JERICHO
JERICHO
58\
the plain {Ant. xvn. xiii. 1). In the time of JoBephus {]f'ars. III. iii. 5) Juda-a was divided into eleven parts, of which Jems, was the chief, and one of which was Jericho. When Vespasian approached J. the citizens fled to the mountains {Ivors, iv. viii. 2). He erected a citadel in the place, and Bet a garrison {ib. IV. ix. 1). Whether Josephus refers to the destruction of J. or Gerasa in this section is not clear, but we have the statement of Jerome that, at the time wlien Jerusalem was taken, J. was captured and destroyed on account of the perfidy of its citizens {Onomasticon).
J., however, still preserved its magnificence when our Lord \'isited it. His baptism in the Jordan occurred not far off. The hill of Quar- antania, to the immediate west of the city, IS pointed out as the traditional site of the Temptation. At the end of His mini.stry, when He was on His way from Galilee to Jerus., He passed through J., and there healed a blind man (Mk 10^" [name given Bartimieus], Lk IS"*), or ace. to Mt 20--"'- two blind men. At this same time He visited the house of Zaccha>us the publican, whose eagerness to see the Lord had led him to climb a sycomore tree, as he was short of stature. The account of his conversion is one of the most graphic in the gospel history (Lk 19'" ). Travellers today between Jerus. and J. have to be accompanied by an escort, to prevent their ' falling among thieves,' who have infested this route both before and ever since the Good Samaritan came to *te relief of the man in the parable (Lk W").
We are told by Jerome ^Oncm.) that after *t« destruction by the Roiuans, J. was rebuilt a third time, but he doea not say when. That the place was inhabited in the time of Orijfen we infer fpjm the fact of his discoverj' of some valnable biblical WSS there (Eua. EccL Uist. vi. Iti). This third city existed in Jerome's diiy aa well as the ruins of the other two. It became an Episcopal See, and its bishops bej^n to be mentioned in A.n. 325 '. the last reference is to GreKoriiis, who was present at the Byi.od of Jerua. a.d. 630. The sacred sites began to be pointed out early in the 4th cent. The Bordeaux ril^'rim (A.D. 3:i3) was shown the sycomore tree of Zacchaeus on tlie riyht of the road lewling to tiie town from the west. A mile and a half from the town was pointed out the site of the old city taken by Joshua, close to the fountain of Elisha, immediately above which was the bouse of Rahab. Justinian restored a hospice in J., and a church of the Mother of God (Procopiua. dc JCdif. 6. 9). Theodosiufl (a.d. 630) visited the fountam of Elisha, which he places 2 miles from the town, and in this latter was shown the house of Itahah, the site evid"ently having been shifted since the time of the Bordeaux I'ilgrijii. Antoninus Martyr (A. p. 57U) found the walla of the town overthrown by an earthquake. The house of Rahab was still standing, and had been converted into a hospice and orator}', probably the work of Justinian referred to above. At the time of .Vrculf'a \isit (a.d. OTO) the town was in ruina; only the house of Rahab was standing, but roofless. The Venerable Bede (a.d. 720) describes a similar state of things. Hence the town was in a ruinous condition for at least a century and a half, but by the end of the 0th cent, many churches and monasteries had s]irung up on the surrounding plains. Besides the church at Oilga], Arculf speaks of one on the spot where Christ was supposed to have left His garments at the time of His baptism, and of the monosterv of SU John, also near the Jordan. Establishments were dedicatt-d to St. Panteleemon, St. Calnmon, St. Chrj'sostom, St. Eustocliium, and others. At the lime of the Cnisaders many of these were repaired and others constnu-ted. Under the Arabs the town again rose to importance, as is proved by the many references of tlie Mohanunedan geographers beginning in the 9th cent, (sfp I'aUsliiu uiiilrr the ilotUmt, by Guy L« Strange). Vakubl (A.D. b74) speaks of Riha aa the capital of the OhOr, the cleft of the Lower Jorxian. Mukaddasi (a.d. 985) says that this citv possessed many villages in the plain, which produced murh Indigo, and many palm and banana trees. Edrisi (a.d. W.A) mentions Ariha, Beisan. and Amta as the finest of the cities of the valley of the tJhor. When the Crusaders coru|uered the Uiid, the pliUn of J. was granted to the Holy Sepulchre. b\it in l.D. nil Amulfus, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, wos Wanu>d for assigning to his niece this district, with its annual revenues, whidi amounted to 5000 pieces of gold OVilllom of T>Te. xi. 16). Later It ogiun fell into ecclesiastical hands, as it was assigned in A.D. 1138 to a convent at Bethany (ib. XT. i6\ But by the 13th cent, the town itself had sunk to small dimensions. The square tower which may bo seen to-day near the nio<lem village of er-Uiha was found by Willebrand (a.d. 1211) in a ruinous con- dition. Brocardus (A.D. 1230) saj-s that the wretched town had scarcely eight houses, and that all the monuments of the sacrvd places were destroyed. Rlcoldus, writing about the some time, calla the place 'quasi deserto.' However, the iilolns were at this time richly cultivated. According to the Moolem Yakut