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Beer Sheva Capital Of The Negev
"So they made a covenant at Beer-Sheva; and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-Sheva, and called there in the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines many days."Genesis 22: 32-35
Beer Sheva, which means "seven oaths" in Hebrew, is Israel's largest southern city and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the Holy Land. Earliest habitation at the archeological site of Tel-Sheba, located east of the present city, indicates human habitation dating back more than 4,000 years. The Bible's mention of the covenant that the Hebrew Patriarch Abraham made with the Philistine king Abemelech helps substantiate the age of this city, which like other archeological tells or mounds in the region, including Tel Arad and Avdat were homes to Canaanite, Philistine, and other indigenous peoples, including the Nabatians, who also inhabited the Jordanian archeological site of Petra.
Beer Sheva was a sleepy, Arab populated desert town when the State of Israel was declared in May, 1948. Most of the town's Arab population fled during the subsequent War of Independence, and Beer Sheva became a Jewish city and quickly grew in size, due to a large influx of immigrants from North African countries who were sent by the government to "settle the Negev", Israel's large and arid southern region.
It wasn't long before the city became known as the "capital of the Negev", and a large municipal infrastructure was built which included a modern hospital (Soroka Hospital), and a modern university, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Until recently, most of the population of this city of more than 200,000 people was either of North African or 'Mizrachi' (Eastern) Jewish ethnic origin. Later, immigrants from European countries, including the former Soviet Union also settled there, attracted to city's dry climate and employment in various commercial and industrial enterprises that were built in the area.
In recent years, the city has received a boost by both it's world-class academic institution as well as the opening of the large Intel micro-chip processing plant in the town of Qiryat Gat, about 20 miles west of Beer Sheva. Because of this, many new neighborhoods have been developed with upscale apartment buildings and private homes, many of them occupied by Intel and other technology based industry workers.
Many university students from central and even northern Israel attend "BGU" with easy accessibility by Israel's modern rail transport system. The city has gradually received a general face-lift with modern shopping malls and other attractions built in various parts of the city. As Israel's populous central region becomes even more congested, more and more people are considered the option of settling in this city that is part of the dream of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, to 'settle the Negev'. Judging from what is now transpiring in modern day "Beer Sheva" that dream appears to be coming true.
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