Beersheba
Beersheba, officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most populous Israeli city with a population of, and the second-largest city in the area, with a total area of.
Human habitation near present-day Beersheba dates back to the fourth millennium BC. In the Bible, Beersheba marks the southern boundary of ancient Israel, as mentioned in the phrase "From Dan to Beersheba." Initially assigned to the Tribe of Judah, Beersheba was later reassigned to Simeon. During the monarchic era, it functioned as a royal city but eventually faced destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. The Biblical site of Beersheba is Tel Be'er Sheva, lying some distant from the modern city, which was established at the start of the 20th century by the Ottomans. The city was captured by the British-led Australian Light Horse troops in the Battle of Beersheba during World War I.
The population of the town was completely changed in 1948–49 during the First Arab–Israeli War. Beersheba had been almost entirely Muslim, and the 1947 UN Partition Plan designated it to be part of the Arab state. It was occupied by the Egyptian army from May 1948 until October 1948 when it was captured by the Israel Defense Forces and part of the Arab population was expelled. Today, the metropolitan area is composed of approximately equal Jewish and Arab populations, with a large portion of the Jewish population made up of the descendants of Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews who fled, relocated or were expelled from Arab countries after Israel's founding in 1948, as well as smaller communities of Bene Israel and Cochin Jews from India. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union as well as Beta Israel immigrants from Ethiopia. The Soviet immigrants have made the game of chess a major sport in Beersheba, and it is now Israel's national chess center, with more chess grandmasters per capita than any other city in the world.
Beersheba is home to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. This city also serves as a center for Israel's high-tech and developing technology industry.
Etymology
The Book of Genesis gives two etymologies for the name Be'er Sheba. Genesis 21:28-31 relates:Then Abraham set seven ewes apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What mean these seven ewes, which you have set apart? And said, "That you are to take these seven ewes from me, to be for me a witness that I have dug this well." Therefore the name of that place was Be'er Sheba, for there the two of them had sworn.Genesis 26 relates:
And Isaac redug the wells which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had sealed after the death of Abraham, and he used the same names as had his father... And they arose in the morning, and they swore each to his fellow, and Isaac sent them off, and they departed him in peace. On that same day, Isaac's men came to him to tell him of the well which they had dug, and they said to him, "We found water." And he called it Shib'a ; therefore the name of the city is Be'er Sheba to this day.The original Hebrew name could therefore relate to the oath of Abraham and Abimelech or the seven ewes in that oath, as related in, and/or to the oath of Isaac and Abimelech in. Alternatively, Obadiah Sforno suggested that the well is called Seven because it was the seventh dug; the narrative of Genesis 26 includes three wells dug by Abraham which are reopened by Isaac, for a total of six, after which Isaac goes to Beersheba, the seventh well.
The double name of Shib'a and Beersheba is referenced again by the Masoretic Text in Joshua 19:2, usually translated "Beersheba or Sheba"; however the Septuagint reads "Beersheba and Samaa " which fits with MT 1 Chron. 4:28.
Abraham ibn Ezra and Samuel b. Meir suggest the two etymologies refer to two different cities.
During the Ottoman administration, the city was referred as بلدية بئرالسبع, "''Belediyet Bi'r alsab'", "Baladiyyat Bi'russab" ''
Hebrew Bible
Beersheba is mainly dealt with in the Hebrew Bible in connection with the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, who both dug a well and close peace treaties with King Abimelech of Gerar at the site. Hence it receives its name twice, first after Abraham's dealings with Abimelech, and again from Isaac who closes his own covenant with Abimelech of Gerar and whose servants also dig a well there. The place is thus connected to two of the three Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis.According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when Abraham and Abimelech settled their differences over a well of water and made a covenant. Abimelech's men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back. He set aside seven lambs to swear that it was he that had dug the well and no one else. Abimelech conceded that the well belonged to Abraham and, in the Bible, Beersheba means "Well of Seven" or "Well of the Oath".
Beersheba is further mentioned in the following Bible passages: Isaac built an altar in Beersheba. Jacob had his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba.. Beersheba was the territory of the tribe of Simeon and Judah. The sons of the prophet Samuel were judges in Beersheba. Saul, Israel's first king, built a fort there for his campaign against the Amalekites. The prophet Elijah took refuge in Beersheba when Jezebel ordered him killed. The prophet Amos mentions the city in regard to idolatry. Following the Babylonian conquest and subsequent enslavement of many Israelites, the town was abandoned. After the Israelite slaves returned from Babylon, they resettled the town. According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was the southernmost city of the territories settled by Israelites, hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" to describe the whole kingdom.
Zibiah, the consort of King Ahaziah of Judah and the mother of King Jehoash of Judah, was from Beersheba.
History
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Considered unimportant for centuries, Be’er Sheva regained notoriety under Byzantine rule, when it was a key point on the Limes Palestinae, a defense line built against the desert tribes; however, it fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Turks in the 16th century.It long remained a watering place and small trade centre for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Negev, despite Turkish efforts at town planning and development around 1900. Its capture in 1917 by the British Army opened the way for their conquest of Palestine and Syria. After being taken by Israeli troops in October 1948, Beersheba was rapidly settled by new immigrants and has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev. It is one of the largest cities in Israel outside of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
Chalcolithic
Human settlement in the area dates from the Copper Age. The inhabitants lived in caves, crafting metal tools and raising cattle. Findings unearthed at Tel Be'er Sheva, an archaeological site east of modern-day Beersheba, suggest the region has been inhabited since the 4th millennium BC.Iron Age Israelite town
, an archaeological site containing the ruins of an ancient town believed to have been the Biblical Beersheba, lies a few kilometers east of the modern city. The town dates to the early Israelite period, around the 10th century BC. The site was possibly chosen due to the abundance of water, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. According to the Hebrew Bible, the wells were dug by Abraham and Isaac when they arrived there. The streets were laid out in a grid, with separate areas for administrative, commercial, military, and residential use. It is believed to have been the first planned settlement in the region, and is also noteworthy for its elaborate water system; in particular, a huge cistern carved out of the rock beneath the town.Persian period
During the Persian rule 539 BC–c. 332 BC, Beersheba was at the south of Yehud Medinata autonomous province of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. During that era, the city was rebuilt and a citadel had been constructed. Archeological finds from between 359 and 338 BC have been made, finding pottery and an ostracon.Hellenistic period
During the Hasmonean rule, the city was not attributed great importance as it was not mentioned when conquered from Edom or described in the Hasmonean wars.Roman and Byzantine periods
Around 64-63 BC, the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus made Beersheba, known as Birosaba, the southern part of the Judea province. During the Herodian period there was a small settlement in Beersheba. Remains of a Jewish village dating back to the 1st century AD were discovered in the Rakafot neighborhood in the north of the city.In the following years, the town served as front-line defence against Nabatean attacks and was on the limes belt, which in this region is attributed to the time of Vespasian. The city become the centre of an eparchy around 268. During the Roman and Byzantine periods, the city developed significantly and the burial grounds on the outskirts of the city became residential areas. The inhabitants, which consisted of Nabataeans, Jews and other ethnicities, spoke primarily Greek and lived from olive oil production, viticulture, agricultural and other trades.
After the reforms of Diocletian, the town became part of the province of Palaestina Tertia and grew to an approximate size of 60 hectares during its peak in the 6th century. Beersheba was described in the Madaba Map and Eusebius of Caesarea as a large village with a Roman garrison. The camp was later identified in aerial photographs taken during the First World War and other structures associated with the camp, such as a bath house and dwellings, were found in later excavations.
During the Byzantine period, at least six churches were built there, one of which is the largest church to have been excavated in the Negev. Some of the churches were still in use until the Umayyad period but it remains uncertain whether they continued beyond the early eight century. Monasticism is also attested in historical documents and one structure has been identified as a monastery. Barsanuphius of Gaza corresponded with a certain monk of Beersheba, John, who might be identified with John the Prophet, who between 525 and 527 moved to the monastery of Seridus and together with Barsanuphius wrote over 850 letters on spiritual direction.