Tel Be'er Sheva
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Tel Sheva () or Tel Be'er Sheva (), also known as Tell es-Seba (), is an
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...
in the Southern District of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, believed to be the site of the ancient biblical town of Beer-sheba. The site lies east of modern
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 p ...
and west of the Bedouin town of
Tel Sheva Tel Sheva () or Tel as-Sabi () is a Bedouin town in the Southern District of Israel, bordering the city of Beersheba. In it had a population of . History The first Bedouin township in Israel, Tel as-Sabi was founded in 1967 as part of a go ...
. Tel Sheva has been preserved and made accessible to visitors in the Tel Be'er Sheva National Park ().


Etymology

The
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
name of Beersheba is derived from , meaning a , and , meaning or .


History

Beer-sheba is mentioned 33 times in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' From Dan to Beersheba". It was the site of many patriarchal narratives:
Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
dwelt at Beer-sheba (), Abraham and
Abimelech Abimelech (also spelled Abimelek or Avimelech; ) was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, is ...
entered a covenant at Beer-sheba (), and Abraham planted a
tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...
tree at Beer-sheba (). The Lord spoke to both
Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
and
Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
, Abraham's son and grandson respectively, at Beer-sheba (). Two biblical wells were located in Beer-sheba: Abraham's well, seized by Abimelech's men (), and the well dug by Isaac's servants ().


Excavation

Tel Beer-sheba, the site of the Iron Age city, is located on a hill overlooking the Wadi Beer-sheba about two and a half miles east of the modern city of
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 p ...
. The site was excavated from 1969 to 1976 by the
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
Institute of Archaeology, directed by Prof. Yohanan Aharoni, except for the last season which was led by Prof.
Ze'ev Herzog Ze'ev Herzog (; born 1941) is an Israeli archeologist, professor of archaeology at The Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University specializing in social archaeology, ancient architecture and field archaeol ...
. Most of the dig was devoted to uncovering the large fortified
Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
city. The biblical narrative places the city in the time of the United Monarchy of
King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...
, whose reign is dated by biblical scholars to around 1000 BCE, and later, to the
Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...
(980–701 BCE). During the last three seasons of excavation (1974–1976), an effort was made to go below Beer-sheba of Iron Age II to find earlier occupation. A considerable part of the site was dug down to bedrock in order to find the earliest settlements at Beer-sheba. This effort revealed four earlier occupational strata (Strata VI through IX). Excavations were renewed by Prof Herzog between 1993 and 1995 in order to complete the uncovering of the town's water system.


Iron Age I

The earliest occupation at Beer-sheba during Iron Age I (Stratum IX) was represented only by seven large pits about 22 to 25 feet in diameter. Archaeologists believe that the entire settlement of this stratum covered about 2,990 sq. yards, approximately the area of half of a football field. It likely contained about 20 dwelling pits and 10 granaries and would have housed from 100 to 140 people. Stratum IX was abandoned then reused, new structures being added to the old. In Stratum VIII, which dates to the 11th century B.C.E., archaeologists found houses for the first time. Like Stratum IX, Stratum VIII was abandoned rather than destroyed. The pottery suggests that the same people who lived in Stratum VIII built Stratum VII at the end of the 11th century B.C.E., which comprised five domestic units in a possibly enclosed settlement.Herzog, “Beer-Sheba of the Patriarchs.”


Iron Age II

The settlement of Beer-sheba was probably first fortified during the Iron IIA. Some archaeologists believe that Beer-sheba, which was on the southern border of the fledgling Israelite kingdom, was fortified by
King Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late elevent ...
at the end of the 11th century BCE during wars against the Amalekites based upon a historical reading of the biblical account. However, on the basis of interregional comparisons and recent radiocarbon evidence, this settlement phase probably started in the mid-10th century and ended in the late 9th century BCE. The best preserved layout of the Iron II city may be reconstructed from Stratum II, which dates to the late 8th century BCE during the Iron IIB. At this time, the city was destroyed in a conflagration, possibly during the campaign of
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
in 701 BCE. Reconstructed plans of the city suggest that Beer-sheba was planned as a coherent entity with areas for administrative structures and for dwellings incorporated into a single system. Fortifications included a casemate wall and a four-room city gate. Drains running under some of the streets conducted rain-water out of the city and a well-preserved water system of cisterns provided the inhabitants with water. The incorporation of the houses into the casemate wall suggests that its occupants were directly responsible for the city's defense and reflects the military and administrative function of the entire city. Archaeologists estimate around 350 people lived in the city of Beer-sheba during this period.Herzog, Ze'ev. Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and Its Social Implications. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Archaeology Press, 1997: 246.


Later periods

Excavations revealed traces of a tribal cemetery Late Ottoman
infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...
jar-burials, commonly associated with
nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
s or itinerant workers of
Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
origins.Taxel, Y., Marom, R., & Nagar, Y. (2025)
An Infant Jar Burial from Zarnūqa: Muslim Funerary Practices and Migrant Communities in Late Ottoman Palestine
'''Atiqot'', 117, 269–293.


Horned altar

One of the most significant discoveries at Tel Beer-sheba is that of a horned altar, the first ever unearthed in Israel. Altars with horns at each of their four corners are mentioned frequently in the Bible (). The altar was not found assembled
in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...
, but was discovered in secondary use, the stones of the altar been incorporated into a later-date wall. As of 1975, there was an unresolved debate about the dating of the altar between Professor Aharoni and Professor Yigael Yadin of the
Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
. Professor Aharoni believed that the Beer-sheba altar was one of the altars which were dismantled as part of
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
's religious reforms. Its stones were then reused in an 8th-century wall, and the wall itself was destroyed at the end of the 8th century, probably during Sennacherib's Judean campaign of 701 B.C. However, Professor Yadin dates this wall more than 100 years later than Professor Aharoni. According to Professor Yadin, the wall was probably destroyed about the time the
Babylonians Babylonia (; , ) was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as an Akkadian-populated but Amorite-ru ...
captured and destroyed Jerusalem (587 B.C.)."Horned Altar for Animal Sacrifice Unearthed at Beer-Sheva." ''The Biblical Archaeology Review'' 1, no. 1 (1975): 1. Professor Aharoni's interpretation would seem to strongly support a correlation with the biblical account of the cultic reform carried out by King Hezekiah, who ruled around 715–686 BCE ().


National park; UNESCO recognition

The site was restored by the
Israel Nature and Parks Authority The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (, ; ) is an Israeli government organization that manages nature reserves and national parks in Israel, the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank. The organization was founded in April 1998, merging two o ...
in 1990. In 2003, its water system was opened to the public as well. The excavated town is now open for visitors under the name Tel Be'er Sheva National Park. In 2007, Tel Sheva was recognized as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. Of more than 200 tells in Israel, Beersheba was cited as one of the most representative, containing substantial remains of a city with biblical connections.


See also

* " Abraham's well", a well dating to at least the 12th century CE; at Beersheba *
Archaeology of Israel The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...


References


External links


Brochure of the Israel National Parks Authority

Website of the Israel National Parks Authority


{{DEFAULTSORT:Be'er Sheva Tel Be'er Sheva Holy wells in Palestine (region) National parks of Israel World Heritage Sites in Israel Former populated places in West Asia Prehistoric sites in Israel Iron Age sites in Israel Canaanite cities Buildings and structures in Southern District (Israel) Protected areas of Southern District (Israel) Archaeological sites in Israel Tells (archaeology)