Gibeon was discovered in prehistoric times by the Nama people, who used it to make tools and weapons. In 1836 the English captain J. E. Alexander collected samples of the meteorite in the vicinity of the Fish River and sent them to London. There John Herschel analyzed them and confirmed for the first time that they were extraterrestrial.

Between 1911 and 1913, 33 fragments of Gibeon weighing between 195 and 506 kilograms were brought to the capital Windhoek. They were originally displayed at Zoo Park in a single heap. Now they are displayed in a fountain Post Street Mall.