Sokho
Sokho, alternate spellings: Sokhoh, Sochoh, Soco, Sokoh, Hebrew: שוכה ,שוכו ,שכה, is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of Judah, both now in ruin.
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 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 Elah Valley between Adullam and Azekah (Joshua 15:35).
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 Elah Valley 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). It 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, 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, Onom. 156:18 ff.), which would correspond to the Elah Valley location. The Madaba Map also depicts Sokho (Σωκω).
Today
Today, the ruin of Sokho (Tel Sokho) in the Elah Valley is known as "Givat HaTurmosim," 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. [1]
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 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.
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