Entry into Jericho required that we leave our bus and tour guide and get a replacement for a few hours as we passed the check-point into the West Bank. Our first stop was the tree of Zaccheaus. It was not very impressive and the merchants hounded us. Nevertheless, it was a tree like this which Zaccheaus climbed to see Jesus and it was somewhere in this city where he turned his life over to God and followed Jesus.
Next we went to the restaurant for a large buffet meal. From the top of this restaurant we could view remains of the the old city of Jericho. Many of us also enjoyed a short ride on a camel.
Historical background:
JERICHO is some 7,000 years old, one of the oldest cities in the world. It is certainly the oldest in Israel. There are two sites or tels in the city. The ancient tel is tel-el-Sultan and the modern tel is the one that Herod built across the Wadi Kelt and west of the present modern Jericho. Jericho was a city built by nomads and was a fortified city by 7000B.C.E. One of the modern meanings given for Jericho is a “Place of fragrance”. Probably because that many of the perfumes used in the temple came from Jericho.
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