Biblical tel ranks as 'World Heritage Site'

The archaeological site at Beer Sheba, Israel, offers an example of urban community life 15 centuries ago. An enormous outdoor treasury of biblical artifacts, this tel (Hebrew for a prehistoric settlement mound) reveals details of the agriculture, water-collecting, government, commerce and domestic life. It’s one of three of the more than 200 tels in Israel that recently was named a “World Heritage Site” by the U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The designation seeks to provide the sites with protection from overcommercialization, war, weather and effects of time.