"Now Jericho was striaitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, an none came in.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof and the mighty men of valor.
And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns, and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man stright before him." (Joshua 6:1-5)
The original Jericho was located about 5 miles / 8 kilometers west of the Jordan River, and 7 miles / 11 kilometers north of The Dead Sea. At approximately 800 feet / 240 meters below sea level, it has a tropical climate with intense heat in the summer. It had many date-palm trees, which contributed to its also being known as the City of Palms (Deuteronomy 34:3). It was located about 1 mile / 1½ kilometers northwest of the modern-day city of Jericho.
In its day, Jericho was the most important Canaanite fortress city in the Jordan valley. It was a stronghold that found itself directly in the path of the advancing Israelites, who had just crossed the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1-17).
Modern archaeology has verified every word of the Bible account, right from the fallen walls, to the ashes of stored grain - everything was destroyed and burned, except for the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron that were permitted to be put into the treasury. (Joshua 6:24)
Jericho was destroyed primarily because, while under Canaanite occupation, it would have (as it does again today) hindered their control of all of the Promised Land that God had deeded to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long before - Dan to Beersheba, the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, every last square inch.
The manner of its destruction, immediately after crossing the Jordan, and with total annihilation, was a divinely orchestrated military manuever aimed at the very formidable Canaanite forces that remained throughout the land. Seeing a high-ranking leader go down is very devastating to morale, and Jericho was most definitely a leader that went down very hard. It certainly worked on the minds of the Gibeonites, who soon thereafter surrendered without a fight (Joshua 9:3, 21).
After its destruction, Jericho was put under a curse by Joshua: "And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buidleth this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." (Joshua 6:26).
The city remained a ruin for over 400 years, before being rebuilt by Hiel of Bethel in the time of King Ahab. But, guess what? "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his younest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Josua the son of Nun." (1 Kings 16:34)
