Places
BeerShevaAlternative names: Khirbet Anu esh Shiba, Bersoubai, Khirbet e-Saba, Bersabe, Beersheba in Galilee, Galilean Beer-ShevaPlace descriptionWell where Abimelech and Abraham made a covenant, 1.212<br>The border between Upper and Lower Galilee is given by Josephus as Bersabe (modern Khirbet e-Saba) and by the Mishnah as Kefar Hananiah, close neighbors at the eastern end of the Beth Kerem Valley. The archaeological evidence suggests that Bersabe (Beer Sheba of the Galilee) was an important and significant site, fortified by Josephus in the early stages of the Revolt, and used by him to fix the northernmost point of the Lower Galilee (Life 188; War 3.39; 2.573). These three references are the only allusions to the village in antiquity; it never appears again in the history of the Galilee. Sometime in the second century CE, Bersabe began to lose its importance (possibly because of damage during one or both Revolts), and the neighboring Kefar Hananiah took over its place. <br>The site was located on a high and isolated hill in the northeast corner of the Beth Kerem valley, identified primarily through its Arabic name, Khirbet e-Saba. The survey of the hill identified heavy fortifications with a wide wall, including three half-round towers on the north, cisterns, houses, and much pottery dated from the Iron age, Hellenistic and Roman periods (Aviam 2000b, 2000c). In the first century CE and earlier, Bersabe was a small, fortified town while Kefar Hananiah was a very small potters’ village. To judge from the pottery collected at the two sites, Bersabe and Kefar Hananiah existed side by side as medium sized villages during the second century CE. From the third century CE onwards, however, Bersabe was almost totally abandoned while Kefar Hananiah became the center for pottery manufacturing—especially for cooking bowls and pots—for much of the Galilee until the beginning of the fifth century CE (Adan-Bayewitz 1993:77). Images Bersabe_HBeerSheva.C.M  Bersabe Videosbeersheva.gv |