The Well of Tel Be'er Sheva

The story

The water well of the ancient city on Tel Be'er Sheva is located outside the wall and adjoins the city gate. Its depth is 69 meters below the surface of the ground, and its lower part is dug into limestone bedrock. It is the outer of the two water systems of the city; the second is an underground reservoir inside the wall, intended for a time of siege and filled from the floodwaters of Nahal Hevron. The tel lies at the meeting of Nahal Hevron with Nahal Be'er Sheva. The earliest remains found in it are from the fourth millennium BCE; it was left for about two thousand years and resettled in the 11th century BCE, and the main period represented in its remains is a fortified city of the Kingdom of Judah from the ninth century BCE, which was rebuilt three times until it was destroyed at the end of the seventh century. The tel is identified with the biblical city of Beersheba, and some assign it to the neighboring city of Sheva, mentioned in the Book of Joshua alongside Beersheba. The stories of the patriarchs link the name of the city to the well and to the oath sworn over it.

• Water and wells
• Archaeology
• Biblical
• UNESCO
• Beersheba