Beth Shemesh was a strategic city, perhaps the most important Israelite city in the Sorek Valley. Meaning "House of the Sun," it sat at the crossroads of the major east/west traffic of the Valley, and the north/south traffic of the "Diagonal Route." Major roads out of Beth Shemesh would take you to the likes of Persia, Babylon, and Assyria.
It was the vantage point from which the Israelites watched the Ark of the Covenant being returned on an ox-drawn cart from the land of the Philistines. (1st Samuel 6)
Samson was born and buried in this area. (Judges 13 & 16) His first "girlfriend" lived at Timnah a few miles west in the Sorek Valley, and his last girlfriend, Delilah, lived somewhere in the same valley.
Samson traveled through this valley many times, including his lion-killing escapade, and later when he tied the tails of 200 foxes together.
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