Today, this 3rd day of the lunar month Nisan, I ascended the hilltop ruin of Socho, entering the ruins of that ancient town from its south-east quarter. The hill is surrounded by precipitous slopes on its north side, making it almost impassable. The Elah Valley runs in a westerly-easterly direction on its north side, the hilltop affording a good prospect of the valley from that side. As I strolled the elevated plateau, I passed 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 citys 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. At this season, the site is ablaze with an assortment of wild flowers, and especially the purple flower of the lupine from whence the hill takes its name, for the locals here call this hill, givat ha-turmosim (the hill of the lupines), since this herb grows aplenty on this mountain. I sat down beneath a fig tree and built a small fire, and brought water to a boil in a small kettle, after which I prepared myself a concoction of herbal tea. I collected for this purpose sage and sweet marjoram which can be had there aplenty.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 15:20:59 +0000
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