Earth observations taken by the Expedition Five crew

ISS005-E-09451 (11 August 2002) --- Jericho, Israel is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 5 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). NASA experts on space-to-earth photos researched the background of the area and the details of the picture and supplied the following information: commonly known as “the oldest city in the world”, Jericho is an important historical, cultural, and political center located to the northwest of the Dead Sea. The city is perhaps best known from the Biblical account of a great victory over its Canaanite citizens by the Israelite leader Joshua, wherein the walls of the heavily fortified city were destroyed with divine assistance during the year 1400 BC. The site of ancient Jericho (known today as Tell es-Sultan), has been the focus of several archaeological excavations to investigate the Biblical account. The original settlement was built on a hill, or “tell”. The results of these excavations suggest that the walls of Tell es-Sultan have been built and rebuilt many times, due mainly to collapse caused by earthquakes common in the region.