Our holy Arculf saw the site of the city of Hiericho, destroyed by
Jesus when he killed the king after the crossing of the Jordan. Oza of
Bethel, of the tribe of Effraim, raised another city in its place which our
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Saviour deigned to visit with his presence. Because of the perfidy of its
citizens it was taken and destroyed at the same time as the Romans
attacked and besieged Jerusalem. In place of this a third city was built,
which was also destroyed after a considerable interval, and of which,
as Arculf relates, some ruined remains are now to be seen. After the
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destruction of three cities on the same site, wonderful to relate, the house
of Raab alone remained, the woman who hid the two spies that were
sent over by Iesu Ben Nun in the upper room of her house by means of
linen straw. Its roofless stone walls are extant. Crops and vineyards
cover the site of the whole city, which is bare of human habitation and
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without a single dwelling. Large palm groves lie between the site of the
ruined city and the river Jordan, and in the midst of them, at intervals,
are little clearings in which some miserable folk of Canaanite stock have
very numerous houses.