Socoh (in the Sharon Plain)

3. Town in the Sharon Plain listed only once in the Bible (1 Kgs 4:10) but well known from nonbiblical sources. It appears three times in Egyptian records. First, in the topographical list of Thutmose III (no. 67), it comes after Aphek and before Yaham. The former is at Ras el ‘Ain (Rosh Ha’Ayin) by the springs of the Yarkon River; the latter must be located at Khirbet Yamma on the eastern edge of the Sharon Plain. Next, Socoh is mentioned in similar geographical context in the Annals of Amenhotep II. Thus, it was a key town on the highway passing along the western edge of the mountains of Samaria in the 15th century BC. Third, it comes in an identical position in the topographical list of Pharaoh Shishak (no. 38) from the late 10th century BC.