How far is it from Jerusalem to Jericho?

Question

Accepted Answer

Jericho is about 20 km east of Jerusalem in a straight line; by the Roman road on the map, which runs through Bethany, the way measures about 26 km, less than a day on foot. The road is the setting of the parable: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves." It really does go down: Jerusalem stands on the watershed in the hills of Judah, and Jericho lies in the Jordan Valley about 250 m below sea level, in the deep rift north of the Dead Sea, so the whole descent is steep and passes through the wilderness of Judea. The Jericho of the Gospels, where Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus and stayed with Zacchaeus, was the town that grew around the Hasmonean and Herodian winter palaces at the mouth of Wadi Qelt, now Tulul Abu el-Alayiq; Herod the Great died there about 4 BC. The older mound of Tell es-Sultan, the Jericho of Joshua, lies about 2 km to the north beside the spring of Elisha. In 333 the Pilgrim of Bordeaux was shown the spring and the house of Rahab at Jericho.