You’ve probably heard a dozen different cities claim they were the first. Damascus. Aleppo. Byblos. It’s a messy, ego-driven debate between tourism boards and archaeologists that honestly never ends. But if we’re looking for the heavy hitter, the one with the literal layers of dirt to prove it, we have to talk about Jericho. Located in the Palestinian Territories, Jericho isn't just a dot on a map. It’s a 10,000-year-old survival story.
Actually, it's older.
While most of our ancestors were still wandering around wondering if they should settle down, the people in Jericho were building massive stone walls. We’re talking 9000 BCE. That’s roughly 11,000 years of people waking up, eating breakfast, and dealing with their neighbors in the exact same spot. It’s kind of mind-blowing when you think about it. Most "old" cities in the US are barely 400 years old. Jericho makes them look like toddlers.
Why Jericho takes the crown (mostly)
Archaeology is a game of "prove it." In Jericho—known locally as Tell es-Sultan—archaeologists like Kathleen Kenyon spent years digging through what look like giant mounds of trash and rubble. These are called "tells." Essentially, a city would get destroyed or fall apart, and instead of clearing the debris, people just leveled it and built right on top.
Imagine a layer cake of human history.
Kenyon’s work in the 1950s was the real deal. She found evidence of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period. That’s a fancy way of saying people were living there before they even figured out how to make a clay pot. They found a massive stone tower, about 8.5 meters tall, built into a wall. It’s one of the oldest stone structures ever found. Why did they build it? Some say defense. Others think it was for flood control or even an ancient astronomical calendar. Honestly, we don't fully know. We just know they were there, and they were organized.
The contenders who hate this list
Of course, if you go to Syria, they’ll tell you Damascus is the oldest continuously occupied city. It’s a fair fight. Damascus has a soul that feels ancient because it is. People have been living in the Barada River basin for a long time. However, the "continuous" part is where the lawyers—I mean, the historians—get involved.
There are gaps in the record for Damascus. A century here, a few decades there where maybe nobody was home. Jericho has the most consistent receipts.
Then there’s Byblos in Lebanon. It’s beautiful. It’s coastal. It has been a hub of trade since the Phoenicians were the kings of the Mediterranean. But even Byblos usually clocks in around 5000 BCE for true urban settlement. That’s still incredibly old, but compared to Jericho, it’s a newcomer.
Plovdiv in Bulgaria is another one people overlook. It’s been inhabited since roughly 6000 BCE. It’s got Roman ruins, Ottoman architecture, and a vibe that’s way more "European vacation" than the Middle Eastern contenders. If you're into the history of Thracian tribes, Plovdiv is your spot. But it still doesn't quite hit that 10k mark.
What it’s actually like to be there
Jericho is low. Really low. It’s sitting at about 258 meters below sea level near the Dead Sea. It’s a desert oasis, basically kept alive by the Ein es-Sultan spring. Without that water, the city wouldn't exist. Period.
👉 See also: Why Your Choice of Travel Jacket for Women Usually Fails You (and How to Fix It)
When you walk through the site of Tell es-Sultan today, it’s not all shiny marble columns. It’s dusty. It’s brown. You have to use your imagination to see the Neolithic houses or the Bronze Age fortifications. But standing next to a wall that was built 10,000 years ago does something to your brain. You realize that "humanity" isn't a new concept. The people living there then had the same basic fears and desires we do. They wanted a roof, they wanted food, and they wanted to stay safe from whatever was outside that wall.
- The Climate: It’s hot. Like, oppressive heat.
- The Geography: You're in the Jordan Rift Valley.
- The Vibe: It feels like a small town that just happens to be the oldest place on Earth.
The "Continuous" argument
This is the sticking point. "Continuously occupied" is a specific term. If a city is abandoned for 50 years because of a plague or a war, does it lose its title? Some scholars say yes. Others say that if the name and the site remain, it counts.
Jericho has been through the wringer. It’s been conquered, destroyed, rebuilt, and handed off between more empires than you can count on both hands. The Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads—everyone wanted a piece of the oasis. Through it all, people stayed. They farmed the dates, they traded the salt from the Dead Sea, and they kept the lights on.
The archaeology of survival
Why did they stay? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer defines why Jericho is the oldest continuously occupied city.
First, water. The spring provides 1,000 gallons of water per minute. In a desert, that is literal gold. You don't walk away from that.
Second, trade. Jericho is a natural crossroads. If you’re moving goods from the east to the Mediterranean, you’re probably passing through the Jordan Valley. Being a middleman has always been a great way to keep a city alive.
Third, the soil. Alluvium from the surrounding hills makes the area incredibly fertile compared to the harsh wilderness nearby. They grew balsam here—the ancient world’s version of a luxury perfume and medicine. It was so valuable that Mark Antony reportedly stole the groves from Herod the Great to give to Cleopatra. That’s the kind of high-stakes real estate we're talking about.
Misconceptions about the "Walls"
Most people know Jericho from the Bible. The story of Joshua and the trumpets. The walls falling down.
Archaeologically, this is where things get tricky. Many people expect to see those specific "fallen walls" when they visit. The reality? Archaeologists like Kenyon found that the city may not even have had significant walls during the specific period usually associated with the biblical Joshua. There’s a massive gap in the ruins where that layer should be.
Does that mean the story is "fake"? Not necessarily, but it shows the tension between faith, oral tradition, and the cold, hard dirt of archaeology. The "walls" that are visible today are much older than the biblical story. We're looking at layers from 8000 BCE and 3000 BCE.
Other heavy hitters you should know
If you’re a history nerd, don’t just stop at Jericho. The world is full of "almost oldest" cities that are honestly more intact and easier to visit.
- Aleppo, Syria: Sadly devastated by recent conflict, but its citadel is a masterpiece. It has been inhabited since roughly 5000 BCE.
- Argos, Greece: Often cited as the oldest city in Europe. It’s been occupied for about 7,000 years. Unlike Jericho, it feels very "modern Greek town" with ancient bits poking through.
- Varanasi, India: Mark Twain once said Varanasi is "older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend." While its archaeological record is younger than Jericho's (around 1000 BCE), its spiritual continuity is arguably stronger than anywhere else on the planet.
Why this matters in 2026
We live in a world that feels incredibly temporary. Apps disappear, buildings are knocked down for glass condos, and everything is "disruptive." Looking at the oldest continuously occupied city reminds us that resilience is a human trait. Jericho has survived climate shifts, earthquakes, and countless invasions.
It’s still there.
If you're planning a trip to see history, don't just go to Rome or Athens. Go to the West Bank. Take the cable car up the Mount of Temptation. Look down at the "Tell." It’s not a pretty monument, but it’s the closest thing we have to a time machine.
Actionable insights for the history traveler
If you actually want to see these places, you can't just wing it. These are complex regions with layers of modern politics on top of the ancient dust.
- Check travel advisories: Jericho is in the West Bank (Area A). Access is usually straightforward for tourists via Jerusalem or the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan, but the political situation is fluid. Always check current status.
- Hire a local guide: You will see a pile of rocks. A guide will see the palace of Hisham or a Neolithic tower. You need the context.
- Visit the Dead Sea while you're there: You're literally minutes away. It’s the lowest point on Earth and it’s shrinking. See it before it’s gone.
- Look for the "Old" in the "New": The modern city of Jericho is a vibrant place with amazing food. Try the dates. They’ve been growing them for thousands of years, and they are objectively the best in the world.
Jericho doesn't need to be the prettiest city to be the most important. It’s the survivor. It’s the proof that once we find a good spot with water and a view, we don’t leave. We just keep building.
Next steps for your journey:
If you want to dig deeper into the actual archaeological reports, look for the "Excavations at Jericho" series by Kathleen Kenyon. For a more modern perspective on the site's preservation, check out the UNESCO World Heritage nomination files for "Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan." These documents provide the most up-to-date mapping and stratigraphic data available to the public. You might also want to look into the "Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East" for a comparative analysis of Jericho versus Damascus and Uruk.