Beduin Arabs are native to the country here and they live in the surrounding area in tiny settlements. as former nomads, they are settling down in order to claim their right to the land. They have large sheep and goat herds, and camels. their settlements or towns are a mixture of various stages of development from tents, to tin shacks, to stone villas. Most houses still have a tent in the yard alongside it - for those members of the family that get claustrophobic in a house with walls that "don't move".
The name Beer Sheva comes from the Bible. Some interpret it to mean seven wells (sheva=seven) and one of them is supposed to have been where Abraham lived. Others interpret the name to mean the well that Abraham swore an oath at (shvua=swear). In any case, Beer-Sheva is one of the cities that Abraham and Isaac lived in and there is a very old well, actually two of them, near the small river called Nahal Beer-Sheva. For many years there was a little restaurant built around it.
The oldest part of the city is not that old. It was built by the Turks around 1990. It has a certain charm - the buildings are low, sandy looking things, with inner courtyards, like desert architecture. But most of the city is not particularly pretty. It's not near a beach or rolling hillsides. Nahal Beer-Sheva is usually a dried up creek that floods with the winter rains. Since the small foot bridge was washed away last year in 1995, they are building a new one. The surrounding desert is quite beautiful in its own way though. Its a very stony desert with some impressive canyons and some archeological sites of ancient civilizations.
The population of Beer Sheva is about 160,000. One third are recent immigrants, so there is a sprawling, ungainly look and feel to the place. One of the places I like best is the "shuk" -- the daily, municipal market.
The market is shared by a mix of ethnic groups - Israeli old timers, local Bediuns, new Ethiopians and Russians. They sort of have their sections, but it's not strict and that's part of what I like about it -- the mingling that occurs. It is loud and dirty, and the fruits and vegetables are local and ripe and really great. The only thing is I can't find good celery. But the oranges are great right now. There are also household goods, plastics, cassettes with local pop music, clothes, and staples like wines, bread, and meat. You can pick out a live chicken and have it slaughtered while you wait....You can sit in little restaurants and drink strong, sweet coffee. Oh, and there's a section for second hand furniture, tvs, refrigerators, sewing machines....
Some people don't like places like this because everybody is yelling at the top of their lungs and jostling you. I find the flood of impressions uplifting. Oh, and on Fridays they sell buckets of flowers. I will always associate this town with roses.