Planet Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inform es-Sultan is an oval-shaped mound positioned roughly 10km northwest of the Dead Sea and almost one particular mile north of contemporary-day Jericho. It consists of proof of prehistoric human activity dating back to the ninth millennium BCE, as nicely as a perennial spring nearby. Inside the web-site, archaeologists have found fortification walls, trenches, palaces, staircases, and towers from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.
According to Hamdan, Inform es-Sultan is especially considerable simply because it represents the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural one particular. 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 web-site exemplifies the value of human civilization in Palestine. Noureldin describes Inform es-Sultan as an exceptional case, as it delivers insights into the improvement of civilizations in the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, and the Levant through the third and second millennium BCE.
Noureldin also highlights the creativity of the site’s inhabitants. The burial rituals found at Inform es-Sultan include things like 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 Planet Heritage Web page, Inform es-Sultan now joins 3 other designated web-sites in Palestine: the birthplace of Jesus, the old town of Hebron, and the cultural landscape of the village of Battir south of Jerusalem. These web-sites collectively offer a wealthy tapestry of Palestinian history and heritage.
