Beth-zur

Beth-zur ("house of the rock") sat on a 1,000-meter-high ridge about 6 km north of Hebron, controlling the main road into the southern hill country. It was originally assigned to Judah (Joshua 15:58), and Rehoboam fortified it as one of his ring of defensive cities (2 Chronicles 11:7). Returnees from Babylon helped rebuild Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah from this district (Nehemiah 3:16). Centuries later it became a crucial Maccabean stronghold guarding the approach to Jerusalem from the south.