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Palestine Applauds Decision to Inscribe 'Tell es-Sultan' on World Heritage List

The “Tell es-Sultan/Old Jericho” site. (shutterstock)
The “Tell es-Sultan/Old Jericho” site. (shutterstock)
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Palestine Applauds Decision to Inscribe 'Tell es-Sultan' on World Heritage List

The “Tell es-Sultan/Old Jericho” site. (shutterstock)
The “Tell es-Sultan/Old Jericho” site. (shutterstock)

Palestinians applauded the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee’s decision to inscribe the pre-historic site of “Tell es-Sultan/Old Jericho” on the World Heritage List.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the decision to inscribe Tell es-Sultan is “a matter of great importance and evidence of the authenticity and history of the Palestinian people,” assuring that the Palestinian authorities would “continue to preserve this unique site for all humanity.”

Abbas, on behalf of the Palestinian state and people, thanked Saudi Arabia led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, king Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for hosting the committee, as well as the committee members, the UNESCO’s executive board, and all the member states that made the enlisting happen.

The UNESCO took the decision to inscribe “Tell es-Sultan/formerly Jericho” as a World Heritage at its 45th world heritage committee meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Rula Maayah stated that Palestine has now five sites on the UNESCOS’s World Heritage list including “Tell es-Sultan”: Jerusalem (the old city and its walls), Bethlehem (the birthplace of Jesus including the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route), the old town of Hebron, and the “cultural landscape” of the village of Battir south of Jerusalem.

The minister said the significance of this decision stems from acknowledging that the site is an authentic part of the diverse Palestinian heritage, and enjoys an exceptional human value as the oldest fortified city in the world.

“Tell es-Sultan represents the first successful example of permanent human settlements, and the oldest agricultural town in the world that was built in the modern Stone Age, 10,000 years ago, in the lowest spot on Earth (250 meters below sea level), near the Ein Sultan spring. It encouraged humans to move to a stable life that relied on the domestication of plants and animals, construction, pottery making, and developed social, economic, and religious systems, she noted.

The site is one of the most important archaeological sites in Palestine, it was the cornerstone of Jericho, and the beginning of human life during the Natufian period before the emergence of plants, about 10,500 years ago.

“Tell es-Sultan” is located in the lower part of the Jordan Valley, 10 kilometers north of the Dead Sea, two kilometers north of Jericho’s center, and 250 meters below sea level, making old Jericho the lowest and oldest city in the world.

It features 29 layers of ancient civilizations and prominent constructions, including the circular building known as “The Jericho Tower”, a unique architectural design boasting an internal stone staircase and a three-meter-wide corridor. The city is surrounded by a wall and a three-meter-deep trench.

Palestinians in Jericho celebrated the decision with sports events, cavalry marches, musical performances, and a laser show at “Tell es-Sultan”.

“It’s a historic day and a political and cultural triumph for the Palestinians that comes after a campaign of falsifications led by the Israeli government to hinder the site’s addition to the World Heritage List,” said Mayor of Jericho, Abdul Karim Sedir.

Minister of Agriculture Riad Attari said this historical moment highlights the victory of the Palestinian right.

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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Climate change is driving changes in rainfall patterns across the world, scientists said in a paper published on Friday, which could also be intensifying typhoons and other tropical storms.

Taiwan, the Philippines and then China were lashed by the year's most powerful typhoon this week, with schools, businesses and financial markets shut as wind speeds surged up to 227 kph (141 mph). On China's eastern coast, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of landfall on Thursday.

Stronger tropical storms are part of a wider phenomenon of weather extremes driven by higher temperatures, scientists say.

Researchers led by Zhang Wenxia at the China Academy of Sciences studied historical meteorological data and found about 75% of the world's land area had seen a rise in "precipitation variability" or wider swings between wet and dry weather.

Warming temperatures have enhanced the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture, which is causing wider fluctuations in rainfall, the researchers said in a paper published by the Science journal.

"(Variability) has increased in most places, including Australia, which means rainier rain periods and drier dry periods," said Steven Sherwood, a scientist at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, who was not involved in the study.

"This is going to increase as global warming continues, enhancing the chances of droughts and/or floods."

FEWER, BUT MORE INTENSE, STORMS

Scientists believe that climate change is also reshaping the behavior of tropical storms, including typhoons, making them less frequent but more powerful.

"I believe higher water vapor in the atmosphere is the ultimate cause of all of these tendencies toward more extreme hydrologic phenomena," Sherwood told Reuters.

Typhoon Gaemi, which first made landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday, was the strongest to hit the island in eight years.

While it is difficult to attribute individual weather events to climate change, models predict that global warming makes typhoons stronger, said Sachie Kanada, a researcher at Japan's Nagoya University.

"In general, warmer sea surface temperature is a favorable condition for tropical cyclone development," she said.

In its "blue paper" on climate change published this month, China said the number of typhoons in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea had declined significantly since the 1990s, but they were getting stronger.

Taiwan also said in its climate change report published in May that climate change was likely to reduce the overall number of typhoons in the region while making each one more intense.

The decrease in the number of typhoons is due to the uneven pattern of ocean warming, with temperatures rising faster in the western Pacific than the east, said Feng Xiangbo, a tropical cyclone research scientist at the University of Reading.

Water vapor capacity in the lower atmosphere is expected to rise by 7% for each 1 degree Celsius increase in temperatures, with tropical cyclone rainfall in the United States surging by as much as 40% for each single degree rise, he said.