Tel Be'er Sheva

Archaeological site in Israel

Tel Sheva (תל שבע) or Tel Be'er Sheva , also known as Tell es Seba (تل السبع), is an archaeological site in the Southern District of Israel, believed to be the site of the ancient biblical town of Beer sheba. 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 .

The Hebrew name of Beersheba is derived from , meaning a , and , meaning or .

Beer sheba is mentioned 33 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is often used when describing a border, such as "From Dan to Beersheba". It is also a significant center in the patriarchal narratives: Abraham dwelt at Beer sheba , Abraham and Abimelech entered a covenant at Beer sheba , and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beer sheba The Lord spoke to both Isaac and Jacob, Abraham's son and grandson respectively, at Beer sheba
Beer sheba is the site of two significant wells: Abraham's well at Beer sheba was seized by Abimelech's men , and Isaac's servants dug a well at Beer sheba also .

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). Excavations were renewed by Prof Herzog between 1993 and 1995 in order to complete the uncovering of the town's water system.

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. 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.

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, but was discovered in secondary use, the stones of the altar been incorporated into a later date wall. 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 .