<P> The story of Jericho, and the conquest generally, probably represents the nationalist propaganda of the kings of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel after 722 BCE . These chapters were later incorporated into an early form of Joshua written late in the reign of King Josiah (reigned 640--609 BCE), and the book was revised and completed after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586, and possibly after the return from the Babylonian exile in 538 . </P> <P> The combination of archaeological evidence and analysis of the composition history and theological purposes of the Book of Joshua led archaeologist William G. Dever to deem the biblical story of the fall of Jericho as "(not) founded on genuine historical sources" and "seems invented out of whole cloth ." </P>

What caused the walls of jericho to fall