Jericho, West Bank: mosaic in the Khirbat al-Mafjar complexA floor panel mosaic depicting gazelles and a lion from the 8th-century Khirbat al-Mafjar complex, several miles north of Jericho in the West Bank.
Jericho, Arabic Arīḥā, Town (pop., 2005 prelim.: 19,800), West Bank territory. Inhabited since c. 9000 bce, it is famous in biblical tradition as the first town attacked by the Israelites under Joshua after they crossed the Jordan River. It was abandoned or destroyed several times and rebuilt in the same area. Captured by the British in 1918, it became part of the British mandate of Palestine. Incorporated into Jordan, it became the site of two huge camps of Arab refugees following the first Arab-Israeli war (1948). During the Six-Day War (1967), the town was occupied by Israel, and much of the refugee population was dispersed. In 1994 it was turned over to the Palestinian Authority under an Israeli-Palestinian self-rule agreement.
