Beersheba

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Beersheba (; Hebrew Romanization Be'er Sheva) is a city in Israel and the largest city of the Negev desert, often known as the "Capital of the Negev". In 2004, Beersheba had a population of 184,500 making it the sixth largest city in Israel. 20 years before, the population was just 110,800. It is the administrative center for the southern region and home of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Soroka Hospital, and the Israeli Sinfonietta of Be'er Sheva. The city dates back at least to the time of Abraham. The city has expanded considerably since the founding of the state in 1948. Today the town is inhabited mainly by Jews who originally immigrated to Israel from Arab countries and the former Soviet Union. Be'er Sheva is surrounded by a number of satellite towns: Omer, Lehavim and Meitar are mainly Jewish towns and there are a number of Bedouin towns around Beersheba the largest are Rahat, Tel Sheva and Laqye.

History

Prehistory and Biblical era

An archeological site called Tel Be'er Sheva, a few kilometers north-east of modern day Beersheba has evidence of being populated since the 4th millennium BC. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times during its history.

Etymology and the Biblical narrative

Biblically, the site of Beersheba is mentioned in two of the three Genesis stories of a wife confused for a sister as a location where an oath of non-aggression was made between the Philistines, represented by a king named Abimelech, and the Israelites. The bible describes the oath being made on two separate occasions by the Israelites, once represented by Abraham, and once by Isaac. Beersheba is also mentioned in Joshua 19:2. Beersheba was the southernmost city of Israel in Biblical times hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" to describe the whole kingdom.

Between the two Abimelech stories, there are several different etymologies given for the origin of Beersheba's name:

in memory of the oath of Abraham and Abimelech (well of the oath)
in memory of seven wells dug by Isaac (seven wells), though only 3 or 4 are identified
in memory of the oath of Isaac and Abimelech (well of the oath)
in memory of the seven ewes which stood witness to Abraham and Abimelech's oath (well of the seven).

In the midrash, which generally exhibits a xenophobic attitude toward the Philistines, the last of these is seen as particularly reproachful, and the setting aside of these ewes is interpreted to have directly condemned seven righteous descendants of Abraham to death by the hand of Abimelech's descendants, namely condemning Hophni, Phinehas, Samson, Saul, and Saul's three sons, to death by the Philistines. In addition, the midrash extends the numerology to also be the ultimate cause of the destruction of seven sacred objects - named as the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Second and First Temples, and unnamed sacred objects in Gilgal, Nob, Gideon, and Shiloh - and the reason that the Ark of the Covenant comes to abide amongst the Philistines for seven months.

The underlying origin of the still existing site is uncertain, though it certainly exhibits archaeological signs of religious use. There are many wells on the site, but only 3 are dated as far back as the early first millennium, each having been refaced by the Romans. These are likely to be the three wells mentioned in the Isaac story - Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth. The presence of three rather than seven wells, together with the awkwardness of interpreting Beersheba as seven wells, which grammatically should be written as Shebabeer, has lead this possibility to be generally discounted as a folk etymology.

The stories also state that a religious foundation was made by the patriarchs at the site, with Isaac building an altar, and Abraham an Asherah grove. Until the reforms of Josiah, it appears that Beersheba was regarded as an holy place of great importance, it being frequently mentioned in the later parts of the bible as a noteworthy location for people to have an association with. In critical thought, it is hence seen as something that needed to be explained by the biblical authors, who chose to use folk etymologies and myths to do so. The most likely etymology to be correct is that which renders Be'er Sheva as well of the oath, though whether the oath refers to a single oath that took place in that location, or in fact refers to the general religious practice on the site - making of oaths - is a matter of debate.

According to the documentary hypothesis, both the Elohist and Yahwist used a pre-existing source or folk-tale surrounding the site in producing their narrative of an oath having been made between a patriarch and Abimelech, the regional philistine overlord. Where they differ is in the atmosphere of the story - Abraham makes a fair treaty with Abimelech on friendly terms, but Isaac's makes his treaty with Abimelech in an atmosphere of squabbling.

Later history

The latest inhabitants of Tel Be'er Sheva were the Byzantines, which abandoned the city at the 7th century. The Turkish Ottomans who had controlled Israel since the 16th century barely paid any interest to Beersheba until the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th Century Be'er Sheva was noted by European pilgrims as ruined, with a well and Bedouin living nearby.

The Ottomans built a police station in Beersheba at the end of the 19th century in order to control the Bedouin. This attracted a small settlement to the East of the city of Bedouin wishing to abandon nomadic life and some Arabs from Hebron, Gaza and elsewhere. The Ottomans planned and built a perfect town centre with straight roads and small characteristic buildings built with local materials (many of which stand today but in disrepair). The Ottomans also built a train station and a railway to Ashkelon and Gaza.

On October 31 1917, as part of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade, under Brigadier General William Grant, charged more than four miles at the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells at Beersheba. This is often reported as the last successful cavalry charge in history. During the period of the British Mandate of Palestine Beersheba remained a small administrative centre, with police and local courts most residents worked for the British. According to the 1947 UN Partition Plan Beersheba was destined to be part of an Arab entity. On 21 October 1948, as part of Operation Yoav, the Israel Defence Forces captured Beersheba from the Egyptian Army, which had invaded Israel and captured Beersheba in May 1948.

Until 2004 there were almost no terrorist attacks in Beersheba but on 31 August 2004, sixteen people were killed in two suicide bombings on buses in Beersheba for which the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility. On August 28 2005, another suicide bomber attacked this time at the central bus station seriously injuring two security guards. (Those parts of Israel that border on the West Bank where there is an effective security fence have been proven to be almost free of terrorist attacks, the southern section of the fence, nearest to Beersheba, is not expected to be effective until 2006.)

Neighbourhoods

Beersheba is divided into a number of small neighbourhoods that are mostly numbered. Shekhuna (Hebrew for neighbourhood) Alef (1), Bet (2), Gimmel (3), Dalet (4), Hey (5), Vav (6), Tet (9), Yud-Alef (11), Ramot, Neve Noy, Neve Ze'ev, Darom, the Old City, Nahal Beka and Nahal Ashan. (For no apparent reason there is no Shekhuna Zayin (7), Het (8) or Yod (10)). The Old City is somewhat run-down, and though it has a number of memorable buildings dating from Ottoman times, the municipality has done little to restore these gems. Some private organisations own these buildings and maintain them but most are ruins. North Dalet and parts of Gimmel have bad reputations for being populated by drug users, but the parts of these neighbourhoods that are closer to the University are full of students and are less affected by crime.

Beersheba Municipality

The current mayor of Beersheba is Yaakov Turner, the deputy-mayors are David Bumfeld and Rubiq Danilovits and the vice-mayors are Sima Navon and Yitshaq Marciano. Previous mayors are David Tuviahu, Zeev Zrizi, Eliyahu Nawi, Moshe Zilberman, Yitshak Rager and David Bumfeld. The Beersheba Municipality has been plagued for many years by an ineffectual leadership, a politicised work-force, plain corruption and a general lack of ability to fulfill even its basic tasks, as well as low income from local taxes and poor financial planning. The residents of Beersheba experience a low level of infrastructure, including cultural and educational facilities, and dysfunctional parks and litter departments. Some improvements have been made recently: as opposed to the previous year, in 2005 the Parks Department carried out street cleaning as well as park maintainance, some cultural centres have been built (the Youth Centre opened in 2005 and the Cultural Centre should open in 2007). Additionally, a street in the old city of Beersheba was renovated and the current mayor's term has been free of corruption.

Demographics

According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2003 Beersheba had a population of 184,500 making it the 5th largest town in Israel, compared to 110,800 20 years previous. (Currently its population is estimated to be app. 200,000.) In 2001 the ethnic makeup of the city was 98.9% Jewish and other non-Arab, with no significant Arab population (see Population groups in Israel). According to CBS, in 2001 there were 86,500 males and 91,400 females. The population of the city was spread out with 31.8% 19 years of age or younger, 17.4% between 20 and 29, 19.6% between 30 and 44, 15.8% from 45 to 59, 4.0% from 60 to 64, and 11.4% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 2.9%. Many people come to live in Beersheba for short periods of time, e.g. to study in the university or to serve in the many army bases in, or near to, the town.

Income

According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 61,016 salaried workers and 3,010 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is 5,223 NIS, a real change of 5.3% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 6,661 (a real change of 5.2%) versus ILS 3,760 for females (a real change of 3.9%). The mean income for the self-employed is 6,533. There are 4,719 people who receive unemployment benefits and 26,469 people who receive an income guarantee. The major employers in Beersheba are the municipality, Israel Defense Forces, Ben-Gurion University and the Soroka Medical Centre. There are also a number of electronics and chemical factories in Beersheba and the vicinity.

Education

According to CBS, there are 81 schools and 33,623 students in the city. They are spread out as 60 elementary schools and 17,211 elementary school students, and 39 high schools and 16,412 high school students. 52.7% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. There are also a number of private educational institutions mostly Yeshivoth that cater for the religious. Beersheba is also the home of the first class Ben-Gurion University and some local colleges such as Kaye Academic College of Education, the Negev Academic College of Engineering, the Practical Engineering College of Beer-Sheva etc.

Sports

The most popular sport in Beersheba is football led by the Hapoel Be'er Sheva team. The club was formed in 1949. The team has a history of two league championships (1975 and 1976), one national cup (1997) and two Toto cups (1989 and 1996). The local arena is the Wassermill stadium with a capacity of 14,000. The most successful sport in Beersheba is Chess. The Chess club has won national championships and cups many many times and represented Israel in the European Cup. It hosted the world teams championship in 2005. The Chess club was founded in 1973 by Eliyahu Levant, who is still the dynamo behind the success of this club. Beersheba has a higher percentage of grandmasters per capita - eight - than any other city worldwide, the majority of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union; the city of 183,000 has one grand master per 22,875 residents.

Beersheba is also the home of The Camels-ASA Beer-Sheva;a successful rugby team—whose senior and youth squads have won several national titles (including the recent Senior National League 2004-2005 championship). Other sports in Beersheba are wrestling and tennis. Beersheba has one of Israel's fourteen tennis centers, which opened in 1991 and features eight lighted courts.

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