New Discoveries in the Ancient City of Shilo |
The famous story of Chana, which is
read in the Haftara of the first day of Rosh HaShana takes place in Shilo as we
read in Shmuel I 1:3: This man (Elkana) would ascend from
his city (Ramatayim-Zofim in Mt. Ephraim) year by year to worship and to
sacrifice to God, Master of Legions in Shilo. In Shmuel I 1:9-10, we see that this
is the spot where Chana prayed for a child: Chana rose after they had eaten in
Shilo and after they had drunk. Eli the Kohen was sitting on the chair, near
the doorpost of the Sanctuary of the Lord. And she was feeling bitter, and she
prayed to the Lord, weeping continuously… The Mishkan (Tabernacle) stood in
Shilo for almost 370 years, from the days of Yehoshua (around the year 1258
BCE), 14 years after B’nai Yisrael arrived in the Land of Israel. As we see in
Yehoshua 18:1: The entire assembly of the Children
of Israel gathered at Shilo, and set up the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed) there.
The Land was now under their control. The first person in relatively
modern times to recognize the city of ancient Shilo in 1838 was Edward
Robinson, an American Bible critic. For the past 100 years (1922, 1970s,
1981 and 2010 until the present), there have been archeological excavations in
ancient Shilo. Recently, archeologists found five
jugs which were fully intact that date back 2000 years. In addition, they found
coins, a key and wooden dice. Five years ago, archeologists found jugs
that still contained grape seeds. The jugs were covered with debris that fell
from the ceiling. The archeologists date these jugs back to when the Mishkan
was destroyed, around 3000 years ago. The archeologists are still hoping
to find remnants from the Mishkan itself, not just the approximate place where
it stood. For now they have found a large stone that may have been part of the
Mizbeach (altar), a lot of vessels which seemed to have been smashed due to
their status of impurity as well as animal bones which could have been part of
the many sacrifices that were brought there. Since the Mishkan itself was a
temporary structure, parts of it may have decomposed making it harder to find
the remains. Even after 100 years of excavations,
archeologists have only covered about 5% of the area so there is still plenty
more work to do. Shilo generally gets 150,000
visitors per year who want to connect with the Biblical city, the site of the
Mishkan, the holiest site until the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) was built, to see
where Chana prayed and to be inspired. |