Beersheba

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Coordinates: 31°14′0″N, 34°47′0″E

Beersheba
Hebrew	בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע
Arabic	بئر السبع
Name meaning	Well of the Oath or Seven Wells(see also)
Government	City
District	South
Population	185,500 (city) 531,000 (metro) (2005)
Jurisdiction	54,000 dunams (54 km²)
Mayor	Yaakov Turner

Beersheba (Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע‎, Be'er Sheva, Arabic: بئر السبع‎, Bi'r as-Sabi (info)', Turkish: Birüssebi) is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel, often being referred to as the "Capital of the Negev." In 2005, when the population reached 185,000, Beersheba became the sixth largest city in Israel. Beersheba is located in the Southern District of the country, acting as its administrative centre and housing Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Soroka Medical Center, and the Israel Sinfonietta Beersheba.

Beersheba has grown considerably since the founding of the state in 1948. A large portion of the population is made up of Jews who immigrated to Israel from Arab countries after 1948, and newcomers from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. Beersheba is surrounded by a number of satellite towns including the predominantly Jewish, Omer, Lehavim and Meitar, and the Bedouin towns of Rahat, Tel Sheva and Lakiya.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Prehistory and biblical era 2.2 Ottoman Turkish occupation 2.3 British Mandate era 2.4 After Israeli independence 2.5 Beersheba today 3 Geography 3.1 Climate 3.2 Districts 4 Demographics 5 Economy 6 Local government 7 Education 8 Sports 9 Transportation 10 Notable residents 11 Sister cities 12 References 13 See also 14 External links

[edit] Etymology

There are several etymologies for the origin of the name "Beersheba":

• The oath of Abraham and Abimelech (well of the oath)
• The seven wells dug by Isaac (seven wells), though only three or four have been identified
• The oath of Isaac and Abimelech (well of the oath)
• The seven ewes that sealed Abraham and Abimelech's oath (well of the seven).

Beer is the Hebrew word for well, the other half of the word is explained as due to Isaac naming the location:

• Shibah, which means seven, according to the Masoretic text
• Shebua, which means oaths, according to the Septuagint

[edit] History

[edit] Prehistory and biblical era

From the findings unearthed at Tel Be'er Sheva, an archaeological site a few kilometers northeast of modern day Beersheba, it is believed that the region has been populated since the 4th millennium BC ^[1]. The city was destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. Biblically, the site of Beersheba is mentioned in two of the three Genesis stories involving a wife confused for a sister. It was the site of a non-aggression pact 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" was sometimes used to describe the whole kingdom.

[edit] Ottoman Turkish occupation

The last inhabitants of Tel Be'er-Sheva were the Byzantines, who abandoned the city in the 7th century. The Turkish Ottomans, who had controlled Palestine since the 16th century, took no interest in Beersheba until the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, Beersheba was portrayed by European pilgrims as a barren stretch of land with a well and a handful of Bedouin living nearby.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the Ottomans built a police station in Beersheba in order to keep the Bedouin in check. They built roads, a number of small buildings from local materials which are still standing today, a train station, and a railway connection to Ashkelon and Gaza. A small settlement to the east of the city was established by Bedouin families and Arabs from Hebron and Gaza.

The Turks built railroad track from Damascus to Beersheba, inaugurating the station on October 30, 1915. The celebration was attended by the Turkish army commander "Jamal Pasha", along with senior government officials. The train line was active until the British took over the region. Later, during Israel's War of Independence, the station was used as the headquarters of The Egyptian Army.

[edit] British Mandate era

Beersheba played an important role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. On October 31, 1917, 800 soldiers of the Australian 4th and Light Horse Brigade, under Brigadier General William Grant, with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells of Beersheba. This is often described as the Battle of Beersheba, and "the last successful cavalry charge in British military history". On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a Commonwealth cemetery containing the graves of British and Australian soldiers. On the last row on the right, is the grave of Captain Seymour Van den Berg of the Middlesex Hussars, a British Jew who was killed five days before the capture of Beersheba.

Beersheba was a major administrative center during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine.

In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over Palestine and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. With the Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936 which escalated into the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, the remaining Jews left Beersheba and did not return until after the battle with the invading Egyptian army in October, 1948.

[edit] After Israeli independence

The 1947 UN Partition Plan included Beersheba in the territory allotted to the Arab state as the city's population of 4,000 was primarily Arab.^[2] The Egyptian Army was stationed in Beersheba in May 1948. Convinced that Beersheba was vital for the security of the Jewish state, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion gave the green light for Operation Yoav. On October 21, 1948, at 04:00 in the morning, the 82nd battalion advanced from Mishmar Hanegev junction, 20 kilometers north of Beersheba. Part of the force attacked from the Turkish train station and part from Hatzerim. By 09:45, the Egyptian forces were surrounded, and Beersheba was in Israeli hands. On November 20, Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played for the soldiers.^[3]

In the 1950s, Beersheba expanded northward. Soroka hospital opened its doors in 1960, and the Negev University, later renamed Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was established in 1970. In the 1970s, a memorial commemorating the fallen soldiers designed by the sculptor Danny Karavan was erected northeast of the city (approximately 3 kilometers from the city entrance) on a hill overlooking the city.^[4]The Beersheba Theater opened in 1973, and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visited Beersheba in 1979.

[edit] Beersheba today

In the 1990s, the population and size of Beersheba was substantially increased by a large influx of Russian and Ethiopian immigrants.

For many years, Beersheba remained untouched by Palestinian terrorism. Relations between Jews and Arabs, and especially the large number of Bedouin who live in the region and do business in Beersheba, were good. This equilibrium was shattered on August 31, 2004, when sixteen people were killed in two suicide bombings on buses in Beersheba for which Hamas claimed responsibility. On August 28, 2005, another suicide bomber attacked the central bus station, seriously injuring two security guards and 45 bystanders.^[5]

[edit] Geography

Beersheba is located on the northern edge of the Negev desert 115 km south-east of Tel Aviv and 120 km south-west of Jerusalem.^[6] The city is located on the main route from the center and north of the country to Eilat in the far south.^[6] The Valley of Beer Sheva has been populated since thousands of years ago due to the presence of water which travels here from the Hebron Mountains in the winter and is stored underground in vast quantities.^[6]

[edit] Climate

Beersheba has very hot summers, with temperature up to 42 °C (110 °F) . In the winter, the temperature at night can be as low as 0 °C (30 °F) .^[6] The average precipitation in the city is 260 mm a year^[6]

Between summer to winter, Beersheba is prone to sandstorms that cover the whole city in dust.^[6] 200-250 tonnes/sqkm of dust are dumped in the area.^[6] Fogs and humidity at night are also unique to Beersheba and the Negev region, occuring for some 50% of nights a year and being caused by wet air coming from the sea being trapped under hot, dry air above.^[6] The relative humidity in the city reaches 86% through much of August.^[6] The tallest buildings in the city are the two towers of the Rambam Square complex. Rambam Square 2 is the tallest apartment building in Israel outside of the Gush Dan Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.^[7]

[edit] Districts

Further information: Neighborhoods of Beersheba

Beersheba is divided into fourteen residential neighbourhoods in addition to the Old City. Many of the neighbourhoods are named after letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which also have numerical value, but descriptive place names have been given to some of the newer neighborhoods.

[edit] Demographics

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Beersheba had a population of 185,400 by the end of 2006,^[8] compared to 110,800 in a survey conducted 20 years earlier. This makes Beersheba the sixth largest city in Israel.

In 2001, the ethnic make-up of the city was 98.9% Jewish and other non-Arab, with no significant Arab population (see Population groups in Israel). According to CBS for 2001, there were 86,500 males and 91,400 females living in Beersheba. The population breakdown by age was 31.8% for 19 years old or younger, 17.4% for 20-29 year olds, 19.6% for 30-44 year olds, 15.8% for 45-59 year olds, 4.0% for 60-64 year olds, and 11.4% for 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 2.9%. Many people live in Beersheba for short periods of time, e.g. while studying at the university or working at the nearby army bases.

In 1982, Israel evacuated by air a major portion of the Jewish community of Ethiopia. A large number of the community were settled in Beersheba. There are now approximately 10,000 Ethiopian Israelis living in Beersheba, with their own community center built in the 11th (Yud Aleph) Quarter of the city. To remind the members of the villages they left behind, the roof of the community center is a conic shape, much like their old homes.

According to CBS figures, Beersheba had 61,016 salaried workers and 3,010 self-employed citizens in 2000. Salaried workers earned an average monthly wage of 5,223 NIS. Men earned an average monthly wage of NIS 6,661 (a real change of 5.2%) compared to NIS 3,760 for females (a real change of 3.9%). Self-employed persons had an average income of NIS 6,533. A total of 4,719 persons received unemployment benefits, and 26,469 persons received income supplements.

[edit] Economy

The largest employers in Beersheba are the municipality, Israel Defence Forces, Ben-Gurion University and the Soroka Medical Center. There are also a number of electronics and chemical plants including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in and around the city. A large high-tech park is also being built near the Beersheba North Railway Station.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Local government

The current mayor of Beersheba is Yaakov Turner, and the deputy-mayors are David Bunfeld and Rubik Danilovitch. Sima Navon and Yitzhak Marciano are vice-mayors. Past mayors include David Tuviyahu, Zeev Zrizi, Eliyahu Navi, Moshe Zilberman, Yitzhak Rager and David Bunfeld.

The Beersheba municipality was plagued for many years by an ineffectual leadership, political problems and poor financial planning. In the last few years, the situation has improved only slightly and has been hampered by a workforce suffering from apathy. Since 2005, attention has been focused on developing parks and infrastructure. A new youth centre opened in 2005, and a new cultural centre is slated to open in 2007. Parts of the Old City are being renovated, and after many years of financial struggle,the municipality has achieved a balanced budget.^[9]

The official emblem of the municipality of Beer Sheva depicts an eshel (tamarisk tree), the tree that Abraham planted^[10], and the observation tower connected to the municipality building.

[edit] Education

According to CBS, Beersheba has 81 schools and a student population of 33,623: 60 elementary schools with an enrollment of 17,211, and 39 high schools with an enrollment of 16,412. Of Beersheba's 12th graders, 52.7% earned a Bagrut matriculation certificate in 2001. The city also has several private schools and Yeshivot which cater to the religious sector. In terms of higher education, Beersheba is home to one of Israel's major universities, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which is located on an urban campus in the city. Several local colleges also operate in the city, including the Kaye Academic College of Education, the Sami Shamoon Academic College of Engineering and the Practical Engineering College of Beersheba. Also in the city is a Goverment college (מגללה למנהל), a technical college, and an art and performance college. Furthermore, the Israeli Airforce (Techni) is located in the city.

[edit] Sports

The two most popular sport in Beersheba are soccer and Freestyle wrestling. The largest soccer club in the city is Hapoel Be'er Sheva which is currently represented in Israel's second tier football league. 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 stadium is the Vasermil Stadium with a capacity of 14,000, shared by Hapoel and the city's lesser known club Maccabi Be'er Sheva. Another soccer team in the city is Beitar Be'er sheva.

Beersheba also has the second biggest Wrestling center (AMI wrestling school) in Israel. The center is run by Leonid Shulman and has approximately 2000 students most of whom are from Russian immigrant families since the origins of the club are in the Na'hal Beka integration camp. Maccabi Be'er Sheva has a freestyle wrestling team, whilst Hapoel Be'er Sheva has a Greek-Romi wrestling team.

Beersheba is also Israel's leading chess center. The local chess club has won many cups and national championships. It represented Israel in the European Cup and hosted the World teams championship in 2005. The Chess club was founded in 1973 by Eliyahu Levant, who is still the driving spirit behind this club. Beersheba has a higher percentage of grandmasters than any other city worldwide with 8, many of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union; the city of 185,500 has one grandmaster per 23,188 residents.

Cricket (introduced by the British in the 1960s) is played in the city under the auspices of Israeli Cricket Association whilst the city is also home to The Camels-ASA Beersheba rugby team whose senior and youth squads have won several national titles (including the recent Senior National League 2004-2005 championship). Wrestling, tennis and gliding are also popular sports. Beersheba's tennis center, which opened in 1991, features eight lighted courts, and the Be'er Sheva (Teyman) airfield is used for gliding.

[edit] Transportation

Beersheba is the central transportational hub of southern Israel, served by roads, railways and air. Its central bus/train station area is one of the most crowded terminals in the country.^{[citation needed]} The city is also served by the Tayman (Yemen) Airfield.

Beersheba is connected to Tel Aviv via Highway 40, the second longest highway in Israel, which passes to the east of the city and is called the Beersheba bypass because it allows travellers from the north to go to southern locations, avoiding the more congested city center. From west to east, the city is divided by Highway 25, connected it with Ashkelon and the Gaza Strip to the northwest, and Dimona to the east. Finally, Highway 60 connects Beersheba with Jerusalem and the Shoket Junction, and goes through the Palestinian Territories. On the local level, a partial ring road surrounds the city from the north and east, and Road 406 (Reger Blvd.) goes through the city center from north to south.

Metrodan Beersheba, established in 2003, has a fleet of 90 buses and operates 19 lines in the city, most of which depart from the Beersheba Central Bus Station.^[11] These lines were formerly operated by the Egged Bus Cooperative. Inter-city buses to and from Beersheba are operated by Egged, Egged Ta'avura and the Metropoline company.

Israel Railways operates two stations in Beersheba: Be'er Sheva North and Be'er Sheva Central railway station, on the old Railway to Beersheba. Between the two stations, the railway splits into two, and also continues to Dimona and the Dead Sea factories. An extension is planned to Eilat^[12] and Arad. The railway line to Beersheba uses the slow single-track configuration, and is being converted to dual-track, a project expected to end in Q4 2009 and significantly decrease travel time from Tel Aviv and Haifa to Beersheba, at a cost of NIS 1,885 million.^[13]

[edit] Notable residents

• Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut
• Tzvika Hadar, comedian and show host
• Yehudit Ravitz, singer
• Zehava Ben, singer
• Avishay Braverman, professor and politician

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Battle of Beersheba (First World War)
• Beer Sheva Park, Seattle

[edit] External links

• Beersheba Municipality website (Hebrew)
• selection of photos from Beer-Sheva from flickr
• Beer-Sheva website (Russian)
• Ben-Gurion University (Hebrew)
• Soroka University Medical Centre (Hebrew)
• Beersheba Theatre (Hebrew)
• Hapoel Beersheba Football Club (Hebrew)
• The city of Beersheba: a tourist's guide
• Beer-Sheva - Historical article from the Catholic Encyclopaedia
• Central Bureau of Statistics
• Light Horse charges again Article written by Martin Chulov, published in The Australian, November 1, 2007, the descendants of the Australian light-horsemen rode into the centre of Beersheva, re-enacting the gallant gallop of October 31, 1917
• Israel Builds Article written by Leonard Downie, Jr., December, 1971, about the expansion and the architecture of towns like Beersheva in the late 1960s and early 1970s

v • d • e South District
Cities	Arad · Ashdod · Ashkelon · Beersheba · Dimona · Eilat · Kiryat Gat · Kiryat Malakhi · Netivot · Ofakim · Rahat · Sderot
Local councils	Ar'arat an-Naqab · Hura · Kuseife · Lakiya · Lehavim · Meitar · Mitzpe Ramon · Omer · Shaqib al-Salam · Tel as-Sabi · Yeruham
Regional councils	Abu Basma · Be'er Tuvia · Bnei Shimon · Central Arava · Eshkol · Hevel Eilot · Hof Ashkelon · Lakhish · Merhavim · Ramat HaNegev · Sdot Negev (Azata) · Sha'ar HaNegev · Shafir · Tamar · Yoav