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When we think about the House of God, we usually think about the Temple in Jerusalem. However, long before the foundations of the Temple were laid, God's Tabernacle was established in the city of Shiloh, in the hill country of the Tribe of Ephraim, a central place in the life of the people. Here, in the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the story of Hannah takes place, the story of a woman who wants to be a mother more than anything. God responds by blessing her with a son, whom she names Samuel. He grows up to be a prophet (seer) and leader of the nation of Israel. Her baby boy grows up to anoint the first king of Israel -- and to find the young man whose progeny will be God's chosen forever, David. In the era of the conquest of the land of Canaan and the period of the Judges, starting around 1200 BC, long before the establishment of the monarchy, Shiloh, in southern Samaria, served as a spiritual and administrative center for the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Here the Tabernacle stood, said to have been built by Joshua son of Nun, with the Ark of the Covenant at its center. Serving as priests in Shiloh's later days were Eli and his two sons. We know this from the story of Hannah and her husband Elkanah, with whom the Book of Samuel opens. However, the Tabernacle's days were numbered. At the time, there was a bitter conflict ongoing between the Israelites and the coastal nation known as the Philistines. Around 1050 BC, the Battle of Ebenezer took place, to the west of Shiloh. The Philistines won a tremendous victory. The Ark of the Covenant, which had been taken out to the battlefield following the custom of the time, was captured by the Philistines. Chapter Four of the First Book of Samuel tells us that Eli the High Priest, upon hearing the news of the horrible Israelite defeat, fell from his chair, shattered his spine and died. The Philistines then destroyed Shiloh and burnt it to the ground. Half a millennium later, the event was still remembered as a heartbreaking catastrophe, as the priest and prophet Jeremiah describes it (7:12): "Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel."The Battle of Ebenezer spelled the end of Shiloh's capital status. Though it was rebuilt and restored during the period of the monarchy, it never reclaimed that level of national prominence. Archeological remains at the site tell us that in the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and early Arab periods, there were, at various points, Jewish, Christian and Muslim settlements. Shiloh also appears in the famous 6th-cenutry Madaba Mosaic Map. In the Byzantine Era, a church and a basilica were built there; in the Arab Era, a mosque. The later construction damaged the sooty remains of biblical Shiloh. In the 14th century, the traveler Ashtori ha-Parḥi described discovering Shiloh in ruins. Tel Shiloh was excavated and surveyed throughout the 20th century - initially by a Danish team, later by researchers from Bar-Ilan University. Israelite Shiloh was built in the 12th century BC, but even in the preceding centuries, the area was settled. Archeological discoveries reveal earlier strata. In these excavations, remnants of structures destroyed by fire have been uncovered - dramatic testimony to the great conflagration resulting from the defeat at Ebenezer. Many ritual objects, which indicate pilgrimage and sacrificial service, have been found at the site.In 2013, a visitors' center was built at Shiloh, with the aim of informing the public about the importance of the site in Jewish history. This tourist site was built by contributions and sponsored by the Benjamin Regional Council. At the top of the tel is a captivating light-and-sound show that vividly re-enacts life in the days of the Tabernacle at Shiloh - from its founding by Joshua, through the story of Hannah, to the war with the Philistines - using innovative multimedia technology, the first of its kind in Israel.
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