town 7 mi (11 km) n. of Dead Sea in West Bank territory occupied by Israel after the 1967 war. Considered the world's oldest city by some, Jericho was settled in about 9000 BC. The city was captured and destroyed by Joshua (see in the Bible, Joshua vi, 20–24). Later Jericho was repeatedly rebuilt and destroyed. The present city was built in the early 1920s, and became part of Jordan 1949. The Palestinian-Israeli accord, which was signed in September 1993, began the process of granting Palestinians limited self-rule in Jericho and the surrounding area and in the Gaza Strip; pop. 5,312