Tella Beer Sheba's identification with the biblical city of Bathsheba is unanimously recognized by all archaeologists. In the 70s, large-scale archaeological research took place here, and the walls of the ancient biblical city again saw the scorching sun. What other results have the excavations brought?
We meet the mention of this city already in the pages of Genesis, when Abraham, having arrived in Canaan, concludes an alliance with Abimelech and, as a sign of the sacredness of this oath, dugs a well. After this event, Abraham plants a tamaris grove and remains to live here:
Abraham traveled extensively in Canaan and saw many of its cities. Although he experienced many conflicts, he remained steadfast in his worship and loyalty to the one true God - Yahweh, and built altars for him wherever he settled for a long time. Abraham eventually came to settle in Bathsheba and it was here that Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac. It was during his time in Bathsheba that his faith was put to the final test (Genesis 22: 2). Abraham passed it safely and received a blessing from God.
By the way, many researchers believe that the name "hgr'brm" in the Karnak list of Pharaoh Sheshonk, which contains a list of the cities he conquered, means "Fortress of Abraham" and is the ancient name of Bathsheba, or rather the settlement on Tell Beer Sheba, which will be discussed in this article.
It is from Beersheba that Jacob, son of Isaac, goes to Egypt.
In II Kings, this city is referred to as the border of the dominions of Kings Solomon and David. In the third Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah leaves Beersheba in the wilderness, which began just outside the city. Tsivya, the mother of King Joash, was from Bathsheba.
That's all we know about this ancient city from written sources. However, even more information comes from archeology. And if ancient written sources can tell us about the events associated with this city, then archeology can lift the veil over how people lived in it, what their way of life and customs were.
Ceramic vessel from Beer Sheva.
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The modern city of Beer Sheva still exists today and is a large administrative center of Israel. However, like the previous settlement three thousand years ago. Its ruins are located not in the city itself, but a little to the side, east of its outskirts, and make up tell. The Tel Beer Sheva monument is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Tel Beer Sheva gave the name to the whole culture - the Beersheba culture, which existed in the Copper Age, in the 4-3 millennium BC. e. Today there are 7 known sites of this culture.
In these settlements they were engaged in metalworking - copper remelting. Moreover, traces of metallurgical production found in Beer Sheva are the oldest in Israel. The Beersheba culture had close contacts with Egypt. In addition, the inhabitants of this city built underground premises that are unique for the region. They were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding - they raised sheep and goats.
However, the first layers of Bathsheba itself date back to the 12th century BC. e. Perhaps the very first mention in the Bible refers to this period.
At the beginning of the 10th century BC. e. during the reign of King David, the city was fortified. The emergence of fortification indicates that by this time society was already socially differentiated and had its own structure, headed by an aristocracy and a monarchical dynasty, the arrival of which was usually accompanied by the introduction of a new religion. Perhaps the construction of the fortification of Bathsheba is evidence that monotheism has officially replaced paganism.
The Iron Age city was quite small and was built entirely of stone. He has a clear plan, which is unusual for that time - this means that the city was not a spontaneous settlement. The city itself was beautifully equipped for its time and even had a complex water supply system.
Bathsheba today from a bird's eye view.
The layout of the city was determined by the streets leading from the gate along its circumference, along which on both sides stood rows of low houses with flat roofs. You can wander along these streets even today - Tel Beer Sheva is a national park and is open to the public.
You can still wander along the ancient streets of the city. Tel Beer Sheva National Park.
There was a gate in the southern part of the city, which was thoroughly investigated during archaeological work. They consisted of two chambers and adjoined the walls of houses. Interestingly, Bathsheba's gate is mentioned in II Kings when King Josiah decides to destroy the objects of idolatry throughout the Kingdom. He defiles sacrifices and temples, among which is mentioned a temple at the gates of Bathsheba, called “heights”:
The excavations of Bathsheba helped to find out what kind of “heights” they were: there was a tower near the gate of an earlier period, in the space between this tower and the threshold of the altar, a perfectly preserved altar-incense was found, which, most likely, was placed on the tower from which the sacrificial smoke.
Altar-smoker from * the height * of the Bathsheba Gate.
So, thanks to archeology, it was possible to restore a long-forgotten ancient custom, making the biblical text of almost three thousand years ago more accessible to modern people.
By the way, Baal is mentioned among the gods whose cults were banned by Josiah as part of his religious reform, he is also the Phoenician Baal, he is the Canaanite Moloch. It is believed that sacrifices of newborns could have been made to this god, for which there is indirect archaeological evidence. Further in II Kings about the reforms of Josiah we read:
Bathsheba of the Iron Age.
Behind the gates was the storehouse of the royal stocks - here grain, wine and oil were stored, which was then distributed among the population. Many pottery vessels and pottery fragments were found in these houses.
Ceramics of the Iron Age Tel Beer Sheba. It was in these vessels that the inhabitants of Bathsheba stored wine, oil and other products.
There was a well just outside the gate. Its dating turned out to be problematic, since its walls collapsed several times in antiquity. In addition, after walking 28 meters, archaeologists could not reach the bottom. According to the data obtained, the well clearly appeared before the 7th century AD. e.
Could this be the same sacred well that is spoken of in the Book of Genesis, and could a grove have been planted here by Abraham? Today Bathsheba is a dry, dry place, the nearest well from which is at a distance of 1 km. However, it is obvious that over time, river beds have changed, and with this the level of groundwater has changed. Where there is a desert today, there could have been a blooming oasis before, and the construction of a citadel on a hill meant that there was enough water for its existence.
This version was confirmed by excavations - an ancient water supply system was found in the eastern corner of the citadel, already known by analogies from other ancient cities, such as Tel Hazor and Meggido. It was a system of underground tunnels leading from an underground source, where residents descended long staircases to replenish their water supplies. Thus, the found system records the level of groundwater at that time, showing that this place was not so arid.
Ancient water delivery system.
The grandeur of the citadel's ancient water supply system, which was located in an arid region, can be appreciated in this photo.
All of Bathsheba's dwelling houses were the same and represented the typical "four-room house" of that time, which is well known to archaeologists. It consisted of one wide and three long rooms, separated by rows of columns.
The streets, symmetrically diverging from the gates of the city, converged again in its center. A small area was located here, on which a building was discovered that served as a sanctuary or a royal palace. One way or another, it was in this place that a cluster of cult objects in the form of figurines and amulets made of bronze and glass was found, including a figurine of an Egyptian goddess (1), a double Egyptian crown (3) and a miniature figurine of a sphinx (4 in the photo).
All of these items are associated with a pagan cult and demonstrate the strong influence of Egypt.
In Beer Sheva, fragments of a quadrangular altar were found, at the corners of which there were elevations. This form of the altar is well known from other Israeli settlements of the Iron Age. This finding indicates that there was a temple or religious center in the city. In addition, we know from Genesis that the altar at Visheba was built by Abraham (Gen. 21:33)
Altar from Tel Beer Sheva.
The city was destroyed during the campaign of the Assyrian king Sinnacherib in 701 BC. e.
For a long time there was nothing here, at the time of Christ there was only a small fort. Only during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, who began work on the construction of the Roman fortification Limes Romanos to protect the borders of the empire, the city began to develop again. It was simply incorporated into the limes and thus became the frontier city of the empire, which traded with the outside world. The city flourished in Byzantine times - during archaeological excavations, the ruins of an ancient church were found here.
After the Arab conquests in the 7th century, the city disappeared completely from the face of the earth, and in 1900 it was revived again. The fact is that the Turkish government needed an administrative center that would ensure control over the local Bedouin tribes. In the 20th century, Bathsheba became what we know it today.