The Mysterious Stones from the Heavens: Can We Identify Them Today?

In the Book of Joshua, a great miracle that occurred during the conquest of the land is described. The Israelites chased the Canaanites down the Beth Horon descent, and suddenly, "large stones from the heavens" began to fall on the Canaanites: "And as they fled from before Israel, they were in the descent of Beth Horon; and Hashem cast down great stones from heaven upon them all the way to Azekah, and they died; many more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword."

In a Mishnah in Tractate Berakhot, it is mentioned that those who see the stones at the Beth Horon descent bless 'Blessed is He who performed a miracle for our ancestors in this place,' indicating that these stones were recognized by our sages.

Can we identify them today?

The prophet Ezekiel prophesied: "And I will judge him with pestilence and blood, and an overflowing shower, and great hailstones." The sages interpreted that these 'hailstones' were the stones that fell from the heavens at the Beth Horon descent: "What are hailstones? It was taught: Stones that remained high up and came down from above. They stood on high - this refers to Moses, about whom it is written, 'The man Moses was very humble,' and with the plague of hail brought by Moses, 'The thunder stopped and the hail and rain did not pour upon the earth.' They came down on Joshua, as it is written, 'Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit,' and during the miracle by Joshua, 'As they fled from before Israel, they were in the descent of Beth Horon and Hashem cast down great stones.'"

Rashi writes that the name 'hailstones' was given because they shone like precious stones: 'Hailstones' - large hailstones, and I say that since they shine like all crystal stones (hail), they liken them to crystal, which is a precious stone, as it is written, 'High hills and crystal.' Some interpret that the hailstones shone because it was like the plagues of Egypt: 'And fire flashing within the hail.' Indeed, hailstones made of ice cannot survive long, so how does the Gemara say that seeing the stones nowadays requires a blessing? To this, the Tosafot respond, that it refers to seeing the place of the stones. However, Ibn Ezra and others interpret that these were actual stones that fell from the heavens, and it refers to seeing the stones themselves.

We are familiar with two phenomena of stones falling from the sky: volcanic stones ejected from a volcano or meteorites, rocks from other stars falling to the earth. Both phenomena are accompanied by fire, so real stones falling from the sky may well blaze with fire.

In another instance, it is almost explicitly written, regarding the battle of the Israelites against Sisera the Canaanite, led by Deborah the prophetess and Barak son of Abinoam, that 'even the stars fought from their courses,' and the sages explained that Sisera and his army used iron armor, and as stars came upon them, they heated the iron, and they were scalded, suggesting that material had actually fallen from the stars, was hot, and melted their armor.

It is evident that even though meteorites are a natural phenomenon, if a shower of meteorites fell precisely when the Israelites were chasing the Canaanites, targeting only the Canaanite heads, it is undoubtedly a special miracle, not nature. But the phenomenon itself exists in nature.

In 1490, a meteor shower hit Chang Yang County in China, and it was described by contemporaries: "Stones came down like rain from the skies, the larger ones were up to 5 katis (1.5 kg), and the smaller ones half of that; many stones fell, their sizes varied, the larger ones were the size of goose eggs and the smaller ones like chestnuts, more than ten thousand people were killed." Such a shower can be caused by a giant meteor breaking up as it enters the atmosphere, descending in a rain of stones in various sizes.

Can we identify the place today? There is a hill between Modiin and Beth Horon known as the "Kings' Hill." This hill is covered with a large amount of small flint stones that look like they sprouted from the ground. Some identify this hill as the place where the stone rain fell on the heads of the Canaanite kings.