Beersheba (bērshē`bə, bēr`shēbə) [Heb.,=seven wells or well of the oath], city (1994 pop. 147,900), S Israel, principal city of the Negev Desert. It is the trade center for surrounding settlements and for Bedouins Bedouin (bĕd`
ĭn) [Arab.
..... Click the link for more information. , who hold a weekly market in Beersheba. Construction is the city's main industry. Manufactures include chemicals, textiles, ceramics, glass, diamond cutting, plastics, and food products. Beersheba is an important rail and road hub for S Israel. The city was one of the southernmost towns of ancient Palestine; hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba," meaning the whole of Palestine. It is especially connected, in the Bible, with Abraham, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, and Elijah. A well believed to have been dug by Abraham when he made his covenant with Abimelech is in the city. Beersheba flourished during the late Roman and Byzantine eras but was deserted soon thereafter. It was merely a group of wells for Bedouin flocks when the Ottoman Turks reestablished it c.1900 as an administrative center for Negev tribes. Beersheba was the first city taken by the British in the Palestine campaign (1917) of World War I. Under the British mandate (1922–48) it was a city (Bir-es-Seba) inhabited by about 4,000 Muslim Arabs. Given to the Arabs in the partition of Palestine (1948), it was retaken by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. Its population and economy have grown considerably since 1989 as a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union. Beersheba is the seat of the Arid Zone Research Institute and the Ben-Gurion Univ. Remnants of a fortress and shards of the Bronze Age have been found nearby at Tell el-Sheba, the most ancient site of Beersheba.
Beersheba
ĭn) [Arab...... Click the link for more information. , who hold a weekly market in Beersheba. Construction is the city's main industry. Manufactures include chemicals, textiles, ceramics, glass, diamond cutting, plastics, and food products. Beersheba is an important rail and road hub for S Israel. The city was one of the southernmost towns of ancient Palestine; hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba," meaning the whole of Palestine. It is especially connected, in the Bible, with Abraham, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, and Elijah. A well believed to have been dug by Abraham when he made his covenant with Abimelech is in the city. Beersheba flourished during the late Roman and Byzantine eras but was deserted soon thereafter. It was merely a group of wells for Bedouin flocks when the Ottoman Turks reestablished it c.1900 as an administrative center for Negev tribes. Beersheba was the first city taken by the British in the Palestine campaign (1917) of World War I. Under the British mandate (1922–48) it was a city (Bir-es-Seba) inhabited by about 4,000 Muslim Arabs. Given to the Arabs in the partition of Palestine (1948), it was retaken by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. Its population and economy have grown considerably since 1989 as a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union. Beersheba is the seat of the Arid Zone Research Institute and the Ben-Gurion Univ. Remnants of a fortress and shards of the Bronze Age have been found nearby at Tell el-Sheba, the most ancient site of Beersheba.
Beersheba
City (pop., 1999 est.: 163,700), southern Israel. Historically it marked the extreme southern limit of Palestine, hence the biblical phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (Dan is in far northern Israel). It fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. It was long a watering place for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Negev desert. Held by the British from 1917, it became part of Israel in 1948. It has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev.
Beersheba
a town in S Israel: commercial centre of the Negev. In biblical times it marked the southern limit of Palestine. Pop.: 183 000 (2003 est.)
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