This Sunday, the UNESCO Committee, during its annual congress in Riyadh, inscribed as a World Heritage Site the prehistoric ruins of Tel es Sultan, located two kilometers from Jericho, considered the oldest city in the world, located in Palestine.
Without any intervention, the 21-member committee quickly approved the registration of this site, which joins three other sites that Palestine already has on the UN agency’s list, such as the Church of the Nativity and the Bethlehem pilgrimage route.
After approval, the Palestinian delegation said it was the first time they had submitted an application submitted solely by locals and thanked “the immediate registration” thanks to the “uniqueness” of the classified site.
UNESCO identifies it as being located in the Jordan Valley and describes this monument as an oval-shaped mound containing prehistoric deposits of human activity, including the Ain es Sultan water spring.
There was already a permanent settlement at this location between the ninth and eighth millennium BC, due to its fertile soil and easy access to water.
The skulls and statues found at the site testify to cultural practices among the Neolithic populations who lived there, and archaeological material from the Early Bronze Age shows evidence of urban planning.
Remains from the Middle Bronze Age also reveal the presence of a large city-state inhabited by a socially complex population.
Today, the UNESCO Committee continues for a second day its analysis of the fifty applications submitted this year for inscription or non-inscription as World Heritage Sites.
Source: DN
