[Elsie]

Weren’t “high places” usually reserved for religious purposes?

[fidelis]

Weren’t “high places” usually reserved for religious purposes?

Very often but not always. Fortresses like Masada, for example. Also the city of Jerusalem (before it held the temple), Hazor, and Lachish, also built on high places for defensive purposes. Outside of the Middle East, Rome was built on seven hills and, high in the Andes of Peru, was the city of Machu Picchu built by the Incas.