6. 6). Antony gave Jericho with nearly all Palestine to Cleopatm (An/4. xv. 4. 2), and there is an old tradition that she caused slips of the balsam shrub, for which the gardens of Jericho were famous, to be taken to Egypt and planted at Heliopolis (Bro cardus, Dcscriptio Terra Sancta, xiii.) From Cleopatra Jericho and its plain were farmed by Herod the Great (Joseph. Antiq. xv. 4. 2), who adorned them with splendid palaces, castles, and theatres. The city became one of his favourite places of residence, and in it he died (Bell. i. 21. 4 and 9 ; Antiq. xvii. 8).
The history of Jericho is incomplete. It ap pears that its site was changed ; but at what period or for what reason we cannot tell. The city destroyed by Joshua and rebuilt by Hiel stood beside Elisha's fountain. This we infer from the narrative in 2 Kings ii. 19-21 ; and Josephus says, In the immediate vicinity of Jericho is a copious spring of great virtue in irrigation. It bursts forth near the ancient town, the first in the land of the Crtnaanites which yielded to the arms of Israel ' (Bell. yid, iv. 8. 3). There can be no doubt that the spring here mentioned is that now called Alli es-Sultan, and also sometimes Elisha's fountain,' which is situated about a mile and a half north west of the village of Riha. Now, from the "'ern salem Itinerary we learn that the Jericho of the 4th century, which was identical with that of the first, stood at the base of the mountains, on the right of the place where the road from Jerusalem enters the plain, and nearly two miles south of the fountain. After describing the fountain, the author of the Itinerary says, Ibi fuit civitas Hiericho, cujus muros gymverunt cum arca Testamenti filii Israel et cecklerunt muri ' (Vetera Romanorum Itineraria, ed. Wesseling).
The writer of this article was acquainted with these facts before he visited the plain of Jericho, and was hence led to make a careful survey. The substance of the following sentences was written on the spot. The ancient, and indeed the only prac ticable road from Jerusalem zigzags down the rug ged and bare mountain side, close to the south bank of Wady el-Kelt, one of the most sublime ravines in Palestine. In the plain, half a mile from the foot of the pass, and a short distance south of the road to Film, is an immense reservoir, now dry, and round it are extensive ruins, consisting of mounds of rubbish and ancient foundations. Riding northward similar remains were seen on both sides of Wady el-Kelt. Half a mile farther north we enter cultivatcd ground, interspersed with clumps of thorny niebk (` lote-tree') and other shrubs ; another half mile brings us to Ain-es Sultan, a large fountain bursting forth from the foot of a mound. The water though warm is sweet, and is extensively used in the irrigation of the sur rounding plain. The whole plain immediately around the fountain is strewn with ancient ruins and heaps of rubbish. There can be no doubt that this is the fountain healed by Elisha, and that the ruins beside it are those of the city captured by Joshua and rebuilt by Hiel the Bethelite ; while the ruins lying at the foot of the pass, and on the banks of the Kelt, mark the site of the Jericho of the N. T.
The more modern city thus lay on the direct route from Perxa to Jerusalem. Our Lord fol lowed this route. On approaching Jericho he ap pears to have cured one blind man (Luke xviii. 35) ; and on leaving it on the opposite side he cured another (Mark x. 46). Then, proceeding, on his journey, a vast crowd having gathered round him, Ile saw Zaccheus up in the sycamore tree, went into his house, probably a villa in the gardens near the road, and having rested there for a time, and re lated the parable of the Ten Pounds, he went for ward, ascending up (by the steep wild mountain road) to Jerusalem' (Luke xix. 1-28). At this period the environs of Jericho must have been ex ceedingly rich and beautiful. The abundant waters of Elisha's fountain, and of other larger fountains at the foot of the mountains northward, were con ducted by aqueducts and canals, and distributed far and wide over the vast plain. The gardens and orchards abounded in spices, shrubs, and fruit trees of the rarest kinds, and were dotted besides with the palaces of the Jewish princes and nobles (Joseph.
A nag. xvi. 5. 2 ; XV111. 13. 1 ; Bell. 7std. i. 21, 4-9 ; iv. 8. 2 and 3).
The subsequent history of Jericho contains little worthy of note. It was made the head of one of the toparchies of Palestine under Vespasian (Joseph. Bell. Yuri. iii. 3. 5). Eusebius and Jerome state that it was destroyed during the siege of Jerusalem (Onomast., s. v. .7erieha). It aftenvards contained a considerable Christian population, and was for a long period the seat of a bishopric (S. Paul, Geogr. Sacra, ed. Holsten. p. 306 ; Reland, tina, p. 215). A church and hospice were built here by the Emperor Justinian (Procopius, De/Ed/ fie. yustiniani, 5, 9) ; but these buildings and the city appear to have been destroyed during or soon after the Mohammedan conquest, for Adamnanus at the close of the jth century describes the site as deserted, with the exception of Rahab's house (De Lbeis &wiz's, 2, 13). During the rule of the Sara cens, Jericho again in some measure revived ; the old aqueducts were repaired, and the plain ren dered fruitful. But it would seem that the site was again changed, and the new town or village built where the little hainlet of Willa now stands (Jacob de Vitry in Gesta Dei per Fratteos, p. 1076 ; see also Robinson, B. R., i. 561). When the Crusa ders conquered Palestine the plain of Jericho was one of the most fertile regions in the country, and was assigned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (William of Tyre in Gesta Del, xi. 15). After the close of the Crusades Jericho again gradually de clined, and it has never since revived (Brochardus, chap. vii. ; Maundrell, March 29 ; Pococice, p. 3 t).