Shiloh was where the Holy Sanctuary was located prior to the Jerusalem Holy Temple. It is first mentioned in the Book of Joshua, which also states that the Holy Sanctuary was built there and stood for about 400 years during the era of the Judges. In the Book of Samuel, Shiloh is mentioned as a religious center, where Elkana and his family go to give sacrifices to G-d. During that pilgrimage, Elkana’s wife, Hana, asks G-d to give her a son and eventually gives birth to Samuel the Prophet.

Shiloh is believed by researchers to have fallen into ruin after the Israelites’ unsuccessful war with the Philistines, in which the enemy took the Holy Ark captive. The Ark was soon returned to Israel, but was never brought back to Shiloh. Instead, it was taken to Kiryat Yearim until King David had it delivered to Jerusalem.

Archaeological findings indicate that a Jewish presence continued at Shiloh until the year 722 BCE, when the Kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria. According to the Book of Judges and the Mishna, unwed Jewish women traditionally went to the vineyards of Shiloh to dance on Tu B’Av.

Shiloh is north of Beit El, Israel, where the excavations are currently being carried out under the auspices of the Archaeological Staff Officer for Judea and Samaria in the IDF Civilian Administration Antiquities Unit and the Binyamin local authority.

The following photos reveal the artefacts discovered and the archaelogists at work in Shiloh.

Shilo artifacts (Picture 1)

Shilo artifacts (Picture 2)

Shilo artifacts (Picture 3)

Shilo artifacts (Picture 4)

Shilo artifacts (Picture 5)

Bar Ilan University archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a Philistine temple in the ancient city of Gath, home of the Biblical Goliath, buried in one of the largest tels (ancient ruin mounds) in Israel.

The temple and a number of ritual items dating back to the 10th century BCE were discovered at Tel Tsafit (Tell es-Safit/Gath) by Professor Aren Maeir of BIU’s Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology and his international team. The tel is located about halfway between Ashkelon and Jerusalem, near Kiryat Gat along the southern coastal plain.

Maeir stated, “Interestingly, the architectural design of this temple, with its two central pillars, is reminiscent of the architectural image that is described in the well-known Biblical story of Samson and the Philistines.” He added that the discovery could indicate that the story of Samson reflects a type of temple that was in use in Philistia at the time. He also said that his team had found impressive evidence of an earthquake in the 8th century BCE, reminiscent of the earthquake mentioned in the Book of Amos 1:1. The team uncovered walls that were moved from their place and collapsed like a deck of cards as a result of the powerful earthquake – assessed at a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale.

In addition, Maeir stated, the summer’s excavations have uncovered further evidence of the destruction of the city by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus, around 830 BCE, as mentioned in Kings II 12:18, as well as evidence of the first Philistine settlement in Canaan (around 1200 BCE).

A Kuala Lumpur Malaysian court convicted Muslims on July 27, 2010. One Muslim was sentenced to a week in prison and 12 Muslims were fined for illegally protesting the construction of a Hindu temple and parading a severed cow’s head.

Sedition, defined as promoting hostility between races, is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine.

The protest last August stoked tensions among Malaysia’s three main ethnic groups, the Malay Muslim majority and Chinese and Indian minorities, most of them Buddhists, Christians or Hindus who have complained that their religious rights are often sidelined in favour of Islam.

The 12 men were among a herd of Muslims who marched with a bloodied cow’s head from a mosque to the central Selangor state chief minister’s office on Aug. 28, 2009 to denounce the state government’s plan to build a Hindu temple in their largely Muslim neighbourhood.

The cow is the most sacred animal in Hinduism. Some of the protesters stomped and spat on the head and made fiery speeches that deeply offended Hindus.

Defence lawyer Afifuddin Hafifi stated all 12 pleaded guilty in a Selangor district court Tuesday to a charge of illegal assembly and were fined 1,000 ringgit ($320) each. They faced up to a year in prison and a fine for the charge.

Two of them who brought and stepped on the cow’s head also pleaded guilty to sedition. Both were fined an additional 3,000 ringgit ($960), and one was sentenced to a week in prison, Afifuddin said.

The conflict highlighted frustrations among minorities about strict government guidelines that restrict the number of non-Muslim places of worship, partly based on whether enough non-Muslims live where a church or temple is to be built.

Authorities in Selangor eventually found a new site to build the controversial temple.

A. Vaithilingam, a Malaysian Hindu religious leader, raised concerns that the penalties imposed by the court might appear inadequate to some Hindus. “The sentences seem to be very light after the huge commotion and the insult,” he stated. The men’s actions “stirred up the emotions throughout the country. This could have caused a riot.”

The protest was among the most high-profile in a string of interfaith disputes in recent years that threatened decades of harmonious ties between Malays, who make up nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s 28 million people, and ethnic minorities.

Early this year, a string of firebomb attacks and vandalism hit mostly non-Muslim places of worship following a court verdict that allowed Christians to use “Allah” in Malay-language publications.

Some Muslim Malaysians insist the non-Muslim use of “Allah” would confuse Muslims and tempt them into converting. Minorities say this is an example of institutionalized religious discrimination, but the government denies any bias.