Tel Be'er Sheva
Tel Sheva (Hebrew) or Tell es-Seba (Arabic) is an archeological site in southern Israel believed to be the remains of the biblical town of Beersheba. It lies east of the modern city of Beersheba and west of the new Bedouin town of Tel Sheva/Tell as-Sabi. Tel Sheva has been preserved and made accessible to visitors in the Tel Beer Sheva National Park (Hebrew: תל באר שבע).
Etymology
The name is derived from the Hebrew be'er, meaning a well, and sheva, meaning "to swear an oath".
In the Hebrew Bible
Beer-sheba is mentioned 33 times in the biblical text. It is often used when describing a border, such as “from Dan to Beer-sheba” (Judges 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; 2 Sam. 3:10, 17:11, 24:2, 24:15; 1 Kings 4:25; 2 Kings 23:8), but it is also a significant center in the patriarchal narratives. Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba (Genesis 22:19), Abraham and Abimelech entered a covenant at Beer-sheba (Genesis 21:32), and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beer-sheba (Genesis 21:33). The Lord spoke to both Isaac and Jacob, Abraham’s son and grandson respectively, at Beer-sheba (Genesis 26:23; Genesis 46:1). Beer-sheba is also the site of two significant wells: Abraham’s well at Beer-sheba was seized by Abimelech’s men (Genesis 21:25), and Isaac’s servants dug a well at Beer-sheba also (Genesis 26:25). Additionally, archaeological evidence of the dismantling of the altar at Tel Beer-sheba strongly supports a correlation with the biblical account of the cultic reform carried out by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:22).
Beersheba
Beersheba (/bɪərˈʃiːbə/; Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, Be'er Sheva [beʔeʁˈʃeva]; Latin: Bersabee; Arabic: بئر السبع Biʾr as-Sabʿ (listen) , Levantine pronunciation: [biːr esˈsabeʕ]) is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev," it is the eighth most populous city in Israel with a population of 201,086, and the second largest city with a total of 117,500 dunams (after Jerusalem).
Beersheba grew in importance in the 19th century, when the Ottoman Turks built a regional police station there. The Battle of Beersheba was part of a wider British offensive in World War I aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from Gaza to Beersheba. In 1947, Bir Seb'a (Arabic: بيئر شيبع), as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Following the declaration of Israel's independence, the Egyptian army amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the Battle of Beersheba waged in October 1948, it was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces.
Podcasts:
