World's First Town: Jericho (c. 9000 BCE)

Jericho (Tell es-Sultan, West Bank) is widely regarded as the world's earliest known permanent settlement—continuously inhabited since ~9000 BCE (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A).

Archaeological Evidence

• PPNA (9000–8500 BCE): Circular mud-brick houses, stone tower (8.5m), wall (3.6m thick)—earliest known monumental architecture
• PPNB (8500–7000 BCE): Rectangular plastered houses, domesticated plants/animals, skull cult (plastered crania)
• Pottery Neolithic (7000–4500 BCE): Ceramic emergence, expanded settlement

Why Jericho?

• Spring (Ain es-Sultan): Reliable freshwater in arid Jordan Valley
• Strategic location: Trade routes between Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia
• Early agriculture: Emmer wheat, barley, pulses, figs; later sheep/goat herding
• Social complexity: Communal labor for walls/tower implies organization

Other Early Contenders

• Çatalhöyük (Turkey, ~7500 BCE) – larger, no streets (roof entry)
• Göbekli Tepe (Turkey, ~9600 BCE) – ritual site, not residential
• Tell Qaramel (Syria, ~10,000 BCE) – early towers

Jericho's continuous occupation, early fortifications, and agricultural innovation make it the archaeological consensus for "first town." UNESCO World Heritage Site (2023).