There is an ancient and almost forgotten road leading from Gibeon (a Canaanite city north of Jerusalem) to the coast. In Old Testament times, this was the principle road from the mountains to the plains. It led through difficult and steep terrain. Two villages sit on this road in the foothills of the mountains. In ancient times, they were known as the villages of Upper and Lower Beth Horon.
Their location was sufficiently strategic that Solomon fortified them with walls, gates and bars (2 Chronicles 8:5). They are mentioned several times in the Old Testament (e.g. Joshua 16:3). Battles were fought over them.
They are now the Palestinian villages of “Bet ‘ûr et-Taḥta” (the lower) and “Bet ‘ûr el-Foḳa” (the upper).
Along with a third village (Uzzen-sheerah, which no longer exists), they were originally founded by a woman, Sheerah, daughter of Beriah who was a son of Ephraim (1 Chronicles 7:24).
Just saying…
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