Tel Shiloh (in Arabic: Khirbet Seilun) is an archaeological site from the Bronza and Iron Ages identified with the city of Shiloh, mentioned in the Bible as the site of the Tabernacle in the period of the Judges (for example: Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 1:9). The tel covers an area of roughly 3 hectares. The location of Shiloh was identified already in the 14^th century CE by traveler and geographer Rabbi Ishtori Haparchi. This identification proposal was accepted by modern scholars due to the preservation of the name and the site’s location fitting ancient sources. Shiloh is unique among biblical sites in that a description of its location appears in the Bible (Judges 21:19). Many researchers have attempted to identify the location of the Tabernacle in places all over the tel, but there is still no consensus on the matter.

History of the Site’s Research

Many expeditions excavated Shiloh over the years:

• In 1922 a few small soundings were conducted by a group of Danish researchers led by archaeologist Aage Schmidt.
• In the years 1926-1927, 1929 and 1932 excavations were conducted by an expedition from the National Museum of Copenhagen, led by Danish archaeologist Hans Kjaer and overseen by American archaeologist William Albright. Kjaer passed away prior to publishing a full report.
• In 1963 Danish archaeologists Svend Holmes-Nielsen and Marie-Louise Buhl conducted a small sounding in preparation for the publication of the full report of Kjaer’s expedition, but much of the data of that season was lost on the way to Copenhagen. The first report of the two expeditions was published in 1969.
• In the years 1981-1984 the site was excavated by an expedition from Bar-Ilan University led by Israel Finkelstein. At the same time Zeev Yeivin conducted excavations in the northern area of the tel out of hopes of finding the site of the Tabernacle.
• In the years 2010-2018 the site was excavated on behalf of the Staff Officer of Archaeology of the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria.
• Since 2017 the site is being excavated by American archaeologist Scott Stripling.

The Site in the Bronze Age

The site was first settled in very limited capacity during the Middle Bronze IIB period (1750-1650 BCE). During the Middle Bronze III period (1650/1600-1550 BCE) a wall was built around the settlement, but it likely wasn’t intended for defensive purposes. A few storage facilities were constructed adjacent to the wall, and held various vessels, including many storage jars. Also found in these facilities were various objects that testify to the existence of a cultic site at Shiloh already during that period. The findings include: Cultic stands, votive bowls and a vessel in the shape of an ox. Other findings include stone and bone vessels. During the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BCE) the settlement at the site was likely discontinued and the site remained only as a cultic center, reflected in a number of favissae (cultic storage pits). Other findings from that period include cooking pots and a scarab. The site was abandoned during the Late Bronze IIA period (1400-1300 BCE).

The Site in the Iron Age

The site was resettled in the Iron I period for a short time (late 12^th-first half of the 11^th century BCE) by the Israelites, reflected by, among other things, several pillared houses found at the site. During that period there was a cultic center active at the site, identified with the Tabernacle, but its location, as mentioned above, is disputed. The site’s town planning shows that the settlement was not merely a simply village with a cultic center, but the entire settled area was considered part of a larger cultic compound which served the denizens of the region (if not also people who came from farther away). Findings from this period include: Flint sickles, a seal with the image of a goat and a vessel handle imprinted with a lion seal. Circa the end of the Iron I period the site was destroyed in a great conflagration. The site was resettled in limited capacity circa the end of the Iron II period (8^th-7^th centuries BCE) and was slowly abandoned due to, among other reasons, the Assyrian conquest. A ceramic pomegranate found at the site is dated to the Iron Age.

The Site in Later Periods

Only a few Persian and Early Hellenistic pottery sherds were found at the site, as well as a few Ptolemaic and Seleucid coins, and so it seems that the site wasn’t settled during those periods. The site was probably only resettled during the Roman period.

The Location of the Tabernacle

As mentioned, the exact location of the Tabernacle (the Iron I cultic center) at Tel Shiloh is disputed. Several different suggestions were raised over the years: (1) A tradition from the Medieval period which was accepted by some modern researchers, such as Chaim Gevaryahu, states that the Tabernacle was located at the nearby site of  Jami’ al-Yatim. However, excavations at the site have revealed that remnants there are to be dated no earlier than the 7^th-8^th centuries CE. (2) The Danish expedition suggested that the location of the Tabernacle was at the site of the Byzantine church at the tel, but there, too, there still haven’t been found more antiquated remnants. (3) Charles Wilson and other researchers after him suggested identifying the site of the Tabernacle with the northern segment of the tel. (4) Israel Finkelstein thought that the Tabernacle was located in the center of the tel, where he found a few Late Bronze favissae. In his view, the Iron Age cultic center replaced the Bronze Age one. (5) Yosef Garfinkel and a few other researchers suggested identifying the cultic center near the city gate.

Bibliography

I. Finkelstein and others, Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, Tel Aviv 1993.

K. W. Larsen, ‘The Seleucid and Hasmonean Coins of Shiloh:What They Do and Do Not Tell Us about the Occupation of Second Century BCE Shiloh’, Stone-Campbell Journal Conference, April 5-6, 2019.

R. Levitan-Ben Aryeh, ‘New Excavations in the Northern Plateau at Tel Shiloh’, in: A. Meron and others (eds.), Sefer Shiloh, Beit El 2016, pp. 208-223 [Hebrew].

T. Lopez and others, ‘A Ceramic Pomegranate from Shiloh’, Judea and Samaria Research Studies 28 (2019), pp. *37-*56.