BERSABEA

BERSABEA. - One of the most ancient localities of Palestine, with which are associated the names of the first Patriarchs, who repeatedly pitched their tents there.

The Hebr. name Bê'ér-Šebha' (“well of the oath,” or “of seven wells”) recalls the covenant made by Abramo with Abimelech, king of Gerara, on which occasion the patriarch offered the king seven lambs as testimony to his right of ownership over the well he had dug there (Gen. 21, 22-34; cf. the similar account concerning Isacco, ibid. 26, 26-33).

B., especially in the age of the Kings, marked the southernmost boundary of Palestine, just as Dan constituted its northern boundary; hence arose the well-known geographical formula “from Dan to B.,” by which the Bible often designates, in terms of longitude, the territory occupied by Israele. After the age of the Patriarchs, B. reappears at the time of the conquest (Ios. 15, 28). It was repopulated after the exile (Neh. 11, 27-30); then

(by courtesy of Fr. Ortiz de Urbina)
BERRUGUETE, ALONSO – S. Girolamo. Work by B. A. Burgos, Cathedral, Chapel of the Constable.

It gradually declined. Owing to its strategic location on the edge of the desert, it regained importance with the Roman occupation. Reduced to ruins by the Arab invasion, B. revived around 1900 and today has approximately 3,000 inhabitants (Bedouins). Domenico Tricchio