Excavations at Jericho

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Project summary

Taking place between 1952 and 1958 and directed by Kathleen Kenyon, excavations at Jericho led to the refinement of the chronology of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period and to a better understanding of the whole period from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age in the region.


Project details

Location: Jericho, Tell es-Sultan (Palestine)

Year(s): 1952; 1953; 1954; 1955; 1956; 1957; 1957-1958

Project director(s): Kathleen Kenyon

Project team:

Lead institutions and funding:


Project description


Project bibliography

1951. Excavations at Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 83(1), pp. 88-89.

Brown, P.D.C. 1971. Roman Pottery Kilns at Jericho. Levant 3, pp. 95-96.

Clutton-Brock, J. 1971. The Primary Food Animals of the Jericho Tell from the Proto-Neolithic to the Byzantine Period. Levant 3, pp. 41-55.

Cornwall, I. W. 1956. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic Burials, Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 88(2), pp. 110-124.

Hammond, P.C. 1957. A note on two seal impressions from Tell Es-Sultan. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 89(1), pp. 68-69.

Kenyon, K. M. 1951. Some notes on the history of Jericho in the Second Millennium B.C. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 83(2), pp. 101-138.

Kenyon, K. M. 1952. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem Excavations at Jericho 1952. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 84(1), pp. 4-6.

Kenyon, K. M. 1952. Early Jericho. Antiquity 26, pp. 116-122.

Kenyon, K. M. 1952. Excavations at Jericho, 1952. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 84(1), pp. 62-82.

Kenyon, K. M. 1952. Progress at Jericho. The Listener, 17 April, p. 621.

Kenyon, K. M. 1953. Excavations at Jericho, 1953. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 85(1), pp. 81-96.

Kenyon, K. M. 1953. Jericho Before Joshua. The Listener, 4 June, p. 929.

Kenyon, K. M. 1953. Mankind’s Earliest Walled Town. Illustrated London News, 17 October, pp. 603-604.

Kenyon, K. M. 1953. The Bronze Age Tombs of Jericho. Illustrated London News, 3 October, pp. 520-523.

Kenyon, K. M. and A.D. Tushingham. 1953. Jericho Gives Up Its Secrets. National Geographic, December, pp. 853-870.

Kenyon, K. M. 1954. Excavations at Jericho, 1954. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 86(1), pp. 45-63.

Kenyon, K. M. 1955. Excavations at Jericho, 1955. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 87(2), pp. 108-117.

Kenyon, K. M. 1955. The Oldest Town in the World. The Sunday Times, May 1.

Kenyon, K. M. 1956. Excavations at Jericho, 1956. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 88(1), pp. 67-83.

Kenyon, K. M. 1956. Jericho and Its Setting in Near Eastern History. Antiquity 30, pp. 184-195.

Kenyon, K. M. 1956. Jericho – The World’s Oldest Town. Illustrated London News, 13 October, pp. 611-613.

Kenyon, K. M. 1956. The Jericho of Abraham’s Time. Illustrated London News, 19 May, pp. 352-355.

Kenyon, K. M. 1956. The World’s Oldest Known Township. Illustrated London News, 12 May.

Kenyon, K. M. 1957. Excavations at Jericho, 1957. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 89(2), pp. 101-107.

Kenyon, K. M. 1957. Digging Up Jericho. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc.

Kenyon, K. M. 1959. Earliest Jericho. Antiquity 33, pp. 5-9.

Kenyon, K. M. 1960. Excavations at Jericho, 1957-58. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 92(2), pp. 88-113.

Kenyon, K. M. 1960. Excavations at Jericho Volume One. The Tombs excavated in 1952-4. Jerusalem: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

Kenyon, K. M. 1960. Jericho and the Origins of Agriculture. The Advancement of Science, July, pp. 118-120.

Kenyon, K. M. 1965. Excavations at Jericho Volume Two. The Tombs excavated in 1955-8. Jerusalem: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

Kenyon, K. M. 1967. Jericho. Archaeology 20, pp. 268-275.

Kenyon, K. M. 1967. Jericho. Archaeology and Old Testament Study, edited by D. Winton Thomas Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Kenyon, K. M. and T. A. Holland. 1981. Excavations at Jericho Volume Three. The Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Tell. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

Kenyon, K. M. and T. A. Holland. 1982. Excavations at Jericho Volume Four. The Pottery Type Series and Other Finds. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

Kenyon, K. M. and T. A. Holland. 1983. Excavations at Jericho Volume Five. The Pottery Phases of the Tell and Other Finds. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

Kenyon, K. M. 1993. Jericho. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 2, edited by Ephraim Stern. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, pp. 674-681.

Kirkbride, D. 1960. A brief report on the Pre-Pottery flint cultures of Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 92(2), pp. 114-119.

UNESCO Tentative List: Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan

Zeuner, F. E. 1954. The Neolithic-Bronze Age gap on the tell of Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 86(1), pp. 64-68.

Zeuner, F.E. 1955a. The goats of early Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 87(1), pp. 70-86.

Zeuner, F.E. 1955b. Notes on the Bronze Age Tombs of Jericho. I. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 87(2), pp. 118-128.

Zeuner, F. E. 1958. Dog and Cat in the Neolithic of Jericho. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 90(1), pp. 52-55.

Western, A.C.1971. The Ecological Interpretation of Ancient Charcoals from Jericho. Levant 3, pp. 31-40.


Project media gallery

Kathleen Kenyon. Image from: Reynolds, A. 2011. From the Archives. Archaeology International 13:112-118
Watch the films by the NPAPH project about the excavations at Jericho from the local and foreigner perspective.
Watch the BBC short movie The Walls of Jericho in which Kathleen Kenyon and Lady Wheeler discuss excavations at Jericho.