The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Considered unimportant for centuries, Be’er Sheva regained notoriety under
Byzantine rule (in the 4th–7th century), when it was a key point on the
Limes Palestinae, a defense line built against the desert tribes; however, it fell to the Arabs in the 7th century and to the Turks in the 16th century. It long remained a watering place and small trade centre for the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the
Negev, despite Turkish efforts at town planning and development around 1900. Its capture in 1917 by the British Army opened the way for their conquest of Palestine and Syria. After being taken by Israeli troops in October 1948, Beersheba was rapidly settled by new immigrants and has since developed as the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the Negev. It is one of the largest cities in Israel outside of metropolitan
Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem, and
Haifa.
Chalcolithic Human settlement in the area dates from the
Copper Age. The inhabitants lived in caves, crafting metal tools and raising cattle. Findings unearthed at
Tel Be'er Sheva, an
archaeological site east of modern-day Beersheba, suggest the region has been inhabited since the
4th millennium BC (between 5000 and 6,000 years ago).
Iron Age Tel Be'er Sheva, an archaeological site containing the ruins of an ancient town believed to have been the Biblical Beersheba, lies a few kilometers east of the modern city. The town dates to the early
Israelite period, around the 10th century BC. The site was possibly chosen due to the abundance of water, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. According to the
Hebrew Bible, the wells were dug by
Abraham and
Isaac when they arrived there. The streets were laid out in a grid, with separate areas for administrative, commercial, military, and residential use. It is believed to have been the first planned settlement in the region, and is also noteworthy for its elaborate water system; in particular, a huge
cistern carved out of the rock beneath the town.
Persian period During the Persian rule 539 BC–c. 332 BC, Beersheba was at the south of
Yehud Medinata autonomous province of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire. During that era, the city was rebuilt and a citadel had been constructed. Archeological finds from between 359 and 338 BC have been made, finding pottery and an
ostracon. During the
Herodian period there was a small settlement in Beersheba. Remains of a Jewish village dating back to the 1st century AD were discovered in the Rakafot neighborhood in the north of the city. In the following years, the town served as front-line defence against
Nabatean attacks and was on the
limes belt, which in this region is attributed to the time of
Vespasian (1st century AD). The city become the centre of an
eparchy around 268. After the reforms of Diocletian, the town became part of the province of
Palaestina Tertia and grew to an approximate size of 60 hectares during its peak in the 6th century. The camp was later identified in aerial photographs taken during the First World War and other structures associated with the camp, such as a bath house and dwellings, were found in later excavations.
Early Muslim period During the early
Muslim period, some of the Byzantine buildings continued to be used, but there was a slow decline of the city, which was manifested in the demolition of the public buildings and their transformation into a source of raw material for
secondary construction. In the second half of the 8th century, the city was apparently abandoned.
Mamluk period In 1483, during the late
Mamluk era, the pilgrim
Felix Fabri noted Beersheba as a city. Fabri also noted that Beersheba marked the southern-most border of "the Holy Land".
Ottoman period The present-day city was built to serve as an administrative center by the
Ottoman administration for the benefit of the Bedouin at the outset of the 20th century and was given the name of
Bir al-Sabi (well of the seven). Until
World War I, it was an overwhelmingly Muslim township with some 1,000 residents. and Negev Bedouin. Anthropologist and educationalist
Aref Abu-Rabia, who worked for the
Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture, described it as "the first Bedouin city". In June 1899, the Ottoman government ordered the creation of the Beersheba sub-district (
kaza) of the district (
mutasarrıflık) of
Jerusalem, with Beersheba to be developed as its capital. Implementation was entrusted to a special bureau of the Ministry of the Interior. Kamal was replaced by Muhammed Carullah Efendi in 1901, who in turn was replaced by Hamdi Bey in 1903. By the start of 1901 there was a barracks with a small garrison as well as other buildings. The
Austro-Hungarian-Czech orientalist
Alois Musil noted in August 1902: : Bir es-Seba grows from day to day; This year, instead of the tents, we found stately houses along a beautiful road from the Sarayah to the bed of the wadi. In the government building a garden has been laid out, and all sorts of trees have been planted which are sure to prosper, for the few shrubs planted two years ago by the steam mill at the south-east end of the road have grown considerably. The lively construction activity is also causing a lively exploitation of the ruins. By 1907, there was a large village, military post, a residence for the
kaymakam and a large mosque. The population increased from 300 to 800 between 1902 and 1911, and by 1914 there were 1,000 people living in 200 houses. The grid pattern can be seen today in Beersheba's Old City. Most of the residents at the time were
Arabs from
Hebron and the Gaza area, although Jews also began settling in the city. Many Bedouin abandoned their nomadic lives and built homes in Beersheba.
First World War and British Mandate During
World War I, the Ottomans built a
military railroad from the
Hejaz line to Beersheba, inaugurating the station on October 30, 1915. The celebration was attended by the Ottoman army commander
Jamal Pasha and other senior government officials. The train line was captured by
Allied forces in 1917, towards the end of the war. Today, it forms part of the
Israeli railway network. Beersheba played an important role in the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The
Battle of Beersheba was part of a wider British offensive in aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from
Gaza to Beersheba. The Ottoman army engaged in three battles with the British forces near Gaza between March 26 and November 7, 1917. Having failed in the
First and
Second Battles of Gaza, the British succeeded in the
Third Battle of Gaza. On October 31, 1917, three months after taking
Rafah,
General Allenby's troops breached the line of Turkish defense between Gaza and Beersheba. Approximately five-hundred soldiers of the Australian
4th Light Horse Regiment and the
12th Light Horse Regiment of the 4th
Light Horse Brigade, led by
Brigadier General William Grant, with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells in what has become known as the
Battle of Beersheba, called the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history." On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery containing the graves of Australian, New Zealand and British soldiers. The town also contains
a memorial park dedicated to them. During the
Palestine Mandate, Beersheba was a major administrative center. The British constructed a railway between
Rafah and Beersheba in October 1917 which opened to the public in May 1918, serving the Negev and settlements south of
Mount Hebron. In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over control of Palestine and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. After an Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936, which escalated into the
1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the remaining Jews left. At the time of the
1922 census of Palestine, Beersheba had a population of 2,356 (2,012 Muslims, 235 Christians, 98 Jews and 11
Druze). At the time of the
1931 census, Beersheba had 545 occupied houses and a population of 2,959 (2,791
Muslims, 152 Christians, 11 Jews and five
Baháʼí). The 1938 village survey did not cover Beersheba due to the area's largely nomadic population and the Rural Property Tax Ordinance not being applied there. The 1945 village survey conducted by the Palestine Mandate government found 5,570 (5,360 Muslims, 200 Christians and 10 others). File:Beersheba from the air.jpg|Beersheba, 1948 File:Beersheba i.jpg|Beersheba police station. 1948. Original building Ottoman with British Mandate addition. File:Beersheba ii.jpg|Beersheba mosque, 1948 File:Beersheva mosque.jpg|A mosque in Be'ersheva photographed during
Operation Yoav, 1948 File:Beersheba v.jpg|Nahal Beersheba in flood, 1948
1948 Palestine war performing for Israeli soldiers in Beersheba, November 1948 ,
Danny Karavan In 1947, the
United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) proposed that Beersheba be included within the Jewish state in their partition plan for Palestine. However, when the
UN's Ad Hoc Committee revised the plan, they moved Beersheva to the Arab state on account of it being primarily Arab. Egyptian forces had been stationed at Beersheva since May 1948. After the Arab states
invaded Palestine and declared war on the newly-founded Jewish state of Israel,
Yigal Allon proposed the conquest of Beersheba, which was approved by Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion. According to Israeli historian
Benny Morris, Allon ordered the "conquest of Beersheba, occupation of outposts around it, [and] demolition of most of the town." The objective was to break the Egyptian blockade of Israeli convoys to the Negev. The Egyptian army did not expect an offensive and fled en masse. Israel bombed the town on October 16. At 4:00 am on October 21, the 8th Brigade's 89th
battalion and the
Negev Brigade's 7th and 9th battalions moved in. Some troops advanced from the
Mishmar HaNegev junction, north of Beersheba and others from the Turkish train station and
Hatzerim. By 9:45, Beersheba was in Israeli hands. Around 120 Egyptian soldiers were taken prisoner. All of the Arab inhabitants who had resisted were expelled. The remaining Arab civilians, 200 men and 150 women and children, were taken to the police fort and, on October 25, the women, children, disabled and elderly were driven by truck to the Gaza border. The Egyptian soldiers were interned in
POW camps. Some men lived in the local mosque and were put to work cleaning, however, when it was discovered that they were supplying information to the Egyptian army, they were also deported. In February 2026
Haaretz reported on a newly discovered court testimony made by
Yisrael Carmi, a battalion commander in the 7th Brigade, wherein he described the capture of Beersheba and stated that the method was to kill civilians who resisted expulsion: "I conquered the city," Carmi testified. "In mopping up that area, I gave an order to annihilate anyone who appeared in the street, whether they resisted or did not resist. An order was given to destroy everything. After the conquest of the police station – after the surrender – the murder stopped. Until then everyone was killed – women and children and everyone. Then an order was given to the people to go to
Hebron. Anyone who didn't go was 'removed'" (quotation marks in the original). Following
Operation Yoav, a 10-kilometer radius exclusion zone around Beersheba was enforced into which no Bedouin were allowed. In response, the
United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions on the November 4 and 16 demanding that Israel withdraw from the area.
Israel First four decades Following the conclusion of the war, the
1949 Armistice Agreements formally granted Beersheba to Israel. The town was then transformed into an Israeli city with only an exiguous Arab minority. In 1959, during the
Wadi Salib riots, riots spread quickly to other parts of the country, including Beersheba.
Soroka Hospital opened its doors in 1960. By 1968, the population had grown to 80,000. The University of the Negev, which would later become Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was established in 1969. The then
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visited Beersheba in 1979. In 1983, its population was more than 110,000. During the
1990s post-Soviet aliyah, the city's population greatly increased as many immigrants from the former Soviet Union settled there.
Urban development in the 21st century As part of its
Blueprint Negev project, the
Jewish National Fund funded major redevelopment projects in Beersheba. One such project is the Beersheba River Walk, a riverfront park stretching along 8 kilometers of the riverside and containing a manmade boating lake, a 12,000-seat amphitheater, green spaces, playgrounds, and a bridge along the route of the city's
Mekorot water pipes. Four new shopping malls were also built. Among them is Kanyon Beersheba, a ecologically planned mall with pools for collecting rainwater and lighting generated by solar panels on the roof. It will be situated next to an 8,000-meter park with bicycle paths. In addition, the first ever farmer's market in Israel was established as an enclosed, circular complex with 400 spaces for vendors surrounded by parks and greenery. The Turkish Quarter was also redeveloped with newly cobbled streets, widened sidewalks, and the restoration of Turkish homes into areas for dining and shopping. In 2011, city hall announced plans to turn Beersheba into the "water city" of Israel. One of the projects, "Beersheva beach", is a 7-
dunam fountain opposite city hall. Other projects included fountains near the
Soroka Medical Center and in front of the Shamoon College of Engineering. In the 1990s, as skyscrapers began to appear in Israel, the construction of high-rise buildings began in Beersheba. Today, downtown Beersheba has been described as a "clean, compact, and somewhat sterile-looking collection of high-rise office and residential towers." The city's tallest building is Rambam Square 2, a 32-story apartment building. Many additional high-rise buildings are planned or are under construction, including skyscrapers. There are further plans to build luxury residential towers in the city. In December 2012, a plan to build 16,000 new housing units in the Ramot Gimel neighborhood was scrapped in favor of creating a new
urban forest, which spans and serves as the area's "green lung", as part of the plans to develop a "green band" around the city. The forest includes designated picnic areas, biking trails, and walking trails. According to Mayor
Ruvik Danilovich, Beersheba still has an abundance of open, underdeveloped spaces that can be used for urban development. In 2017, a new urban building plan was approved for the city, designed to raise the city's population to 340,000 by 2030. Under the plan, 13,000 more housing units will be built, along with industrial and business developments occupying a total of four million square meters. A second public hospital is also planned. In 2019, the construction of a new public hospital, which will be named after
Shimon Peres, was approved. The hospital will be a complex that will feature 1,900 beds, commerce, hotel, alternative medicine, and paramedical services, and research centers, with the possibility of apartment units for medical faculty employees, students, and senior housing. It will be linked to the rest of the city by a light rail system. In 2021, an outline plan was approved for the construction of 34,000 housing units in the city to increase the population to 400,000, as well as the construction of 4 million square meters of office and commercial space, 3 million square meters of industrial space, 2.7 million square meters of space in public buildings, and 370,000 square meters of space for the tourism industry. One of the primary goals of the plan is to boost connections between neighborhoods through a continuous network of streets which will be shaded and give preference to public transport and pedestrians. Under the plan, construction in the city center will be boosted and Rager Boulevard, which the plan identifies as the city's main avenue, will be turned from a multi-lane road into an urban avenue with expanded residential construction alongside it.
Security incidents in the city On October 19, 1998, sixty-four people were wounded in a
grenade attack. On August 31, 2004, sixteen people were killed in
two suicide bombings on commuter buses in Beersheba for which
Hamas claimed responsibility. On August 28, 2005, another
suicide bomber attacked the central bus station, seriously injuring two security guards and 45 bystanders. During
Operation Cast Lead, which began on December 27, 2008, and lasted until the ceasefire on January 18, 2009, Hamas fired 2,378 rockets (such as
Grad rockets) and mortars, from Gaza into southern Israel, including Beersheba. The rocket attacks have continued, but have been only partially effective since the introduction of the
Iron Dome rocket defense system. In 2010, an Arab attacked and injured two people with an axe. In 2012, a Palestinian from
Jenin was stopped before a stabbing attack in a "safe house". On October 18, 2015, a lone gunman
shot and killed a soldier guarding the Beersheva bus station before being gunned down by police. In September 2016, the
Shin Bet thwarted a
Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror attack at a wedding hall in Beersheba. On March 22, 2022, a convicted
Islamic State supporter carried out a
stabbing and vehicle-ramming attack, killing four people and injuring two others. During the
Gaza war, the city became the target of several rocket attacks. During the
Iran–Israel war in 2025, the city was targeted by Iran. On June 19, the
Soroka Medical Center was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, destroying the hospital's surgical ward, causing widespread destruction to nearby buildings and injuring at least 80 people. On June 24, after the ceasefire agreement came into effect, Iran launched missiles towards a residential building in the city, killing 5 civilians and injuring 20. On 29 March 2026, 11 people were injured as a result of a missile strike during the
2026 Iran war, with a further 20 treated for "acute anxiety" by
Magen David Adom. ==Emblem of Beersheba==