Tell Beer Sheva
Tell Be'er Sheva ( Hebrew תל באר שבע) Is an archaeological locality east of the modern city of Be'er Sheva near the Bedouin -Dorfes Tel Sheva in the Negev in southern Israel . Due to repeated development from the first settlements in the 4th millennium BC Until the 8th century AD, a tell (settlement hill) developed about 20 m above the level of the surrounding area. Tell is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Biblical Settlement Mounds - Megiddo, Hazor and Be'er Scheva .
location
 
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Tell Beer Sheva |
The historical settlement of Tell Be'er Scheva rises in the angle between the converging river valleys Nahal Hebron and Nahal Be'er Scheva , which only have water in the winter months , about 20 m above the level of the surrounding plain and 307 m above sea level. The close proximity to the two rivers and wells with a connection to the groundwater are of great historical importance for the supply of fresh water for the city on the border with the Negev desert, both for the residents and for the passing traders and caravans. The river valleys also served as trade routes in the past. The ancient settlement was at the crossroads of the old trade route through the Negev desert from Sinai in the south to Phenicia , Syria and Mesopotamia in the north and the east-west route from the Dead Sea in the east to Gaza in the west. The steppe country turns into the Negev desert at Be'er Scheva, in the north of which only Bedouins could settle, who could make the land arable with irrigation techniques in order to practice cattle breeding and some agriculture. The neighboring peoples during the early Iron Age were the Amalekites and Philistines .
Be'er Sheva in the Bible
In the Bible, exclusively in the Old Testament, Be'er Sheva with the name 'Beersheba' is mentioned several times (33 times), especially in the narrations of the ancestors . The place name appears in Genesis first in connection with Abraham's concubine Hagar and her son Ishmael , who wander about in the desert of Be'er Sheva ( Gen 21:14 EU ). The following is the story that gave the place its name: The Hebrew name Be'er Scheva means well of the oath and refers to Abraham's well construction and the oath between Abraham ( Gen 26.31 EU ) and Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar ( Gen 21.22 EU ). Water sources were very important to nomadic shepherds and the cause of many wars. So the king of Gerar made a treaty with Abraham over the dispute over possession of a well. But after the death of Abraham the dispute broke out again, the Philistines had filled the wells with earth, and Isaac , the son of Abraham, settled the dispute ( Gen 26: 15-33 EU ). Furthermore: Abraham planted a tamarisk in Be'er Scheva ( Gen 21,33 EU ). God spoke to Isaac and his son Jacob in this place . Jacob made offerings in Be'er Sheva when he was with his family on the way to Egypt to visit his son Joseph ( Gen 46: 1-7 EU ). After the conquest of the Israelites , Be'er Scheva belonged to the tribal area of Judah ( Jos 15.28 EU ) and later to the tribe of Simeon ( Jos 19.2 EU ).
The city is described in the Bible as the southernmost city of the great empire of Israel ( 2 Sam 3.10 EU ) under the kings Solomon and David ( 1 Kings 5.5 EU ) as well as on the southern border of Judah . From the time of the Israelite king Ahab (9th century BC) the place Be'er Scheva is mentioned as a station in Judah on the flight of the prophet Elijah from Ahab outside of his domain, the northern kingdom of Israel , on the way to the mountain of God Horeb ( 1 Kings 19.3 EU ). Finally, Be'er Scheva is mentioned in the book of the prophet Amos (8th century BC) in connection with prohibitions and penalties ( Am 5.5 EU ) ( Am 8.14 EU ).
history
Already in the Copper Age , in the 4th millennium BC BC, the region was settled. Finds of pottery shards indicate settlements in Nahal Be'er Scheva.
After a settlement gap of around 2000 years during the Bronze Age , from the early Iron Age I, i.e. at the beginning of the 12th century BC Over 500 years, a continuous settlement of the city hill demonstrable. A total of nine archaeological layers could be identified.
| Early Arabic period | 7th-8th Century AD | fortress |
| Roman time | 2-3 Century AD | fortress |
| Herodian time | 1st century BC BC - 1st century AD | fortress |
| Hellenistic time | 3rd – 2nd Century BC Chr. | temple |
| Persian time | 5th - 4th Century BC Chr. | Fortress, storage pits |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 1 | early 7th century BC Chr. | Attempt to rebuild canceled |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 2 | 8th century BC Chr. | Administrative capital, casemate wall |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 3 | 8th century BC Chr. | Administrative capital, casemate wall |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 4 | 9th century BC Chr. | Administrative capital, solid wall |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 5 | 9th century BC Chr. | Administrative capital, solid wall |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 6 | 9th century BC Chr. | Settlement for Stratum 5 |
| Iron Age II, Stratum 7 | 10th century BC Chr. | Fortified settlement |
| Iron Age I, Stratum 8 | 12-11 Century BC Chr. | Pits, first residential buildings |
| Iron Age I, Stratum 9 | 12th century BC Chr. | Settlement with storage pits and huts |
| Copper Age | 4th millennium BC Chr. | Traces of settlement, pottery shards |
Iron Age I (12th to 11th centuries BC)
A settlement from the early Iron Age (Stratum 9) was built over with stone buildings in later times and the stones were partially reused. This time is only represented by seven storage pits. It is estimated between 100 and 140 inhabitants. For stratum 8, which dates back to the 11th century B.C. Is assigned to the first houses are certain. The buildings of this time were also built over later. An excavated pottery with five residential buildings is dated to the end of the 11th century BC. Chr. (Stratum 7) assigned. The first settlement of buildings in an oval around a central square can be seen in stratum 7. The houses with two rooms on the ground floor and one on the upper floor are typical of this period. The city wall was partly formed by the building's outer wall. Around 100 people lived in twenty buildings on Tel Be'er Scheva during this period.
Iron Age II (10th to 7th century BC)
Iron Age IIA: fortified settlement
The first fortifications are assigned to the early Iron Age II (Iron Age IIA) (Stratum 5). Some archaeologists bring this fortification with the battle of King Saul at the end of the 11th century BC. Against the Amalekites in connection. Based on comparative analyzes and those using the radiocarbon method , this settlement phase is more likely to date to the late 10th or 9th century BC. Assigned. As inscriptions in the great pillared hall of the Amun Temple of Karnak show, the conquered around 925/926 BC. Chr., The Egyptian Pharaoh Sheshonq I. (Shishak), the Kingdom of Judah , which at that time of Solomon's son Rehoboam ruled ( 1 Kings 14.25 to 27 EU ). Beersheba was probably destroyed in the process. It was rebuilt, but soon destroyed again.
Iron Age IIB: Cityscape of the administrative capital
The map of the Iron Age IIB period can best be reconstructed from the finds from stratum 2 (8th century BC). A closed cityscape can be recognized with administrative buildings and residential quarters with so-called four - room houses , an inner and an outer ring of streets, streets with drainage for rainwater drainage, cisterns for storing rainwater and also water from the Hebron River to supply water to the residents, city wall with an outer one and inner city gate. Casemates (rooms within the city wall) and especially the inner (main) gate with four rooms indicate the military and administrative importance of the place as the administrative center of the Kingdom of Judah. In the inner gate, the left gate chambers (coming from the outside) belong to strata 2 and 3 (8th century BC), while the right ones belong to strata 4 and 5 (9th century BC). Paved benches were found in one of the gate chambers that may have served city elders, traders, judges or prophets for their public appearance. In the city center behind the main gate there is a central (market) square, from which the inner and outer road ring and a street perpendicular to this branch across the city. Adjacent in the corner of the two branching ring roads is the town hall ( Governor's palace ) with an entrance corridor, paved halls possibly for ceremonial or representative use, a kitchen and a pantry. The outer road ring, about 2 m wide, runs parallel to the city wall. An excavated older stretch of road shows that the outer ring of road from stratum 5 to stratum 2 remained in the structure.
Iron Age IIB: City of Trade and Cult
The excavated ruins of a large storehouse ( storehouse ) with the floor area of about 600 m 2 have three storage rooms, each with two rows of columns identify between which pack animals (donkey) place might have had to supply the laterally adjacent warehouse. Hundreds of clay pots have been found here. In a wall of the storehouse also remains of the altar horns were found, the original in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is issued and its reconstruction is shown at the entrance of the archaeological site of Tell Beersheba. The four horns at the corners (1.60 m by 1.60 m) give this altar shape its name. Altars with four horns are mentioned several times in the Bible (Lev 4.7, 18.25; Ex 29.12, 30.2; 38.2; 1 Kings 1.50; 2.28). It is assumed that the re-use of the stones of the horned altar in the walls of the storage building was a result of the cult reform under the Judean king Hezekiah ( 2 Kings 18.1-4 EU ), which aimed at the sole veneration of YHWH in the temple in Jerusalem. At the western corner of the outer ring road, a house with two 4 m deep cellars was excavated. Yohanan Aharoni also explains this unusual depth as a result of Hezekiah's cult reform, namely the dismantling of a temple believed to be at this location. This interpretation is based on the analogy with the discovery of a temple in Tell Arad , which was made at the end of the 8th century BC. Was abandoned.
Iron Age IIB: residential quarters for over 300 inhabitants
At the western corner between the outer ring road and the city wall, a residential quarter was excavated with several rooms including the casemates and rooms with rows of columns, which presumably delimit rooms for animals. The number of inhabitants in this settlement phase is estimated at around 350. This city was destroyed several times and partially renewed. Eventually the city was destroyed by a major fire - possibly during the 3rd campaign of the Assyrian King Sennacherib (Sennacherib) in 701 BC. Chr.
Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods (5th century BC to 3rd century AD)
After attempted reconstruction, the city remained uninhabited until the Persians invaded . Under Persian rule was in 5./4. Century BC A small fortress with stables was built in the city area. The foundations of an altar near the house with the cellars can still be seen from a temple from the Hellenistic period. In the center of the city, a Roman fortress was built over the foundations of the ruined Israelite city. In later Roman and Byzantine times, the city center shifted to the area of modern Beer Sheva.
Archaeological excavations
Modern excavation work began from 1969 to 1976. It was carried out by the Institute of Archeology at Tel Aviv University under the direction of Yohanan Aharoni and later continued by Ze'ev Herzog. The focus of the excavations was on the city of the Israelites from the 10th to the 8th centuries BC. Chr., D. H. Time from King David to the Assyrian conquest. From 1993 to 1995 the excavations were continued by Ze'ev Herzog and Ido Ginaton. Among other things, the water system and the well in front of the outer city gate were excavated. The well with a depth of 69 m extends into the groundwater and supplied the residents of the city as well as passing caravans with drinking water. This fountain is also interpreted as the fountain of Abraham and Isaac, from which the place name Be'er Scheva is derived ( Gen 26: 26-33 EU ). The water system consists of three parts: First, a 20 m deep shaft to which stairs lead, second, a 700 m³ water reservoir made of limestone, and third, a canal through which water from the Hebron River was fed into the water reservoir. This water system was destroyed at the end of the Hellenic period, possibly due to an earthquake.
UNESCO world heritage
Tell Be'er Scheva was declared a national park in 1986 and the 18 hectare area has been made accessible to the public by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority since 1990 . The water system with the cisterns has been accessible to the public since 2003. In 2005 UNESCO declared Tell Be'er Sheva, together with two other settlement sites from biblical times, namely Megiddo and Hazor , to the UNESCO World Heritage Biblical Settlement Mounds - Megiddo, Hazor and Be'er Scheva .
literature
- Ze'ev Herzog: Beer-Sheba of the Patriarchs . In: Biblical Archeology Review . tape 6 , no. 6 , 1980, pp. 12-28 ( harvard, edu ).
- Boaretto, E. et al .: Dating the Iron Age I / II Transition in Israel: first intercomparison results. Collective work = radiocarbon . tape 47 , no. 1 , 2005.
- Finkelstein, I., Piasetzky, E .: Radiocarbon-dated Destruction Layers: A skeleton for Iron Age chronology in the Levant. Collective work = Oxford Journal of Archeology . tape 28 , no. 3 , 2009.
- Mazar, A .: The Iron Age Chronology Debate; Is the gap narrowing? Another viewpoint. In: Near Eastern Archeology . tape 74 , no. 1 , 2011, p. 105-111 .
- Horned Altarfor Animal Sacrifice Unearthed at Beer-Sheva. In: The Biblical Archeology Review . tape 1 , no. 1 , 1975.
- Ze'ev Duke: Tel Beer Sheva National Park . Ed .: Tsvika Tsuk. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority ( org.il [accessed May 27, 2018]).
- CityGuide Tel Beer Sheva. Retrieved May 27, 2018
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Boaretto, E. et al .: Dating the Iron Age I / II Transition in Israel: first intercomparison results. Collective work = radiocarbon . tape 47 , no. 1 , 2005.
- ^ Finkelstein, I., Piasetzky, E .: Radiocarbon-dated Destruction Layers: A skeleton for Iron Age chronology in the Levant. Collective work = Oxford Journal of Archeology . tape 28 , no. 3 , 2009.
- ^ Mazar, A .: The Iron Age Chronology Debate; Is the gap narrowing? Another viewpoint. In: Near Eastern Archeology . tape 74 , no. 1 , 2011, p. 105-111 .
- ^ Herzog, Ze'ev: Archeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and Its Social Implications . In: Tel Aviv University, Institute of Archeology (Ed.): Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Archeology Press . 1997, ISBN 978-965-440-006-0 , pp. 246 .
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