Who helped the spies capture Jericho?

One of the most famous episodes in the biblical conquest of Canaan was the assault on the city of Jericho. As a prelude to the attack on the city, Joshua sent two spies, who found refuge with the harlot, Rahab, who in turn made a covenant to be spared when the attackers slaughtered her fellow citizens. Now, even if there really had been an assault on Jericho, this is an improbable story, since the spies provided no information of value, and were unlikely to do so. But archaeologists tell us there was no Jericho, so there were no spies and no harlot - the spy story just did not happen and we can only surmise how it arose. The simplest answer could lie in that the name Rahab (or Rachab) is very similar to the Hebrew verb rāhab, generally translated as either 'to beset, storm or assault,' or 'to be proud/arrogant'. If Joshua was about to storm or assault Jericho, this could have given rise to the fictional harlot's name, Rahab.