Upper Beth-horon

Upper Beth-horon ("house of the hollow") sat on the high end of the steep ridge road that descended from the central hill country down through the Aijalon Valley to the coastal plain — one of the most strategic routes into Jerusalem from the west. When the five Amorite kings attacked Gibeon for making peace with Israel, Joshua force-marched all night from Gilgal and surprised them at Gibeon. "As they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword" (Joshua 10:11). The town was allotted to Ephraim (Joshua 16:5, 21:22) and given as a Levitical city to the Kohathites. Solomon later refortified both Upper and Lower Beth-horon as part of his ring of supply cities (1 Kings 9:17, 2 Chronicles 8:5). Identified with modern Beit Ur el-Foqa, about 16 km northwest of Jerusalem.