The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1922-06-09
Was STRONG CITY
Excavations Show That Jericho
Was Well Defended.
Remarkable Resemblance Between It's
Notifications Sno Those DiscoV
cred by SohlIiemann at Troy

Few excavations Of recent times
have had results of more interesting
nature than those ON the site of an
cient Jericho, which lies to the east
Of Jerusalem and but few miles north
of the Dead sea. They have revealed
that the Jews had every right to be
proud of their capture of the Canaan
itish fortress, which was most remark
able in its day for strength against
an attacking army, says the Cunarder
Ten years ago there stood ut dis
lance of mile and half from the
modern Jericho huge oval mound,
known us Tell es Sultan, about 400
yards long by $50 yards at its greatest
breadth, and rising from 10 to 80 feet
above the level of the surrounding
plain, with a few smaller mounds
standing on the top.
Professor Sellin began work on this,
aided by the Austro-H Hungarian gov
eminent. He unearthed a tremendous
surrounding wall and part Of the inte-
rior of the town, including the citadel
within the northern end of the oval.
The outer wall proved to consist Of
three parts. The lowest section was
a solid natural rock foundation, with
a few feet Of loan and gravel on it.
On this was built a stone wall about
10 feet high, the two lower courses
being of enormous blocks, in some
cases as large as 6 feet by 3, while In
the subsequent ones the stones grow
gradually less in size. The stone wall
itself also diminishes in thickness as
it ascends, being s feet at its base.
The top section Is of mud brick which
reaches now to a height of about s
feet, but may originally have been
considerably higher. Towers of mud
brick project at intervals around the
whole Enclosure.
Such a fertilization must indeed
have been difficult to capture especial
ly as in the central tier Of the wall
the spaces between the blocks were
filled with smaller stones as a prOtec-
ton against the besiegers' tools. The
builders were very skillful craftsmen
Those who have examined both the
remains of Jericho and Troy find
strong resemblances between the walls
lust described and those of the "sec-
ond city" discovered by Professor
Schiliemann at Troy, and it is sug-
gested that the architects had some
same masters.
The citadel at Jericho is hardly less
interesting than the outer fortiiica-
lions. It's walls are built in much the
same way but they are double, with
a space of II to II feet behind them
Two towers rise at the two northern
angles. Within is "a perfect warren
of small houses" with only a single
thoroughfare among them, as IS the
case with many eastern bazaarS of to-
day. These houses, Of which one Is
In a very fair state of preservation,
seem to be later in date than the city
walls and to belong to the period after
the Jewish capture of the place.
Inc Ca1ddHlIGSi DcINcCI IliN Nv
enth and Fourteenth centuries B. c.,
erected the walls and probably the
greater part, if not all, of the citadel;
but the Jews, while utilizing the SHE'LL
remodeled the interior.
A thorough examination of the finds
however, deduced but little as to the
history Of Jericho after it's fall before
the army of Joshua. Two interesting
points came out-one, that much
Egyptian pottery was in use; the 9th.
or. that under the floors Of some Of
the houses were earthenware jars, con
flaming the bodies of infants.
The sand which composed the
mound of Tel es Sultan has had an
excellent preservative effect, and now
that much Of it has been cleared away
II Is possible to realize wildly how
imposing a place Jericho must have
once looked from the plain for miles
around