- Sokho
Sokho (transliterated thus from the Hebrew; also Sokhoh or Sochoh, but not with initial Sh; transliterated Soco from Greek transliterations; spelled שוכה ,שוכו and שכה in
Biblical Hebrew and סוכו inMishnaic Hebrew ; meaning perhaps related to "fence" or "hedge"), is the name of two towns inJudah from Biblical times.One was in the
Hebron hill district, in the double tel called Khirbet Shuwaikah Fauka and Tahta (Upper and Lower Shuwaikah), 6 km southwest of Eshtamoa (Joshua 15:48). The other one is in the lower hill country (theShephelah ), in the Ela Valley betweenAdullam andAzekah (Joshua 15:35).The Bible also mentions other Sokhos, e.g. in the Hefer region in the Sharon (1 Kings 4:10).
The
Philistines camped between the Ela Valley Sokho and Azekah before the encounter ofDavid andGoliath (1 Samuel 17:1). Rehoboam fortified the place (2 Chronicles 11:7). It was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time ofAhaz (2 Chronicles 28:18). In that period it served as an administrative or storage center, being one of the four cities named on the la-melekh stamps of the Judean monarchy.The Mishnaic Rabbi
Antigonus of Sokho, mentioned in "Ethics of the Fathers" (PirkeiAvot 1:3), likely came from the Hebron-region town. Rabbi Levi Sukia, of the first generation of Amoraim, also came from Sokho (Jerusalem Talmud, Eruvim).In
Byzantine times,Eusebius described Socchot (Σοκχωθ) as a double village at the ninth milestone betweenEleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) and Jerusalem (Eusebius, Onom. 156:18 ff.), which would correspond to the Ela Valley location. TheMadaba Map also depicts Sokho (Σωκω).Today, the tel of the Ela Valley Sokho is known as "Lupin Hill" (Givat Ha-Turmusim), because of the beautiful annual growth of
lupin s in March.External links
* [http://holyland-pictures.com/tag/shephela-judea/sokho/ Pictures of Tel Sokho]
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