Biblical Hebrew Forum

["leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Dear All,

I happen to be quite familiar with the Shiloh site and Finkelstein's report.

Let's start with the biblical evidence: presumably, the "sanctuary" or
"tabernacle" was erected there by Joshua (Josh.18 ff.) and remained there
until the days of Eli, when the Ark was captured by the Philistines. Though
actually, it is not mentioned throughout most of the book of Judges, until
the very end (the DH obviously uses this mention of Shiloh in Jud. 21 as
part of his transition to Samuel). Actually, the Bible does not say that
the Philistines destroyed the sanctuary, either, though many commentators
assume that that is what Ps. 78:60 and Jer. 7 and 26 are referring to. We
should remember that the appearance of the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite in
1 Kings 14 assumes that the site is still occupied, and was probably still
a cultic site. Jer. 41:5 shows that the site was still settled even after
586 BCE.

That's all there is. In Hebrew, the sanctuary is called Bayit, Hekhal,
Maqom, Ohel and several other names, most of which are also used of the
Jerusalem Temple. The fact that different English translations use
"temple", "sanctuary" or "tabernacle" is irrevevant.

IF we take the Deuteronomistic History more-or-less literally, than the
"whatever" at Shiloh was YHWH's main sanctuary, being the direct heir to
Moses' tabernacle, as long as the Ark was there. One sub-plot that connects
1 and 2 Samuel is the transferral of the Ark from Shiloh to Jerusalem. This
is certainly the way Jeramiah viewed it. Looked at more critically, Shiloh
was probably one of several Israelean shrines, perhaps the most important
one in the tribal territory of Ephraim, and David incorporated (or
transfered) its Ark, its traditions and what was left of its priesthood
(Abiathar - later sacked by Solomon) in his new Jerusalem cult.

What the excavations actually found was a huge Middle Bronze Age II
fortified site, which was abandoned around 1500 BCE. However quite a few
cultic objects indicate that the site continued to be used as a cult-site
throughout the Late Bronze Age, presumably by the nomads in the region. The
Early Iron Age "Israelite" site is a small village which seems to have been
some sort of administrative or economic center - storehouses with tens of
"collared rimmed" jars, with burt grain still in them. This center was
destroyed around the late 11th century, presumably (even Finkelsein!) by
the Philistines. Occupation through the rest of the Iron Age is sporadic.

The site's identification as a cultic site is based on remains of
offerings, both charred animal remains in pits and cultic items. No actual
structure has been found that could be identifed as a temple. However, the
summit of the site has been "cleared off" by later occupation and whatever
was there is lost beyond recovery. We could immagine a large temple
standing there, in the center of the site. Or we could not... I also know
of a theory that the sanctuary was at the northern end, in what later
became a quary. Who knows.

There is, of course, no way to know what the sanctuary was built of.
Different references (all of which have been cited by y'all) can be
interpreted in diferent ways. Later Jewish tradition, in the Talmud and 
Maimonidies, understood that once the "tent of meeting" was planted in
Shiloh, it was placed over a stone structure, thus harmonizing all of the
descriptions.

By the way, the modern Israeli town (or settlement) of Shiloh, built on the
hill above the tell, has a synagogue that was built as a scale model of the
Tabernacle. There's also a visitor's center, which manages to totally
ignore the actual archaeological finds and offer the visitor (which are few
and far between these days) a "pilgramage experience". Quite ammusing.


Yigal 


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