Is Tell es-Sultan Rahab’s Jericho?

The historical reliability of the Bible has been scrutinized like no other book, yet centuries of critical and skeptical attacks have failed to undermine Scripture. In fact, most of the negative criticism launched against the Bible is based on one’s philosophical presuppositions rather than the findings of archaeological and historical investigations, which have repeatedly confirmed biblical accounts.

The Biblical Authority exhibit at the Creation Museum highlights archaeological confirmation of certain details related to key figures from various eras described in Scripture, including Rahab and the city of Jericho.

Tell es-Sultan Confirms the Bible

Tell es-Sultan is the famous ruin identified as the ancient city of Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world, and it provides compelling evidence consistent with the biblical account of the city’s destruction.

Multiple excavations from 1907 through 2014 have confirmed the sudden destruction of the well-fortified Middle Bronze Age city, as recorded in the Bible (Joshua 6). The city’s massive mud-brick walls completely collapsed and fell outward to the base of the mound.

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Some excavators suggest Jericho was destroyed by a powerful earthquake. This evidence fits the biblical account of the fortified walls falling in dramatic fashion, allowing the Israelite army to climb up over the rubble into the doomed city (Joshua 6:20).

A heavy burn layer, several feet thick, covers the ruins. Jars brimming with charred grain confirm the Bible’s report that the Israelites burned the city shortly after the spring harvest during the Jordan River’s flood stage (Joshua 3:15).

It also corroborates the Bible’s claim that the Israelites only plundered items made of gold, silver, bronze, or iron. Everything else of value was burned with the city, including the intact food stores (Joshua 6:19, 24).

Additionally, the earliest excavations in 1907–1909 found evidence for the survival of a small portion of the north lower city wall with houses built against it. This matches the biblical account of how Rahab helped the spies escape the city through a window in the city’s outer wall (Joshua 2:15).

Start planning your trip to the Creation Museum today and get equipped with what you learn in our Biblical Authority exhibit so you can tell your friends and family how archaeology confirms the Bible.