Get started free

Archaeology

The Walls of Jericho: Archaeology and the Bible

The story of Jericho's walls falling in Joshua 6 is one of the most famous in the Bible — and one of the most archaeologically significant. Excavations at Tell es-Sultan have uncovered evidence consistent with a sudden, catastrophic destruction of the city in the Late Bronze Age.

Key Question

Has archaeology confirmed the biblical account of Jericho?

Evidence

Key Scriptures (ESV)

Joshua 6:20

“So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.”

Hebrews 11:30

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.”

Scholar Insights

LS
Lee Strobel
“The Jericho evidence is one of the most compelling cases in biblical archaeology. The details — sudden destruction, grain jars, walls falling outward, a section of wall preserved — match the biblical account with remarkable precision.”
FT
Frank Turek
“The dating debate about Jericho is a legitimate scholarly discussion, but even the skeptical dating cannot explain away the physical evidence of a sudden, catastrophic destruction consistent with the biblical account.”
MW
Mike Winger
“The grain jars are the detail that most impresses me. A city under siege for months would have eaten its grain. The full jars confirm a sudden fall — exactly what Joshua 6 describes.”