Jericho
In the middle of the Judean Desert north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the oldest inhabited town on Earth, dating back almost 10,000 years. The Tel Al Sultan (Elisha’s springs) ruins have traces of the first nomad settlement from the Mesolithic period. It has an abundance of water sources and it is believed that the fresh spring water at Tel Al-Sultan is the reason for early inhabitancy in Jericho. Its original name, Yereha (perfume), signified its lushness and is preserved in its present Arabic name, Ariha.
The sites to visit in Jericho are the Monastery of St. George, carved out of a canyon wall overlooking the Wadi Qelt gorge, Hisham’s Palace the beautiful Umayyad hunting lodge, the ancient tell of Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) and the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation.