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Wars of Scripture

Fall of Jericho

1406 BC Canaan Status: ended Casualties: All within the city save Rahab's household

The first city of the conquest. Israel circled Jericho once daily for six days, seven times on the seventh, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. At the great shout the walls fell flat. Joshua 6.

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Belligerents

  • Israel under Joshua
  • Jericho

Casualties

All within the city save Rahab's household

Key events

  • Spies hidden by Rahab the harlot under flax on the roof
  • Joshua meets the captain of the host of the Lord with drawn sword
  • Six days of single circuit; on the seventh, seven circuits, the long blast, the shout
  • The wall fell down flat; only Rahab's household spared

Aftermath

The wages of Achan's coveted spoil cost Israel its first defeat at Ai. Rahab — a Canaanite prostitute — appears in the genealogy of Christ. Hebrews 11 lists Jericho as a triumph of faith.

Weapons & matériel

  • Seven trumpets of rams' horns
  • The ark of the covenant
  • The shout of the people

Technology

First city of the conquest, taken without siege engine — by ritual procession

Sources

  • Joshua 2, 6
  • Hebrews 11:30–31
  • Matthew 1:5
From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.