The Bedouin Market

The story

The Bedouin market operated in Beersheba from 1905. Until the founding of the city in 1900 the Bedouin of the Negev traded mainly with Gaza, and visited Khan Yunis, Rafah and El Arish on the market days of each of them. The Ottomans, who sought to impose order in the desert and to collect taxes from its inhabitants, founded Beersheba at a point commanding several trade routes, taking into account the boundaries of the Bedouin confederations around it — the lands of the Azazma to the south, the Tiyaha to the east and the Tarabin to the west — and thus the city was fixed as an inter-tribal meeting point. The founding of the weekly market was among the most notable of their actions: it was intended to serve as an alternative to the markets of Gaza and its surroundings and spared the Bedouin the journey to them. Already at an early stage the livestock market was separated from the vegetable market, and the trading was held on Wednesdays. In the Mandate period the market's activity was renewed, its place was in an open area north of Hebron Road, and the volume of trade in it grew: the Bedouin brought surpluses of agricultural produce, livestock, tobacco and wool, and bought sugar, coffee, tea, rice and textiles. The market became the most important in the region, and residents of the Hebron hills and of Gaza traded in it as well. The military government cut the city off from the Bedouin of the surroundings for six years, and in 1954 the activity was renewed. From 1959 the trading was held on Mondays and Thursdays, and on Sundays and Wednesdays the compound served for second-hand trading. In the 1960s the municipality moved the market to the vicinity of the Old City and united it with the municipal market. In February 2017 the municipality decided on its closure, and in December 2022 the market reopened in Rahat.

• Bedouin
• Ottoman
• British Mandate
• Intangible heritage
• Beersheba