View source for Tel Be'er Sheva

{{Short description|Archaeological site in Israel}}
{{distinguish|text=the Bedouin township of [[Tel Sheva]]}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name          = Tel Sheva
|native_name   = {{Script/Hebrew|תל באר שבע}}
|alternate_name=
|image         = Tel Be'er Sheva Overview 2007041.JPG
|alt=
|caption       = Overview
|map_type      = Israel#West Asia
|map_size      = 150
|map_alt=
|coordinates   = {{coord|31|14|41|N|34|50|27|E|display=inline,title}}
|location      = Near [[Beersheba]], Israel
|region=
|type          = Settlement
|part_of=
|length=
|width=
|area=
|height=
|builder=
|material=
|built=
|abandoned=
|epochs=[[Iron Age]]
|cultures=[[Israelite]]
|dependency_of=
|occupants=[[Israelites]], [[Kingdom of Judah|Judahites]]
|event=
|excavations=
|archaeologists=
|condition=
|ownership=
|management=
|public_access=
|website= <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
|notes=
|designation1           = WHS
|designation1_offname   = Biblical Tells&nbsp;– [[Megiddo (place)|Megiddo]], [[Hazor (archaeological site)|Hazor]], Beer Sheba
|designation1_date      = 2005 <small>(29th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
|designation1_number    = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1108 1108]
|designation1_criteria  = ii, iii, iv, vi
|designation1_type      = Cultural
|designation1_free1name = Region
|designation1_free1value= [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia-Pacific]]
}}

'''Tel Sheva''' ({{langx|he|תל שבע|translit=}}) or '''Tel Be'er Sheva''' ({{Langx|he|תל באר שבע}}), also known as '''Tell es-Seba''' ({{lang|ar|تل السبع}}),<ref name="Dauphin">{{cite book |author= Claudine Dauphin |title= La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations, Vol. III : Catalogue |series= BAR International Series 726 |year=1998 |publisher= Archeopress |location= Oxford |page=960 }}</ref> is an [[archaeological site]] in the [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern District]] of [[Israel]], believed to be the site of the ancient biblical town of [[Beersheba#Iron Age Israelite town|Beer-sheba]].<ref name=NegevGibson>{{cite book |work= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |title= Beer Sheba |author1= Avraham Negev |author2= Shimon Gibson |year=2001 |location= New York and London |publisher= Continuum |page=73 |isbn=0-8264-1316-1 }}</ref> The site lies east of modern [[Beersheba]] and west of the Bedouin town of [[Tel Sheva]]. Tel Sheva has been preserved and made accessible to visitors in the '''Tel Be'er Sheva National Park''' ({{langx|he|גן לאומי תל באר שבע}}).<ref name=brochure>{{cite web |url= http://www.parks.org.il/ParksAndReserves/telBeerSheva/Documents/tel-beer-sheva-en.pdf |title= Tel Beer Sheva National Park |author= Professor Ze’ev Herzog |publisher= Israel Nature and Parks Authority |access-date=May 1, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140902163212/http://www.parks.org.il/ParksAndReserves/telBeerSheva/Documents/tel-beer-sheva-en.pdf |archive-date= September 2, 2014 }}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{further|Beersheba#Etymology}}

The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name of Beersheba is derived from {{Transliteration|he|be'er}}, meaning a {{gloss|well}}, and {{Transliteration|he|sheva}}, meaning {{gloss|oath}} or {{gloss|seven}}.

==History==

{{see also|Beersheba#Hebrew Bible}}
Beer-sheba is mentioned 33 times in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. It is often used when describing the borders of the Land of Israel: "[[From Dan to Beersheba]]".

It was the site of many patriarchal narratives: [[Abraham]] dwelt at Beer-sheba ({{bibleverse|Genesis|22:19}}), Abraham and [[Abimelech]] entered a covenant at Beer-sheba ({{bibleverse|Genesis|21:32}}), and Abraham planted a [[tamarisk]] tree at Beer-sheba ({{bibleverse|Genesis|21:33}}). The Lord spoke to both [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]], Abraham's son and grandson respectively, at Beer-sheba ({{bibleverse|Genesis 26:23; 46:1|multi=yes}}).

Two biblical wells were located in Beer-sheba: Abraham's well, seized by Abimelech's men ({{bibleverse|Genesis|21:25}}), and the well dug by Isaac's servants ({{bibleverse|Genesis|26:25}}).

==Excavation==
[[File:Gerar.jpg|thumb|320px|Tel Sheva in the regional context of Bronze and Early Iron Age tells]]

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]]. The site was excavated from 1969 to 1976 by the [[Tel Aviv University]] Institute of Archaeology, directed by Prof. [[Yohanan Aharoni]], except for the last season which was led by Prof. [[Ze'ev Herzog]]. Most of the dig was devoted to uncovering the large fortified [[Israelite]] city. The biblical narrative places the city in the time of the United Monarchy of [[King David]], whose reign is dated by biblical scholars to around 1000 BCE, and later, to the [[Kingdom of Judah]] (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).<ref>Herzog, Ze'ev. "Beer-Sheba of the Patriarchs." ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' 6, no. 6 (1980):12-28. Accessed October 14, 2015. http://www.basarchive.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/bswbBrowse.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=6&Issue=6&ArticleID=3&UserID=2216</ref> Excavations were renewed by Prof Herzog between 1993 and 1995 in order to complete the uncovering of the town's water system.<ref name=parks/>

==Iron Age I==
[[File:Mountseirsinaiwe00hull Page 173.png|thumb|right|[[Abraham's Well]] 1855.]]
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.<ref name="ReferenceA">Herzog, “Beer-Sheba of the Patriarchs.”</ref>

==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]] at the end of the 11th century BCE during wars against the [[Amalekites]] based upon a historical reading of the biblical account.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, on the basis of interregional comparisons and recent [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon evidence]], this settlement phase probably started in the mid-10th century and ended in the late 9th century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Beer-Sheba III: The Early Iron IIA Enclosed Settlement and the Late Iron IIA-iron IIB Cities |last1=Herzog |first1=Zeʼev |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-57506-442-0 |pages=1456–1459 |last2=Singer-Avitz |first2=Lily}}</ref>

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]] 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.<ref>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.</ref>

== Later periods ==
Excavations revealed traces of a tribal cemetery [[Late Ottoman period|Late Ottoman]] [[infant]] [[Jar burial|jar-burials]], commonly associated with [[nomad]]s or [[Itinerant groups in Europe|itinerant workers]] of [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] origins.<ref name=":02">Taxel, Y., [[Roy Marom|Marom, R]]., & Nagar, Y. (2025). [https://www.academia.edu/129069336/An_Infant_Jar_Burial_from_Zarn%C5%ABqa_Muslim_Funerary_Practices_and_An_Infant_Jar_Burial_from_Zarn_qa_Muslim_Funerary_Practices_and_Migrant_Communities_in_Late_Ottoman_Palestine_Migrant_Communities_in_Late_Ottoman_Palestine An Infant Jar Burial from Zarnūqa: Muslim Funerary Practices and Migrant Communities in Late Ottoman Palestine]. ''<nowiki/>'Atiqot'', 117, 269–293.</ref>

==Horned altar==
[[File:Tel Be'er Sheva Altar 2007041.JPG|thumb|Replica of horned altar (the original is in the [[Israel Museum]])]]

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 ({{bibleverse|Lev. 4:7, 18, 25; Ex. 29:12, 30:2; 38:2; 1 Kings 1:50; 2:28|multi=yes}}). The altar was not found assembled [[in situ]], but was discovered in secondary use, the stones of the altar been incorporated into a later-date wall.<ref name="BAR1975" />

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]]. Professor Aharoni believed that the Beer-sheba altar was one of the altars which were dismantled as part of [[Hezekiah]]'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&nbsp;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 [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonians]] captured and destroyed Jerusalem (587&nbsp;B.C.).<ref name="BAR1975">"Horned Altar for Animal Sacrifice Unearthed at Beer-Sheva." ''The Biblical Archaeology Review'' 1, no. 1 (1975): 1.</ref>

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 ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|18:22}}).<ref name="BAR1975" />

==National park; UNESCO recognition==
The site was restored by the [[Israel Nature and Parks Authority]] 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.<ref name=parks/>

In 2007, Tel Sheva was recognized as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. Of more than 200 [[Tell (archaeology)|tells]] in Israel, Beersheba was cited as one of the most representative, containing substantial remains of a city with biblical connections.<ref name="highbeam">{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-136038939.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070605/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-136038939.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |title=Israel celebrates 8 new UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Biblical tels constitute 'testimony of universal value,' while Nabataean towns illustrate ancient trade routes  |publisher=Jerusalem Post|access-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
* "[[Abraham's well]]", a well dating to at least the 12th century CE; at Beersheba
* [[Archaeology of Israel]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=parks>{{cite web|url=http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~25~~251269827~Card12~&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=614100786|access-date=August 24, 2011|title=Tel Beer Sheva National Park|publisher=Israel Nature and Parks Authority}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140902163212/http://www.parks.org.il/ParksAndReserves/telBeerSheva/Documents/tel-beer-sheva-en.pdf Brochure of the Israel National Parks Authority]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927023107/http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?NewNameMade=0&from=116&CNumber=420938 Website of the Israel National Parks Authority]
* [http://ebibletools.com/israel/beersheba/index.html Photos from the archaeological site]

{{World Heritage Sites in Israel}}
{{National parks of Israel}}
{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement}}
{{beersheba}}
{{authority control}}

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