The first permanent settlement in Jericho is built near the Ein as-Sultan spring between 10000 and 9000 BCE.

As the world warms, a new culture based on agriculture and sedentary dwelling emerges, which archaeologists have termed "Pre-Pottery Neolithic A" (abbreviated as PPNA).

By about 9400 BCE the town has grown to more than 70 dwellings, and is home to over 1000 people.

After a few centuries it is abandoned for a second settlement, established in 6800 BCE, perhaps by an invading people who absorb the original inhabitants into their dominant culture.

This is followed by a succession of settlements from 4500 BCE onward, the largest being constructed in 2600 BCE.

Archaeological evidence indicates that in the latter half of the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1700 BCE) the city enjoys some prosperity, its walls having been strengthened and expanded.

According to carbon dating the Canaanite city (Jericho City IV) is destroyed between 1617 and 1530 BCE, but rounded as c.1550