Digging Up Jericho

Digging Up Jericho: Past Present and Future, arising from a conference exploring the heritage, archaeology and history of the Jericho Oasis, includes contributions by 21 internationally significant scholars. It will appeal to scholars and students in Near Eastern prehistory, Islamic archaeology, public archaeology, the history of archaeology, and cultural heritage management. Jericho has had a profile beyond academia, and the volume will also appeal to anyone interested in the archaeology and heritage of Jericho, biblical archaeology and, more broadly, Israel and Palestine.

This is the first volume to offer a holistic perspective on the research and public value of the site of Jericho – an iconic site with a long and impressive history stretching from the Epipalaeolithic to the present day. Once dubbed the ‘Oldest City in the World’, it has been the focus of intense archaeological activity and media interest in the 150 years since its discovery. From early investigations in the 19th century, through Kathleen Kenyon’s work at the site in the 1950s, to the recent Italian-Palestinian Expedition and Khirbat al-Mafjar Archaeological Project, Jericho and its surrounding landscape has always played a key role in our understanding of this fascinating region. Current efforts to get the site placed on the World Heritage List only enhance its appeal.

Covering all aspects of work at the site, from past to present and beyond, this volume offers a unique opportunity to re-evaluate and assess the legacy of this important site. In doing so, it helps to increase our understanding of the wider archaeology and history of the Southern Levant.

Table of Contents

Preface: Digging up Jericho – Bill Finlayson

Part I – Past

The Jericho Excavations in Historical Context

Jericho in the Collections of the Palestine Exploration Fund – Felicity Cobbing

Jericho in the Media – Rachael Thyrza Sparks

The Photographic Methodology of Kenyon’s Jericho – Stuart Laidlaw

Jericho Syndromes: ‘Digging Up Jericho’ as Ritual Dramas of Possession – Beverley Butler

Square Pegs in Round Holes – John Carswell

The Impact of Kenyon’s Excavations at Tell es-Sultan on Dutch Archaeology in the Near East – Bart Wagemakers

Reconsidering Results from Past Excavations

Finding and Losing the Person Within: A Neolithic Plastered Skull from Jericho – Alexandra Fletcher

Kenyon, Jericho and the Amorites – Kay Prag

Metal Weapons and Social Differentiation at Bronze Age Tell es-Sultan – Daria Montanari

Jericho Tomb P23 in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities – Christine Erkelens and Lucas Petit

A New Umayyad Mosque at Khirbet el-Mafjar, and other Discoveries: A New Understanding through Architectural Stratigraphy and Landscape Archaeology – Ignacio Arce

Part II – Present

Current Fieldwork

The Italian-Palestinian Expedition to Tell es-Sultan, Ancient Jericho (1997–2015): Archaeology and Valorisation of Material and Immaterial Heritage – Lorenzo Nigro

Mudbricks and Modular Architecture at Tell es-Sultan from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age – Gaia Ripepi

Protecting the People: The Fortification Systems of Middle Bronze Age Jericho in Light of the Italian-Palestinian Excavations – Chiara Fiaccavento and Elisabetta Gallo

The Jericho Mafjar Project: Palestine-University of Chicago Research at Khirbet el-Mafjar – Donald Whitcomb

Cities and Palaces: Khirbet el-Mafjar and the Evolution of Settlements on the Jericho Plain – Michael Jennings

Two Decades of Archaeology in Jericho, 1994–2015 – Hamdan Taha

Part III – Future

Preserving the Archaeological Past for the Future

Neolithic Heritage, Jericho and the West Bank – Bill Finlayson and Paul Burtenshaw

The Hisham’s Palace Site and Museum Project – Jack Green ;

Bill Finlayson is Director of the Council for British Research in the Levant and works on the early Neolithic of southwest Asia, primarily undertaking fieldwork in southern Jordan at a number of Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites. He has been working to promote southwest Asian Neolithic heritage as an asset for local communities and tourism.

Rachael Sparks gained her doctorate at the University of Sydney in 1999, before moving to the UK to take up a post as curator of the Petrie Palestinian Collection at the Institute of Archaeology. This was followed by a two-year research post at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, working with ethnographic material from the Southern Sudan, before returning to UCL where she now holds the post of Associate Professor and Keeper of the Institute of Archaeology’s Collections.



Josef Mario Briffa SJ is Lecturer at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and a Roman Catholic priest. He has recently completed his PhD at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London on The Figural World of the Southern Levant during the Late Iron Age. He also holds a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. His research has included the history of Maltese archaeology, with a focus on the work of Fr Emmanuel Magri SJ (1851-1907), pioneer in Maltese archaeology and folklore studies. He has excavated in Malta and Israel, and is currently a staff member of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition.

Rachael Thyrza Sparks gained her doctorate at the University of Sydney in 1999, before moving to the UK to take up a post as curator of the Petrie Palestinian Collection at the Institute of Archaeology. This was followed by a two-year research post at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, working with ethnographic material from the Southern Sudan, before returning to UCL where she now holds the post of Associate Professor and Keeper of the Institute of Archaeology’s Collections.