Sokho

Sokho (transliterated thus from the Hebrew; also Sokhoh or Sochoh but not with initial Sh; transliterated Soco from Greek transliterations; spelled שוכו and שוכה in Biblical Hebrew and סוכו in Mishnaic Hebrew; meaning perhaps related to "fence" or "hedge"), is the name of two towns in Judah from Biblical times, one in the mountain district, and one in the lowlands (the Shephelah of Judah), in the Ela Valley, between Adullam and Azekah (Joshua 15:35). This latter location is the one referred to in most references to Sokho. The tels of Khirbet Shuwaikah and (There may have been another Sokho, in the Sharon near to Yaham.)

The Philistines camped between Sokho and Azekah prior to the encounter of David and Goliath (Sam. 17:1). Rehoboam fortified the place (Chron. 11:7). It was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18). In that period it sarved as an administrative or storage center, being one of the four cities named on the la-melekh stamps of the Judean monarchy.

A Mishnaic Rabbi Antigonus of Sokho mentioned in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot 1:3) came from Sokho.

In Byzantine times, Eusebius described Socchot (Σοκχωθ)as a double village at the ninth milestone between Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) and Jerusalem (Eusebius, Onom. 156:18ff.), a center for pottery manufacture. The Madaba Map also mentiones Sokho (Σοκο).

Today, the tel of Sokho is known as "Lupin Hill," (Givat Ha-Turmusim) because of the beautiful annual growth of lupins in March.