Archaeologist Discovers Artifacts Pointing to Israelite Tabernacle

SHILOH — A U.S.-based archaeologist and his dig team have uncovered a number of artifacts in the land of Shiloh on Israel’s West Bank that he believes point to a site where activity for the Israelite tabernacle, as outlined in the Old Testament, took place for more than 300 years.
Scott Stripling with the Pennsylvania-based Associates for Biblical Research (ABR), who also serves as a professor of Biblical Archaeology and Church History at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas, was recently interviewed by The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post about the matter.
“Prior to Jerusalem, it was all about Shiloh, so this was Israel’s first capital. Jerusalem remained in Jebusite or Canaanite hands for hundreds of years, whereas Joshua sets up the mishkan at Shiloh,” he explained. “And so we’re very interested in seeing the transition from say the Amorite/Canaanite culture into the Israelite culture.”
Shiloh is mentioned in numerous instances in the Scriptures, including in Joshua 18:1, which states, “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.” The tabernacle was stated to have remained in the location for the next 300 years throughout the period of the judges.
In August, ABR announced that it had found three altar horns in Shiloh in the general area where the remains of an Iron Age building had earlier been discovered. A platform has also been uncovered, which Stripling hopes to excavate further.
“The original altar likely included four horns, like the four-horned Beersheva altar that was dismantled and placed in secondary usage in King Hezekiah’s 8th century reforms (2 Chronicles 29-32, 2 Kings 18:4),” it outlined. “The three altar horns are particularly exceptional as a witness to Israel’s history, and particularly the sacrificial system as described in the Bible.”
Stripling said that a significant number of bones from animals that would have been used in Old Testament sacrifices were also found in the strata.
“These were kosher and young animals, many with signs of burn or butcher marks on them, and they were mostly from the right side of the animal,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “For me, it was [confirmation of] Leviticus chapter 7: The right side of the animal was the priest’s portion, which would have been consumed at Shiloh. It would have been sacrificed, eaten by the priest and the bones disposed.”
A number of storage rooms have also been found in the area — with possibly more to be found, which Stripling believes denotes where various offerings were kept.
“If we’re assuming there was a sacrificial system there … well, what do you bring if you’re going to bring your tithe? You can’t make a secure online donation at Tabernacle.org; you can’t write a check. What are you going to do? You’re going to bring commodities: barley, figs, pomegranates. And so what do we find? Storage rooms around the entire perimeter,” Stripling told The Times of Israel. continue reading this story>>>

Source: Christian News Network