Beersheba, Israel

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south and the arable land to the north. It is a university town and an important industrial center. Beersheba has no outstanding tourist attractions to offer. Visitors come here mainly to see the great Bedouin market held every Thursday.

History

The earliest settlement in the Beersheba area (Tel Sheva) lay on the Wadi Be'er Sheva, in the eastern outskirts of the modern city. Excavation on the banks of the river has brought to light a Chalcolithic settlement of the fourth millennium B.C. occupied by semi-nomads who constructed cisterns and underground dwellings entered from above. During the dry season they left these dwellings and moved northwards with their flocks and herds. A number of finds from the site are displayed in the Municipal Museum, and a fertility idol carved from bone can be seen in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Horites encountered by Abraham also lived in underground dwellings. The Old Testament tells how Abraham and Abimelech of Gerar made a covenant at the well of Beersheba under which Abraham was to have unimpeded use of the well which he had dug (Genesis 21,32): an agreement which was repeated in the time of Abraham's son Isaac (Genesis 26,33). In the time of the Judges Beersheba, which lay within the grazing lands of the Amalekites, formed the southern boundary of Israelite territory, which extended "from Dan even to Beersheba" (Judges 20,1). Around 1100 B.C. an Israelite town was built on Tel Sheva, 6km/4mi east of the present city. The site was excavated in 1969 by Yohanan Aharoni, who brought to light an Israelite fort and material of the Aramaean, Edomite, Persian and Hellenistic periods. Later Beersheba became a garrison town, successively occupied by Maccabean, Roman and Byzantine forces. Thereafter for many centuries the town was abandoned, though the well was still frequented by the Bedouin and their flocks and herds. A new era in the history of Beersheba began around 1900, when the Turkish authorities made it the administrative center for the Bedouin tribes of the Negev. A new town - now the old town - was laid out in 1907, with straight streets and the Bedouin market. In 1915, during the First World War, a railroad line was constructed to supply the Turkish and German forces and a mosque (now occupied by the Municipal Museum) was built. Beersheba was the first Palestinian town taken by General Allenby, and a police fort was built here. During the period of British rule which now began the "Hunger Road", an asphalted road from Beersheba to Gaza, was built in order to provide employment in the region. The first Jews settled in Beersheba around 1900, but during the Arab disturbances in 1929 they left the town. After Israel became independent in 1948 there was a fresh influx of Jews. At that time the town had a population of 3000. Beersheba is now a purely Jewish city, its inhabitants coming from countries all over the world.

Beersheba has the air of a young town, which still preserves a little of the "Wild West" character of its early days. The hub of the city's life is the old town of the Turkish period with its rectangular street grid, numerous shops, modest restaurants and snack bars. To the north of the old town are extensive new residential districts. To the east are the industrial installations, which use raw materials from the Negev.