[German Version]

(Ḫirbat Sailūn, Heb. שִׁילה), some 30 km north of Jerusalem. The biblical narrative makes Shiloh the religious center of the tribes of Israel in the premonarchic period; there the “tent of meeting” (Tabernacle, Jewish) was set up, the land was divided among the tribes, and the Levitical towns were assigned (Josh 18:1, 8–10; 21:2). Religious festivals were celebrated annually. The priestly families of Eli and Samuel were associated with Shiloh. After Israel’s defeat by the Philistines at Ebenezer, they are reported to have destroyed Shiloh (Jer…