Sokho: Difference between revisions
Undid revision 1225802284 by 173.48.242.169 (talk) |
|||
(125 intermediate revisions by 39 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Archaeological sites in Israel mentioned in the Bible}} |
|||
{{ |
{{About||the neighbourhood of Rawalpindi, Pakistan|Sukho|the Korean given name|Seok-ho}} |
||
'''Sokho''', alternate spellings: '''Sokhoh''', '''Sochoh''', '''Soco''', '''Sokoh''', Hebrew: שוכה ,שוכו ,שכה, is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], both now in ruin. |
|||
{{Infobox ancient site |
|||
|name = Sokho |
|||
|native_name= |
|||
|alternate_name= |
|||
|image = File:Stone wall at Tel Socho, Israel, Feb. 2015.jpg |
|||
|alt= |
|||
|caption = Stone wall at Tel Socho, Elah Valley, 2015 |
|||
|map_type = Israel |
|||
|map_alt= |
|||
|map_size = 150 |
|||
|location= {{flagicon|Israel}} |
|||
|coordinates = {{coord|31.682108|N|34.973866|E|type:city_region:IL|display=inline,title}} |
|||
|grid_position = 147/121 [[Palestine grid|PAL]] |
|||
|type= |
|||
|material= |
|||
|built= |
|||
|abandoned= |
|||
|epochs= |
|||
|cultures= |
|||
|condition = Ruin |
|||
|ownership= |
|||
|public_access= |
|||
|website= |
|||
|notes= |
|||
}} |
|||
⚫ | |||
One of these two has been identified with the twin ruins known as ''Khirbet Shuwaikah Fauka'' and ''Tahta'' (Upper and Lower Shuwaikah), 6 km southwest of [[As-Samu|Eshtamoa]] in the [[Hebron]] hill district (Joshua 15:48). The other ruin is the more popular of the two, situate on a hilltop overlooking the [[Valley of Elah|Elah Valley]] between [[Adullam]] and [[Azekah]] (Joshua 15:35). |
|||
'''Sokho''' (alternate spellings: '''Sokhoh''', '''Sochoh''', '''Soco''', '''Sokoh'''; {{lang-he|שׂוֹכֹה ,שׂוֹכוֹ ,שֹׂכֹה}}) is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] as mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]], west of the [[Judean hills]]. Both towns were given the name ''Shuweikah'' in [[Arabic]], a diminutive of the Arabic ''shawk'', meaning "thorn".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zadok |first=Ran |author-link=:he:רן צדוק |title=A Preliminary Analysis of Ancient Survivals of Modern Palestinian Toponymy |journal=Mediterranean Language Review |volume=9 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|pages=98–99 |year=1995–1997 |jstor=10.13173/medilangrevi.9.1997.0093 }}</ref> The remains of both have since been identified. |
|||
[[File:Stone_wall_at_Tel_Socho,_Israel,_Feb._2015.jpg|thumb|right|Stone wall at Tel Socho, Elah Valley]] |
|||
The Bible also mentions a Sokho in the Hefer region in the Sharon (1 Kings 4:10). |
|||
==History== |
|||
⚫ | The [[Philistines]] encamped between Sokho and Azekah in the [[Valley of Elah |
||
One is located about {{convert|10|mi|km}} southwest of [[Hebron]] and has been identified with the twin ruins known as ''Khirbet Shuwaikah Fauka'' and ''Tahta'' (Upper and Lower Shuwaikah), {{convert|6|km|mi}} southwest of [[As-Samu]] in the Hebron Hills district (grid position 150/091 [[Palestine grid|PAL]])({{bibleverse|Joshua|15:48}}).<ref name="Aharoni1979"/> [[Eusebius]] makes mention of this twin site in his ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eusebius |author-link=Eusebius |translator=G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville |editor-last1=Chapmann III |editor-first1=R.L. |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=J.E. |editor-link2=Joan E. Taylor |title=Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea |publisher=Carta |date=2003 |location=Jerusalem|page=86|isbn=965-220-500-1 |oclc=937002750}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
The other ruin is situated on a hilltop overlooking the [[Valley of Elah|Elah Valley]] between [[Adullam]] and [[Azekah]] ({{bibleverse|Joshua|15:35}}), in the lower stratum of the Judaean foothills (grid position 147/121 [[Palestine grid|PAL]]).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Tsafrir, Y.|authorlink1=Yoram Tsafrir|author2=Leah Di Segni |author3=Judith Green |title=(TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XJtAAAAMAAJ |publisher=[[Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities]] |location=Jerusalem |year=1994 |isbn=965-208-107-8|page=234}}</ref> Today it is a popular tourist attraction better known as Givat HaTurmusim. The site, occupied as early as the [[Iron Age]], was visited by [[Claude Conder]] in 1881, who writes that it was already a ruin in his days, with two wells in the valley towards the west.<ref>See p. 410 in: {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/410/mode/2up|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=3}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
A third town by this name, [[Shuwaykah]],<!-- This determination is based on the conclusion of modern-day historical geographers who all concur that the Arabic name "Shuwaykah", in all places, is a corruption of the Hebrew word "Sukho". Samuel Klein has identified the site in the Valley of Hefer (near Tulkarm) as being "Sukho".--> was located in the Hefer region ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|4:10}}), north of [[Tulkarm]] (grid position 153/194 [[Palestine grid|PAL]]).<ref>[[Samuel Klein (scholar)|S. Klein]], ''Qovetz'': Journal of the Jewish Palestinian Exploration Society, 2nd year, volumes 1–4, article: ''On the Kings of Canaan'' (Heb. לפרשת מלכי כנען), Jerusalem 1934–1935, p. 41 (Hebrew).</ref><ref name="Aharoni1979">{{cite book |last=Aharoni|first=Y. |author-link=Yohanan Aharoni |title=The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography''|edition=2 |publisher=Westminster Press |location=Philadelphia|year=1979|page=442 |language=en|isbn=0664242669 |oclc=6250553}} (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography', [[Bialik Institute]], Jerusalem (1962))</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
== |
==Antiquity== |
||
⚫ | Although it is listed in {{bibleverse|Joshua|15:35}} as being a city in the plain, Socho is actually partly in the hill country and partly in the plain. The biblical account states that the [[Philistines]] encamped between Sokho and Azekah in the [[Valley of Elah]] before [[Goliath]]'s historic encounter with [[David]], the son of Jesse ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|17:1}}). David slew the Philistine giant with a stone slung from a shepherd's sling. [[Rehoboam]] fortified the place ({{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|11:7}}), but it is not clear which of the two sites is referred to.<ref>{{Citation |title= The Anchor Bible Dictionary|editor-last1=Freedman |editor-first1=David Noel |editor-link= David Noel Freedman|volume= 6 |place =New York|page=s.v. Socho |year=1992 }}</ref> Socho was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time of [[Ahaz]] ({{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|28:18}}). |
||
⚫ | |||
[[File:Lupines_growing_in_Tel_Socho,_Elah_Valley.jpg|thumb|right|Lupines growing in Tel Socho of the Elah Valley]] |
|||
⚫ | |||
The hill is surrounded by precipitous slopes on its north side, making it almost impassable. Trails ascend the mountain on its north-western side, as well as on its south-eastern side. The [[Valley of Elah|Elah Valley]] runs in a westerly-easterly direction on its north side, the hilltop affording a good prospect of the valley below. As one strolls the elevated plateau, he passes by the foundations of what used to be the houses of its inhabitants, carved into the bedrock, with their individual chambers divided by broken stone protuberance. Caves and grottos dot the landscape, with an occasional cistern carved deep into the rock. Oak trees, fig trees and terebinths now grow in the lanes and thoroughfares of this once thriving city. In the very center of the hill lay a scattered pile of large ashlar boulders, now covered with lichen, and which stones were evidently once used as a wall in the city's defenses, now attesting only to the battles that were once waged there. As is known, [[Joshua]] captured the city from the Canaanites, at which time this city and its environs became the inheritance of Judah when the country was divided by lots. |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | In [[Byzantine]] times, [[Eusebius]] described Sokho (Σοκχωθ) as a double village at the ninth milestone between [[Bayt Jibrin|Eleutheropolis]] (Bet Guvrin) and Jerusalem (Eusebius, ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]'' 156:18 ff.), which would correspond to the Elah Valley location. The 6th-century [[Madaba Map]] also depicts Sokho (Σωκω). |
||
==Givat HaTurmusim== |
|||
[[File:Cave-like cistern at Tel-Socho (Khirbet Shuweikah) - 2 Feb. 2015.JPG|thumb|Ancient cistern at Tel Socho]] |
|||
⚫ | The hill of Tel Sokho is now known as ''Givat HaTurmusim'', or "Hill of the [[Lupinus pilosus|Lupines]]". In late March, the entire hill is covered with wild blue mountain lupines (''[[Lupinus pilosus]]'') and becomes a popular outing destination for Israeli families.<ref>[https://www.gemsinisrael.com/the-gems/biblical-places-and-people/the-valley-of-elah/ The Valley of Elah] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208155727/http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000096482.htm |date=2006-02-08 }}</ref> |
||
The hill is surrounded by precipitous slopes on its north side, making it almost impassable. Trails ascend the mountain on its northwestern and southeastern sides. The Elah Valley runs in a westerly-easterly direction on its north side, the hilltop affording a good view of the valley below. |
|||
On the elevated plateau, one can see the foundations of ancient dwellings carved into the bedrock with individual chambers divided by broken stone protuberances. Caves and grottoes dot the landscape, and cisterns are carved deep into the rock. Oak trees, fig trees, and terebinths grow on the mountainside and piles of large ashlar boulders, covered with lichen, attest to the presence of a defensive wall around the city in antiquity. According to the biblical narrative, when [[Joshua]] captured the city from the Canaanites, the city and environs became the inheritance of Judah. |
|||
==Archaeology== |
|||
A survey of the site in the Elah Valley was conducted in 2010 by Joseph Garfinkel on behalf of the [[Hebrew University]]'s Institute of Archaeology and by Michael Gerald Hasel on behalf of [[Southern Adventist University]].<ref>[[Israel Antiquities Authority]], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2010 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010], Survey Permit # S-217</ref> Excavations at the foot of the northern slope exposed a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] building from the [[5th century BC|5th]] to [[6th century|6th]] centuries. Remains dating to [[Iron Age II]] were uncovered in another dig at the foot of the northern slope, and walls dating to the [[Bronze Age|Middle Bronze Age]] were discovered in probe trenches. Potsherds dating to the Late Bronze Age and later periods were gathered, along with a terracotta figurine of reddish-brown clay depicting a naked woman.<ref>[http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1728 Israel Antiquities Authority]</ref> |
|||
The discovery of a pre-exilic stamp with the imprint ''[[LMLK seal|La-melekh]]'' ('''למלך'''), and in which Sokho is named with another three cities, has led archaeologists to conclude that Sokho may have served as an administrative or storage center. One of the wells to the west in the valley, mentioned by Claude Conder, was destroyed with explosives by Arab infiltrators (''mistanenim'') in [[1956]], never being rebuilt. An intensive survey conducted in [[2010]] included an examination of Middle Bronze and Iron Age burial caves, as well as slag from a pottery workshop (which probably dates to the [[Crusades|Crusader]]/[[Mamluk]] period).<ref>{{cite book | author1=Hasel, Michael G. |author2=Garfinkel, Yosef | author3=Weiss, Shifra |title=Socoh of the Judean Shephelah: The 2010 Survey | publisher=Eisenbrauns Inc. | location=Winona Lake, Indiana | date=2017 | isbn=9781575067667}}</ref> |
|||
==See also== |
|||
* [[Levantine archaeology]] |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{Commons category|Tel Socho}} |
|||
{{reflist}} |
|||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
*[http://holyland-pictures.com/tag/shephela-judea/sokho/ Pictures of Tel Sokho] |
*[http://holyland-pictures.com/tag/shephela-judea/sokho/ Pictures of Tel Sokho] |
||
*[http://www.archives.gov.il/en/archives/#/Archive/0b071706800225ea/File/0b07170680e3a69e Jebel Shuweikeh Forest Reserve, 1926], British Mandate document, designating forest as State Domain |
|||
== Gallery == |
|||
[[File:The_ancient_ruin_of_Tel_Socho,_Israel,_Feb._2015.jpg||thumb|right|General view of hilltop ruin of Tel Socho]] |
|||
{{Authority control}} |
|||
[[Category: |
[[Category:Canaanite cities]] |
||
[[Category:Archaeology of Palestine (region)]] |
|||
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]] |
|||
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the West Bank]] |
|||
[[Category:Ancient Israel and Judah]] |
|||
[[Category:Former populated places in the State of Palestine]] |
|||
[[Category:Former populated places in Israel]] |
|||
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]] |
|||
[[Category:Establishments in the Kingdom of Judah]] |
|||
[[Category:Tells (archaeology)]] |
|||
[[Category:Kingdom of Judah]] |
|||
[[Category:Biblical geography]] |
|||
[[Category:Valley of Elah]] |
Latest revision as of 12:52, 27 May 2024
Stone wall at Tel Socho, Elah Valley, 2015 | |
Location | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 31°40′56″N 34°58′26″E / 31.682108°N 34.973866°E |
Grid position | 147/121 PAL |
Site notes | |
Condition | Ruin |
Sokho (alternate spellings: Sokhoh, Sochoh, Soco, Sokoh; Hebrew: שׂוֹכֹה ,שׂוֹכוֹ ,שֹׂכֹה) is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of Judah as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, west of the Judean hills. Both towns were given the name Shuweikah in Arabic, a diminutive of the Arabic shawk, meaning "thorn".[1] The remains of both have since been identified.
One is located about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Hebron and has been identified with the twin ruins known as Khirbet Shuwaikah Fauka and Tahta (Upper and Lower Shuwaikah), 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of As-Samu in the Hebron Hills district (grid position 150/091 PAL)(Joshua 15:48).[2] Eusebius makes mention of this twin site in his Onomasticon.[3]
The other ruin is situated on a hilltop overlooking the Elah Valley between Adullam and Azekah (Joshua 15:35), in the lower stratum of the Judaean foothills (grid position 147/121 PAL).[4] Today it is a popular tourist attraction better known as Givat HaTurmusim. The site, occupied as early as the Iron Age, was visited by Claude Conder in 1881, who writes that it was already a ruin in his days, with two wells in the valley towards the west.[5]
A third town by this name, Shuwaykah, was located in the Hefer region (1 Kings 4:10), north of Tulkarm (grid position 153/194 PAL).[6][2]
Antiquity
[edit]Although it is listed in Joshua 15:35 as being a city in the plain, Socho is actually partly in the hill country and partly in the plain. The biblical account states that the Philistines encamped between Sokho and Azekah in the Valley of Elah before Goliath's historic encounter with David, the son of Jesse (1 Samuel 17:1). David slew the Philistine giant with a stone slung from a shepherd's sling. Rehoboam fortified the place (2 Chronicles 11:7), but it is not clear which of the two sites is referred to.[7] Socho was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18).
The word "Sokho" appears on certain LMLK seals during the Judean monarchy. It is believed by many scholars to be one of four cities that acted in some administrative capacity.
The Mishnaic Rabbi Antigonus of Sokho, mentioned in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot 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 Sokho (Σοκχωθ) as a double village at the ninth milestone between Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) and Jerusalem (Eusebius, Onomasticon 156:18 ff.), which would correspond to the Elah Valley location. The 6th-century Madaba Map also depicts Sokho (Σωκω).
Givat HaTurmusim
[edit]The hill of Tel Sokho is now known as Givat HaTurmusim, or "Hill of the Lupines". In late March, the entire hill is covered with wild blue mountain lupines (Lupinus pilosus) and becomes a popular outing destination for Israeli families.[8] The hill is surrounded by precipitous slopes on its north side, making it almost impassable. Trails ascend the mountain on its northwestern and southeastern sides. The Elah Valley runs in a westerly-easterly direction on its north side, the hilltop affording a good view of the valley below.
On the elevated plateau, one can see the foundations of ancient dwellings carved into the bedrock with individual chambers divided by broken stone protuberances. Caves and grottoes dot the landscape, and cisterns are carved deep into the rock. Oak trees, fig trees, and terebinths grow on the mountainside and piles of large ashlar boulders, covered with lichen, attest to the presence of a defensive wall around the city in antiquity. According to the biblical narrative, when Joshua captured the city from the Canaanites, the city and environs became the inheritance of Judah.
Archaeology
[edit]A survey of the site in the Elah Valley was conducted in 2010 by Joseph Garfinkel on behalf of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology and by Michael Gerald Hasel on behalf of Southern Adventist University.[9] Excavations at the foot of the northern slope exposed a Byzantine building from the 5th to 6th centuries. Remains dating to Iron Age II were uncovered in another dig at the foot of the northern slope, and walls dating to the Middle Bronze Age were discovered in probe trenches. Potsherds dating to the Late Bronze Age and later periods were gathered, along with a terracotta figurine of reddish-brown clay depicting a naked woman.[10]
The discovery of a pre-exilic stamp with the imprint La-melekh (למלך), and in which Sokho is named with another three cities, has led archaeologists to conclude that Sokho may have served as an administrative or storage center. One of the wells to the west in the valley, mentioned by Claude Conder, was destroyed with explosives by Arab infiltrators (mistanenim) in 1956, never being rebuilt. An intensive survey conducted in 2010 included an examination of Middle Bronze and Iron Age burial caves, as well as slag from a pottery workshop (which probably dates to the Crusader/Mamluk period).[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Zadok, Ran [in Hebrew] (1995–1997). "A Preliminary Analysis of Ancient Survivals of Modern Palestinian Toponymy". Mediterranean Language Review. 9. Harrassowitz Verlag: 98–99. JSTOR 10.13173/medilangrevi.9.1997.0093.
- ^ a b Aharoni, Y. (1979). The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography (2 ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. p. 442. ISBN 0664242669. OCLC 6250553. (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography', Bialik Institute, Jerusalem (1962))
- ^ Eusebius (2003). Chapmann III, R.L.; Taylor, J.E. (eds.). Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea. Translated by G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville. Jerusalem: Carta. p. 86. ISBN 965-220-500-1. OCLC 937002750.
- ^ Tsafrir, Y.; Leah Di Segni; Judith Green (1994). (TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 234. ISBN 965-208-107-8.
- ^ See p. 410 in: Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ^ S. Klein, Qovetz: Journal of the Jewish Palestinian Exploration Society, 2nd year, volumes 1–4, article: On the Kings of Canaan (Heb. לפרשת מלכי כנען), Jerusalem 1934–1935, p. 41 (Hebrew).
- ^ Freedman, David Noel, ed. (1992), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6, New York, p. s.v. Socho
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ The Valley of Elah Archived 2006-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010, Survey Permit # S-217
- ^ Israel Antiquities Authority
- ^ Hasel, Michael G.; Garfinkel, Yosef; Weiss, Shifra (2017). Socoh of the Judean Shephelah: The 2010 Survey. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns Inc. ISBN 9781575067667.
External links
[edit]- Pictures of Tel Sokho
- Jebel Shuweikeh Forest Reserve, 1926, British Mandate document, designating forest as State Domain
- Canaanite cities
- Archaeology of Palestine (region)
- Archaeological sites in Israel
- Archaeological sites in the West Bank
- Ancient Israel and Judah
- Former populated places in the State of Palestine
- Former populated places in Israel
- Hebrew Bible cities
- Establishments in the Kingdom of Judah
- Tells (archaeology)
- Kingdom of Judah
- Biblical geography
- Valley of Elah