The United Nations" (UN) cultural agency UNESCO on Sunday added the ancient West Bank city of Ariha to its list of world heritage sites, bringing the number of Palestinian locations with such designations to five. UNESCO"s World Heritage Committee, in its first session, announced that Tell es-Sultan in Jericho, Palestine, won the majority of votes, which made it the first Arab site to be added to the UNESCO list in the 45th session of the organization. The promulgation was made amid talks in the Saudi capital involving UNESCO"S world heritage committee. The biblical city of Ariha (Jericho) is the world"s lowest-lying city, where ancient ruins are dotted across its landscape. Palestine"s permanent delegate to UNESCO Mounir Anastas expressed pride in this historic success and expressed thanks to all Arabs, mainly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for exerting efforts to host this session and sparing no effort to support the Palestinian issue in all international events. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday welcomed the UNESCO"s addition of the ancient West Bank city of Jericho to its list of World Heritage sites, hailing development as significant. The Palestinian leader thanked Saudi Arabia, where the move was announced amid talks involving the UN cultural agency"s world heritage committee, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. One of the world"s most historic and low-lying cities, Jericho"s landscape is dotted with ancient ruins. Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the West Bank that is administered by the Palestinian Authority. The listing refers to the Tel es-Sultan archaeological site nearby, which contains prehistoric ruins dating back to the ninth millennium BCE and is outside the ancient city itself. The ancient city joins three other “UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Palestine”: the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route in Bethlehem, the cultural landscape of southern Jerusalem and Battir, and the Old City in Hebron. One of the world’s oldest towns, ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan dates back beyond 10,000 BC. Located 1.5 kilometers north of modern Jericho and 10 kilometers northwest of the Dead Sea, it sits 250 meters below sea level along the Jordan Rift Valley — making it the lowest ancient town on earth. Ancient Jericho features an enduring and diverse cultural heritage, dating from the 10th millennium BC through to the 7th century AD Byzantine era, and beyond. — SPA/Agencies