An Attack on Tel Shiloh and the Biblical Narrative

I think I may have missed this hit piece on Shiloh's archaeological value at the time.

Excerpts:

About 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, just west of the Israeli settlement Shiloh, lies Tel Shiloh, an archaeological site that attracts tens of thousands of evangelical Christians every year.

There, Scott Stripling, an evangelical pastor from Texas, heads a dig...

...Stripling calls Tel Shiloh Israel's "first capital", based on the idea that Shiloh was the first capital of the Israelites for close to 400 years from the 15th century BCE. ...Biblical scholars beg to differ.

"Properly credentialed biblical scholarship does not assume the historicity of anything prior to King David [ca. 1010-970 BCE]," says Southern Methodist University Professor of Old Testament Susanne Scholz. "That Stripling projects the biblical stories into the historical record exposes him as a Christian fundamentalist. That's the origin of his drive to do archaeology at Tel Shiloh."

Scholz also points out that the claim that Shiloh was the capital of ancient Israel is "utter nonsense".

"Such statements are used to advance geopolitical goals," she says.

The first question an academic like her should be asked is: have you reviewed any of the results of the dig? After all, to depend on a news media site is really an inadequate source.

Has she reviewed the previous results of any earlier digs? The pottery? The walls? Etc.

Some of the studies:

- Buhl, Marie-Louise, & Svend Holm-Nielsen, Shiloh--The Danish Excavations at Tall Sailum, Palestine, in 1926, 1929, 1932 AND 1962: The Pre-Hellenistic Remains. Copenhagen: The National Museum of Denmark, 1969.

- Finkelstein, Israel, et al. Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical City. Tel Aviv, 1993.

- Hizmi, Hananya, and Reut Livyatan-ben-Arie. “The Excavations at the Northern Platform of Tel Shiloh the 2012-2013 Seasons [Translated from Hebrew].” Edited by D. Scott Stripling and David E. Graves. Translated by Hillel Richman. Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 62 (2017): 35–52.

- Kaufman, Asher S. “Fixing the Site of the Tabernacle at Shiloh.” Biblical Archaeology Review 14.6 (Nov-Dec1988): 42-49.

- Schley, Donald G. Shiloh: A Biblical City in Tradition and History, Sheffield, 1989, 2009. 

and this from Stripling:

- Stripling, Scott. “The Israelite Tabernacle at Shiloh.” Bible and Spade 29.3 (Fall 2016): 88-95.

Or even a semi-academic presentation, as here.

Even Finkelstein accepts Shiloh as site of the Tabernacle (religion is not his driving force) and as 

"the sacred religious center of the Israelite population of the hill country"

More from Finkelstein, no Christian fundamentalist, here.

And in this article, evidence of Carbon-14 is presented dating a major conflagration at Shiloh at 1050 BCE, plus or minus 25 years, which corresponds with the Biblical narrative.

According to her CV, her archaeological experience is minimal:

Susanne Scholz is Professor of Old Testament at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. As a diasporic German-American feminist post-Holocaust scholar, she researches, writes, and teaches in the area of sacred text studies, primarily in Hebrew Bible studies.

Dr. Scholz holds a Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Born and raised in Germany, she studied at the University of Mainz and the University of Heidelberg while preparing for the equivalent of the Master of Divinity. She also studied in a one-year study program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, prior to coming to the United States. During these years, she participated at an archaeological dig at Tell el-Oreme/Tel Kinrot on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, led by one of her professors in Mainz.

I would suggest that perhaps it is Scholz who has an agenda rather than an independent objective body of knowledge.

The ongoing excavation and the investigation of the artifacts discovered are impressive and present real evidence and not just theories.

Maybe, when she gets the opportunity, she should visit Tel Shiloh?

^

An Archaeological Battle Over Tel Shiloh

Seems Tel Shiloh (yes, with an "h" as it is written in Hebrew as שילה - shin yud lamed hey) is in the news.

First, the good news:

New Archeological Effort Seeks To Unearth Mishkan's Secrets

The Israeli government has authorized a large scale archeological dig at Tel Shiloh, the ancient biblical site that housed the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and served as the Jewish nation's spiritual capital under the leadership of Joshua and the Judges for nearly 370 years.

Tel Shiloh, which is located north of Beit El in the Binyamin Regional Council (Samaria), adjacent to the modern settlement of Shilo, has become a popular attraction for local and foreign tourists.

While the goal of the dig is to showcase the life and times of ancient Israel, Tzofia Dorot, manager and public relations director of the Tel Shiloh tourist site, acknowledged that the location (in the heart of the Ephraim Hills) could prompt an international uproar.

"No doubt, this is going to make political waves, on a local and international scale," she told The Jewish Press. "And it couldn't come at a more crucial time with everything that is going on in the region, with the international community clamoring for Israel to make concessions.

"The effort to discredit and delegitimize our connection to the Land of Israel is gathering steam. It has been particularly intense since Arafat denied that the Jewish Temple ever existed in Jerusalem. But even before the announcement of the large-scale dig, we were been seeing more and more local and foreign visitors here every day. I am certain that once we begin the actual work the interest and visits will increase exponentially."

Remnants of ancient Shiloh's ramparts were uncovered in previous excavations, including parts of the city walls, homes, wine and oil presses, cisterns and huge warehouses containing enormous earthen jars that once contained oil, wine and flour destined for use in the Mishkan.

A number of residents of modern day Shiloh, which was re-established in 1977 [8 actually], have picked up where their forefathers left off, engaging in a variety of agricultural endeavors. Several boutique wineries in the region have been lauded by local and international wine experts as being among the best in the country.

Dorot is actively engaged in raising funds for a new Tel Shiloh educational and historical visitor's center in anticipation of headline-making discoveries. "Recently," she said, "we had three companies present their ideas for development of a major visitor center. I believe that once we've uncovered the secrets buried here for over 2,000 years, many people will come forward to help us create a magnificent center."

And here is the negative news:

Moves by the Israeli government and settler movement to appropriate historical sites undermine Palestinian cultural rights and highlight how Israel exploits archaeological claims for colonial ends.

...in October 2010, while researching a guidebook to Palestine, I found myself increasingly confused about a number of historical sites scattered around the occupied West Bank. None of them had the religious and historical importance of the Ibrahimi Mosque or Rachel’s Tomb, but they had their own place in Palestinian history and architecture. They were places mentioned in Palestinian tourism publications such as the locally-published Alternative Tourism Group travel guide Palestine and The Palestinians, the official Palestinian Authority Ministry of Tourism website, Jericho Municipality’s tourist listings or the "Places to Visit" section of the PA’s diplomatic mission to Japan website. This implied that they were recognized by Palestinian sources as being part of the country’s heritage. But the information about them was hazy, as if their existence was being acknowledged but at the same time they weren’t being incorporated into the itineraries of the growing Palestinian cultural tourism industry. Palestinian tour organizers I spoke to dismissed my inquiries, saying only that "I’ve never been there" or "we don’t take groups there." There was, I soon found, a very good reason for this...

...A second example lies in the green, intricately curving hills of the central West Bank. On the road between Ramallah and Nablus, near the village of Luban al-Sharqiya and the small town of Sinjel, is Khirbet Seilun, or Tel Shiloh. The layers of habitation deposits at the tel (an archaeological term referring to a hill made up of centuries of building remains) show that people have lived there since at least the Canaanite Bronze Age, and there are significant Roman, Byzantine and Islamic remains.

Khirbet Seilun is regarded as sacred by some Jews because is has been identified by some historians as the Biblical Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for a period on its travels north from Mount Sinai. Excavations in the early 1980s uncovered remains from the Canaanite and Israelite periods, but nothing resembling the Tabernacle, the building which may have housed the Ark at Shiloh. More recent archaeological digs have been controversial because they have uncovered a spectacular Byzantine mosaic which some settlers want to move so they can continue searching for the Israelite sacred remains they believe lie beneath the three Byzantine churches and two small mosques on the site.

Unlike the Khan al-Ahmar and monasteries of St. Euthymius and St. Martyrius, a visitor center at Tel Shiloh is already functioning. Rather than being managed by the INPA, the Tel Shiloh site is run by the extremist settlers of Shiloh who, journalists and human rights groups report have been responsible for innumerable attacks, including shootings and arson, against neighboring Palestinian villages and olive farmers. The Shiloh settlement was founded in the 1970s by the Gush Emunim terrorist group, which exploded car bombs against the mayors of several Palestinian cities in 1980, seriously injuring Bassam Shakaa, then mayor of Nablus (see "Shiloh: An Obstacle to Peace," Time, 13 February 1978 and Nur Masalha, Imperial Israel and the Palestinians, 2000, p 123).

Shiloh and the archaeological remains it has appropriated are now marketed as a destination for pilgrimages and religious tourism but, perhaps unsurprisingly given the beliefs of the settlers here, some non-Jewish tourists report being turned away.

Controversy over the archaeological heritage of Khirbet Seilun looks set to escalate. Last month, The Jewish Press reported that the Israeli government had authorized large-scale new excavations at the site. The aims of the excavations were explicitly said by the paper to be "to showcase the life and times of ancient Israel," which suggests that the archaeologists carrying them out have specific intentions as to what they will find – or not find ("New archaeological effort seeks to unearth Mishkan’s secrets," 23 March 2011). The article did not name the director of the new excavations, but previous digs at Khirbet Seilun have been led by Rachel Ehrlich, a hard-line settler who, in a profile on one Christian Zionist website, was described as being "determined to put the site [of Shiloh] on the map [as] the place where the people of Israel first entered the land, where religious life for the Jewish people was centered for the 369 years the Tabernacle stood there" ("Uncovering our Past, Christian Friends of Israel Communities).

Tzofia Dorot, the manager of the Shiloh visitor center, made some telling comments to The Jewish Press about the importance to settler public relations of Israel’s appropriation of heritage sites. She claimed that Shiloh has been "seeing more and more local and foreign visitors" and that three companies with proposals for a "major visitor center" had visited the settlement. This activity occurred in spite of the skepticism from archaeologists about whether Dorot’s "headline-making discoveries" were really likely to be made.

Tzofia Dorot’s comments to The Jewish Press illustrate why the expropriation of Palestinian heritage sites – whether by the State of Israel or by settler groups acting as its proxies – has a significance well beyond the loss of individual buildings or artifacts. In the eyes of settlers and their supporters, in Israel and beyond, stealing Palestinian archaeological and architectural heritage isn’t just about attracting tourists with open wallets. It’s about asserting settler claims to the land, by emphasizing Jewish history over and above that of the peoples and faiths who came before and after them in Palestine. It is also about presenting the Jewish people as the legitimate custodians of Palestine’s Christian heritage, diverting attention from Israeli oppression of the world’s oldest and longest-lived Christian communities and reinforcing misconceptions about the Palestinian struggle as a religious rather than anti-colonial movement.

As Dorot sees it, the international "effort to discredit and delegitimize our connection to the Land of Israel is gathering steam." Thus, showing settler archaeology to gullible tourists, she believes, will be vital in countering "the international community’s clamoring for Israel to make concessions."

Meanwhile, Palestinian heritage organizations such as PACE and Riwaq are increasingly using models of community participation to raise awareness of the value of archaeological remains and the importance of protecting them (Ghattas J. Sayej, "Palestinian archaeology: knowledge, awareness and cultural heritage, Present Pasts, Vol 2, 2010). In Jerusalem, the Centre for Jerusalem Studies and Emek Shaveh are fighting official and settler expropriation of cultural and historical sites. But defending Palestine’s cultural heritage from the Israeli state and settlers is still low on the priority list.

Imagine that. Those uppity Jews, exploiting archaeology to prove who was here first and who has a better claim based on science rather than mythology (like a midnight horse ride from Saudi Arabia to Jerusalem).

^

The BBC Does Tel Shiloh and Jewish Culure & Archaeology

The BBC includes Tel Shiloh, actually it highlights it, in their story on cultural heritage.

Excerpts (and comments):

Israel heritage plan exposes discord over West Bank history

Israel is launching a Year of National Heritage, to coincide with the country's independence day. As part of this push to celebrate heritage, Israel is progressing with a five-year project promoting Jewish ties to ancient sites in Israel and the West Bank. Israel says it is a purely cultural endeavour, which will help save sites from ruin; but Palestinians have criticised it as politically driven - highlighting deep historical differences fuelling the conflict.

(Note how the Pals. define the historical events of ... 1948: "The Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (DACH) has been in existence now for more than 12 years since its re-establishment in August 1994. The inauguration of the DACH, under the Palestinian National Authority, was a momentous event and represents the revival of the Department of Antiquities established in 1920 under the British Mandate and terminated with the political events of 1948, when Israel was established."  Now, that is a very, ahem, non-political way to describe Arab rejection of the UN Partition recommendation and the launching of a war of extermination agauinst the Jewish state, six months before it was to come into existence, not to mention why that British Mandate existed - which was to facilitate the reconstitution of the Jewish national home, with immigration and close settlement in the area of, at least, Judea and Samaria)

On a peak in the archaeological park of Tel Shiloh, finishing touches are being put to a new multi-million dollar visitors' centre, due to open in a few weeks' time.  The rotunda overlooks a rectangular stone outline of what many believe to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, brought here by the Israelites who made Shiloh their capital. Excavations there will resume in the summer.

"Who knows what they'll find," says Ncoom Gilbar, a translator who has lived in the Jewish settlement of Shiloh, which contains the park, for 22 years. "It's a very exciting prospect."
 

(the latest finds: here; and also here; and here.  Those of 2007)

The ruins scattered around Tel Shiloh are testament to the recognition through the ages of its significance as a Biblical site - "it's a whole jumble of periods", says Mr Gilbar. Behind us, archaeologists and workers delicately excavate the ground around a 4th Century Byzantine church, dusting stones by hand and pushing wheelbarrows of rubble. Nearby stand the remains of an 8th Century mosque, built on top of another, earlier church.

In the past couple of years the number of tourists visiting Tel Shiloh has grown exponentially, a trend set to continue since the government designated the park a national heritage site last year.  This means Tel Shiloh, along with other ancient West Bank sites, will receive special government funding for their development and upkeep.

"Is there an attempt to bring more people here? Yes," says Mr Gilbar. "Is that wrong? No. This is where our history in the Land of Israel began."
 

(We're no strangers to controversy)

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the $190m National Heritage Sites project in 2010, he said Israel's existence depended "first and foremost" on educating future generations about Jewish culture and connection to the land. "A people must know its past to ensure its future," he said.

(My take; that of Dror Eydar)

"The West Bank is an integral part of the history of Palestine," says Hamdan Taha, director of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. "Netanyahu's heritage plan is an aggression against the cultural right of Palestinian people in their own state," as the West Bank's status is considered to be by many Palestinians.

Mr Taha says the Israeli government's emphasis on the Jewish historical aspect of some sites is "an ideological misuse of archaeological evidence".
"Jewish heritage in the West Bank - like Christian or Islamic - is part of Palestinian heritage and we reject categorically any ethnic division of culture."
 

(Taha said something else in Ocotber 2011: "The town of Shiloh is another target for Taha’s revisionism. Despite Shiloh being the capital of the Jewish nation for nearly four centuries and the Jews having brought the Tabernacle there, making Shiloh the religious center of the Israelites before Jerusalem, Taha is convincing the international community that the Jewish Shiloh never existed: “In Shiloh the settlers pretended to have found the tabernacles,” he proclaimed. “They can find the chicken bone my grandfather ate 50 years ago and say it was a young calf for ancient sacrifice.”)

..."If you want to learn about the history of this land, it's about the different layers, the different civilisations that have been here - it's not just about one," says Yoni Mizrachi, a former Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist...Mr Mizrachi, whose organisation Emek Shaveh opposes the "politicisation" of archaeology...

(If there is any politicisation being done, its is Mizrachi's work with Emek Shaveh.  And we've been minimized before).



Another well-rounded, comprehensive and factual report from the BBC.


P.S.  They could have included Tel Shiloh's web site, too.
^

Tel Shiloh Angers Anti-Zionist Archaeologists

The far-left and perhaps even anti-Zionist group of archaeologists who cannot tolerate the justification of the Zionist enterprise through archaeology, Emek Shaveh, has now dealt with my home town.

Here's the summary of their report:

New report: Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun)
Tel Shiloh is located in southern Samaria, north of the Palestinian village of Turmus ‘Aya, and west of the settlement of Shiloh. In the past, the lands were owned by residents of the village of Qaryut, [not true] located north of the archaeological mount (the “Tel.”) Today, the site is included within the area of the Shiloh settlement. The name of the Biblical site, Khirbet Seilun, has been preserved at the site. [that should be: "The name Khirbet Seilun preserves the name of the Biblical site", but English may not be their best language - YM] Although in Israel and the West Bank, the Nature and Parks Authority operates the important antiquities sites, Tel Shiloh is operated by a non-profit organization, “The Mishkan Shiloh Association –The Center for the Study and Development of the Cradle of Settlement in the Land of Israel,” together with the Binyamin Regional Council.

At Tel Shiloh, faith and tradition infuse content into the archaeological site. The Tel itself is a site of small proportions (approximately 8.5 acres, as mentioned), testifying to very limited settlement during the Biblical period. Despite this, the government of Israel decided in 2010 to invest considerable sums in the site and to turn it into a key tourist and heritage center in Samaria. The archaeological excavations make it possible to generate public interest around new discoveries, and already, one can see that there is an attempt to “prove” the Biblical story through archaeological research.

The tremendous, disproportionate investment in a site of these dimensions would not be carried out were it not for political interests bent on bolstering the settlements in the area. These interests led to the eviction of the Palestinian residents from their lands [a lie], and appropriation of the site for the benefit of the settlement. Today, they are conducting a one-dimensional presentation of the site, massive building at the heart of the archaeological layers, and administration by a private-ideological organization rather than a government agency.

Don't you just love an angry Leftist?

Visit virtually the site and then come and really visit.

^ 

Continuing the Tel Shiloh Allocations Story

From Haaretz today:-

The ministerial committee that deals with national heritage sites, under the auspices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, decided last week to embrace a new West Bank project: Thanks to a government allocation of NIS 5 million, archaeological excavations and other preservation work will take place at Tel Shiloh, a biblical site in the West Bank. A large tourist center is also planned as part of the project; visitors there will learn about life in the biblical era in Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was said to have been held for 369 years.

This is a precedent-setting decision, since Israeli governments up to now have not allocated funds for renovation and preservation of the site, located within the area of the Binyamin Regional Council. The committee’s decision to embark on the project states that “Tel Shiloh is a unique heritage asset” for the Jewish people, and mention was made of the fact that work at the site will be backed by supplementary funds totaling some NIS 10 million, to be provided by private sources.

In the months ahead, wide-ranging excavation work is to be undertaken at Tel Shiloh, with the assistance of the Department of Antiquities and the chairman of the head of the national heritage development department in the Prime Minister’s Office, Reuven Pinsky. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited the site a few weeks ago, and declared that Tel Shiloh will become part of the tour circuit organized for schools by his ministry. Indeed, an examination by Haaretz shows that Tel Shiloh was added to the Education Ministry tour list just a few months ago.

It bears repeating.

^

Touristy Shiloh

From Ancient Shiloh: A New Stop on the Tourist Map?

...Nestled in the Judean Hills about a 40 minute drive from Jerusalem and closer to Nablus lies the ancient city of Shiloh, the first home of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that for 369 years was the epicenter of religious observance and sacrifices as the Jewish people traveled in the desert. Tzofia Dorot...explained to The Media Line why Shiloh was attracting new visitors. “People are not afraid today; unlike maybe 10-years ago when the situation was different. Today it’s pretty quiet...

...“Shiloh was the heartland of Israel. About 3200 years ago this was the center of Israel, and unfortunately people have forgotten that. It’s good to remind myself, and I invited ten friends to join us in order to remind them, too.”...

...In February, 2012, the government of Israel declared Tel Shiloh an archeological heritage site, and pumped-in an initial $1.5 million, a portion of the $12 million needed over the next five years. This help enabled the recent digs that uncovered the actual area where the Tabernacle rested. Dorot says Shiloh is like a “mini-Jerusalem” without the mess and noise of the big city. “A site that has so many layers and is such a big part of our history should be exposed,” she argued. “Today we have all the layers of the history of Shiloh. Basically, we have the story of the land of Israel.” The head of the Israel Antiquities Authority agreed to establish at Tel Shiloh the first visitors’ center located inside an archaeological site. The ultra-modern glass and metal structure that is designed to evoke an image “that connects the land to the sky,” stands on bedrock in order not to harm the archaeology. Visitors will go from the stones of archaeology up to the tower where, “The tower will help visitors understand and see what their eyes cannot. The first floor will be for guiding and the second floor will showcase a movie projected onto the special glass walls that can be controlled so that cinema merges with the reality beyond...Education Minister Gidon Saar announced in early 2011, a program to bring Israeli schoolchildren to heritage sites located in post-1967 territories – including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the ancient city of Shiloh -- so that they would know “the historic roots of the State of Israel in the Land of Israel.”

Marc Prowisor, director of security for Judea and Samaria for One Israel Fund – an advocacy group promoting Jewish ties to post-1967 lands -- felt Saar’s initiative was long overdue. Prowisor charged that “it was a crime of all Israeli governments and educational ministries for withholding information from the Israeli public, children and the Jewish people.” According to Avital Seleh, director of Tel Shiloh, “Two years ago we said it was time to bring Israelis and tourists to Shiloh. 30,000 people have been visiting annually: 50% Israeli and 50% from around the world. A separate program was initiated that brought in young people to participate in the digging so they will remember that they touched Shiloh.” Adding evidence that interest in the area and willingness to travel there is on the rise, Prowisor said referring to an American lobby tied to Israel that advocates ceding post-1967 land to the Palestinians, “Even J-Street recently came.”..

...[Dorot added] “If I am here now, it’s my job to make sure that the archeology here will be exposed; it’s my job to make sure we have serious research here. I don’t want to lose the artifacts; I want to make sure I write down everything. I think it’s never going to happen, but even if something will change and nobody will be here, I know we did the research, we have the artifacts, I know my roots are deep into this site, we have the history here and nobody can deny it.

^

The Battle At Shiloh

Was there a battle in Shiloh, in the Hills of Efraim, after the Philistines defeated the Israelites near the lower hill country?

The battle at Even HaEzer was lost.  The Ark of the Covenant fell into the hands of the Philistines and the two sons of Eli the High Priest, Chofni and Pinchas, were killed.   As described in I Samuel 4:-

17 And he that brought the tidings answered and said: 'Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.'

But there's no direct reference to the fate of the city.

We need to read Jeremiah 7  to learn of a hint:

12 For go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel.

So, was Shiloh destroyed?

We do know that when Yerovam's son, Aviyha, fell sick, the king sent his wife to Shiloh, to have the prophet Achiyah intercede as written in I Kings 14:-

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife: 'Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh; behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people.

What happened at Shiloh?  Was it destroyed and rebuilt?

And later on, we read in Jeremiah 41:

4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, 5 that there came certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand to bring them to the house of the LORD. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them: 'Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.' 7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him. 8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael: 'Slay us not; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.' So he forbore, and slew them not among their brethren.

Science in service of archaeology is problematic:

As much as we had all hoped that radar and resistivity would help identify key areas or rooms associated with the area at the tell where the Tabernacle had stood, the radar records were a hopeless jumble of reflections we could not sort out. Most of the tell was too rough and uneven to use the cart radar. However, as excavation proceeds it is entirely possible that limited radar studies might be of value from time to time. Tells can be enormously complicated structures. We were all impressed with the painstaking efforts required of the archaeologist who seeks to unravel their mysteries.

Israel Finkelstein who excavated Tel Shiloh 1980-1984 has now published some very interesting information though:-

The Iron I settlement at Shiloh – Stratum V – came to an end in a violent conflagration that can be observed throughout the site (Kjaer 1930; Finkelstein 1993). This destruction layer yielded several organic samples. Large quantities of charred grain were unearthed in two silos in Area D (Lederman and Finkelstein 1993, 48) and charred raisins and seeds were found in Area C (Kislev 1993). In the early 1980s, these finds had been stored in a laboratory at Bar Ilan University and were not submitted to 14C measurement. With the growing interest in absolute dating of Iron I-IIA assemblages, several samples have recently been cleaned and sent for 14C dating. The results are published here for the first time.

All 14C dates for samples retrieved from Stratum V at Shiloh are presented in Table 1. The first measurement of charred grain (Table 1: 1) was done in a conventional radiometric Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) method (Aitken 1990) at the Weizmann Institute of Science laboratory. The other measurements (Table 1: 2–4) were analyzed in the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) system (Kutscera et al. 1999). They were prepared by the Weizmann laboratory and measured at the AMS facility of the University of Arizona.1 The dates in the table are mean, averaged from a number of consistent measurements done on sub-samples. The uncertainties correspond to one standard deviation; the full probability distribution can be seen in Fig. 2. It is clear that the charred grain found in the two silos in Area D (Table 1: 1–2) represents the destruction date of the site in a margin of a few years. The charred raisins from Area C (Table 1: 3) were found in a group and therefore may also be evaluated in the same way. Yet, the fact that they were found intact seems to indicate that they had been stored as a dry commodity before being charred (Kislev 1993, 354–355); in other words, they do not necessarily represent the final days before the destruction. The seeds from Area C (Table 1: 4) come from flotation of debris above a floor in the pillared storage building; they could have originated from bricks and therefore cannot be used for determining the destruction date (see Note 3).

The destruction date of Shiloh V can accordingly be calculated from the charred grain reported in Table 1: 1–2. But since the dates yielded from the two grain samples and the raisins are consistent with each other, we can also combine the items in Table 1: 1–3. The uncalibrated date for the destruction, reported in conventional radiocarbon years, is 2873±13 BP. This date was obtained by a fit to a constant (see Fig. 1), assuming (for the sake of caution caution) that all these samples are contemporary, representing the destruction time. Using the 1998 calibration curve (Stuiver et al. 1998)2 by means of the 1999 OxCal v.3.3 computer program of Bronk Ramsey (1995) one gets a one standard deviation absolute date of 1050-1000 BCE (Table 1: 1–3, c=0.9), or 1050–975 (Table 1: 1–2, c2=0.2) for this destruction.3

First of all, the was a destruction. The structures were disassembled and fired.

Second, we know when. Between 1050 and 975 Before the Common Era.

This was published too:

...Since Shiloh fell to the Philistines ca. 1100 B.C. or a little later...

Fall of Shiloh (l Sam. 1-4)

Significant architecture from the Iron Age I, the time of Eli, has been excavated at Khirbet Seilun, ancient Shiloh, 17 km south of Shechem. All traces of Iron Age and earlier occupation on the summit of the site unfortunately were removed by later building activity. On the slopes, however, enough material from the Iron Age I period has been found to determine that the settlement at that time was 2 1/2 to 3 acres in size.120

The best-preserved remains from the time of Eli are on the west slope of the site. There, a three-room structure 27 x 11 m, containing a rich assem­blage of pottery, was uncovered. Over 20 pithoi in the complex suggests it functioned as a storage facility. Sophisticated building techniques were employed, such as slope terracing to provide two levels, well-made floors, stone-drum columns, and a rock-cut plastered cistern.121 Israel Finkelstein, the excavator, concluded, "In their plan, constructional method and adap­tation to the slope these structures represent the peak of early Israelite ar­chitecture."122 Because of the advanced technology, Finkelstein believes the structure could not have been built prior to the mid-twelfth century B.C.,123 approximately the beginning of Eli's judgeship.124 He theorizes it was an auxiliary building for the Tabernacle that originally stood on the summit.I25

Psalm 78:60 and Jeremiah 7:12-14; 26:6, 9 indicate that Shiloh was destroyed and abandoned as a result of God's judgment. The archaeological findings dramatically demonstrate that Iron Age I Shiloh was terminated in a fiery destruction:

These buildings were destroyed in a fierce conflagration. Burnt floors were found all over. Collapsed burnt bricks accumulated on these floors to a height of more than three feet. Some of the bricks had been baked by the blaze that had raged here. Roof collapse was discernible in many places. All this dramatic evidence of fire must be associated with the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines after they defeated the Israelites near Ebenezer in the mid-eleventh century B.C.126

The published date for the destruction, ca. 1050 B.C., is based on pottery chronology, which is very imprecise, particularly for the Iron Age I period. A date anywhere from ca. 1104 B.C., Merrill's estimated date for the battle of Ebenezer,127 to ca. 1050 B.C. would accommodate the pottery types found in the destruction level.

120. Israel Finkelstein, ed., "Excavation at Shiloh 1981-1984," Tel Aviv 12 (1985): 168; idem, "Shiloh Yields Some, but Not All, of Its Secrets," BAR 12, no. 1 (January-February 1986): 40; idem. "Seilun, Khirbet," in ABD, 5:1072; idem, "Shiloh: Renewed Excavations," in NEAEHL 4:1369; Israel Finkelstein, Shlomo Bunimovitz, and Zvi Lederman, Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, Tel Aviv University Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology Monograph Series 10 (Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, 1993), 384.
121. Finkelstein, "Excavation at Shiloh," 131-38; idem, "Shiloh Yields Some...of Its Secrets," 37-39; Finkelstein, Bunimovitz, and Lederman, Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, 20- 31.
122. Finkelstein, "Excavation at Shiloh 1981-1984," 169; cf. Finkelstein, Bunimovitz, and Lederman. Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, 385.
123. Finkelstein, "Excavation at Shiloh," 168; cf. Finkelstein, Bunimovitz, and Lederman, Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, 383.
124. Merrill estimates the battle of Ebenezer and the death of Eli took place ca. 1104 B.C. (Kingdom of Priests, 176). Since Eli judged Israel forty years (1 Sam. 4:18), he began his judgeship ca. 1144 B.C.
125. Finkelstein, "Excavation at Shiloh," 169; idem, "Shiloh Yields Some...of Its Secrets," 41; idem, "Seilun, Khirbet," in ABD, 5:1072; cf. Finkelstein, Bunimovitz, and Lederman, Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site, 384-85.
126. Finkelstein "Shiloh Yields Some…of Its Secrets," 39; and idem, "Shiloh: Renewed Excavations," in NEAEHL, 4:1368.
127. Cf. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 176 n. 83.
128. K. A. Kitchen, "The Patriarchs Revisited: A Reply to Dr. Ronald S. Hendel," NEASB 43 (1998): 55-56.

And as it is generally considered that King David's lifetime was in the area of 1000 BCE, we have a very good match of scientific evidence matching the Biblical narrative and confirming the reality that was Shiloh.

More resources.

And more.


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Tel Shiloh Story - My Op-ed in today's Jerusalem Post

Here's my latest op-ed at the Jerusalem Post today:-

Telling the 'Tel Shiloh' story

Twenty-nine years ago, permission was granted to establish a civilian presence near Tel Shiloh. It was termed an archeological excavation team; its arrival followed a Gush Emunim effort the previous Succot, in September 1977, codenamed "Twelve Tribes," which saw 12 settlement groups set out to Bet El, Neveh Tzuf, Bet Horin and another nine sites, including Shiloh.

Then prime minister Menachem Begin allowed himself to be persuaded by Moshe Dayan, his foreign minister, to permit only those groups that had arrived at army camps or police stations to stay. The others were forced to leave.

But the families who had joined the effort to reestablish Shiloh - 45 kilometers directly north of Jerusalem, midway between Ramallah and Nablus - persisted. Education minister Zevulun Hammer, with the help of deputy defense minister Mordechai Tzippori, facilitated the upstart archeological enterprise.

Twenty-nine years later, archeology still remains a centerpiece of Shiloh, underscoring it as a legitimate place of Jewish revenant residency.

Shiloh was, and is, an archeological location of the first order, identified by Edward Robinson in 1838. Digs were conducted there by a Danish expedition under the direction of Hans Kjaer in the 1920s and 30s, unearthing Greek, Byzantine and early Islamic artifacts.

Dr. Israel Finkelstein excavated Shiloh from 1981 to 1984 and found Late Bronze pottery. That is usually associated with the period of the Judges - but Finkelstein claimed the pottery had just been dumped there. It's his opinion that Shiloh was not occupied during the period of the Judges.

FINKELSTEIN'S other opinions are even more controversial. He maintains there is no archeological evidence for the existence of Abraham, the other Patriarchs, Moses, or the Exodus, and that the monarchies of David or Solomon were much smaller than the Bible implies.

He bases himself on a method called "low chronology," which essentially rearranges the dates of biblical events. That approach is criticized by, among others, Michael Coogan, editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible, who contends that Finkelstein and his colleague "move from the hypothetical to the improbable to the absurd."

For Finkelstein, biblical narrative is little more than folktales, and legends: Thus there was no conquest, as presented in the Bible, of Jericho and the area of Beit El.

In a Haaretz interview, Finkelstein suggested that there were no desert nomads who invaded rapidly west, only groups of a local population that moved around the land in circular processes over hundreds of years. Finkelstein's archeology tells him there are no historical grounds for the Ark of the Tabernacle, Hannah and Samuel, and no tribal distribution of land by Joshua, as recounted in Judges XVIII.

LET US, though, return to what has been discovered at Shiloh. The most numerous and visibly obvious signs of previous occupancy are the basilicas. The first one unearthed, nicknamed the "Pilgrims' Church," now serves as the visitors center, its mosaic hidden away beneath concrete paving stones.

The second, the "Danish Church," is significant for the attempt made by the Danes to reconstruct it, utilizing floor plans which later digging proved incorrect.

This last summer's clean-up operation at a "new," third church revealed a magnificent mosaic floor with many geometric designs as well as illustrations of fauna and flora. There are crosses too.

The church itself, probably built circa 380 CE, attests to the spiritual significance Shiloh exudes for religions other than Judaism. But more importantly, an inscription was found which specifically referred to "Seilun [Shiloh] and its Inhabitants."

For us, the modern-day inhabitants of the former capital of the Israelite tribal federation, this 1,700-year-old reminder of the history of our people, the sacredness of our land and the theological significance of our presence - even if from a rival religion - is more than satisfying. Theories such as Finkelstein's are but a temporary academic fad and only strengthen our determination that the digging must go deeper.

We cannot afford to be lax in the sphere of science as we face fierce - and false - competition from an ethnic community which created a past for itself, then set out to destroy ours.

THE OSLO Accords fixed a mechanism for guarding holy sites. Article 32 of the Interim Agreement assigned responsibility over sites of religious significance to the Arab side. Both sides were to respect and protect the religious rights of all, rights that include protection of the sites, free access to them, and freedom of worship and practice. The Arabs have been singularly unfaithful in this regard, as the travesties of Joseph's Tomb and the Shalom Al Yisrael Synagogue in Jericho have shown.

There are Muslim sites at Shiloh, and those of Christian significance as well. The crosses and the mihrabs are well guarded. The Jewish artifacts and treasures are also preserved - now that we are there.

Archeology is not a science of the past, but a platform for the future: a Jewish future in the national homeland of the Jewish people.

Cross-published here.

=================

To view some 50 recent photographs of the results of the new digging, please see here.

Tel Shiloh to Receive Government Upgrade Funding

JPost report:-

Jewish heritage site to get NIS 15m. fix

The West Bank Jewish Heritage site Tel Shiloh located north of Jerusalem in the Binyamin region will be renovated with NIS 5 million in government funds and another NIS 10 million from private donations.  The Ministerial Committee for National Heritage sites approved the funding as part of a package of NIS 72 million that it distributed Tuesday morning to 13 such sites throughout the country (*see below).

In Biblical times the Ark of the Covenant was housed at Tel Shiloh, which is now an archeological site, located near the Shiloh settlement community village.

Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On attacked the decision to fund Tel Shiloh. Netanyahu's "extreme right wing government is isolating Israel from the international community," she said.

But rather than welcome the move, right-wing parliamentarians and settler leaders said they were angered that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem were not included in the funding list of 13 sites.  MK Arye Eldad (National Union), who along with MK Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) heads the Land for Israel lobby group in the Knesset, said that the absence of these two sites from the critical funding list was tantamount to their removal from the National Heritage program.

He added that it was yet one more action by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government against the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.

"Those who forget their past won't have a future," he warned.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said that both sites remain on the list, but did not meet the criteria for critical funding. While the Cave of the Patriarchs needs handicap access and roof repairs, the Civil Administration is weighing these repairs, the sources said.

Rachel's Tomb has recently undergone a renovation, sources in the Prime Minister's Office said.  They added that both sites remain on the National Heritage list...

Actually, the Tel site lost critical funding about about a decade ago when Benny Elon was Tourism Minister when the director was less than efficient in his administrative duties. I guess this is just compensating.

Besides, we have two upcoming archaeological digs, one to start in mid-March, and a new educational tower and museum to build.

(*)

Gov't release:

Ministerial Heritage Plan Committee Approves 13 Additional Initiatives for Renovation and Strengthening (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

The Ministerial Heritage Plan Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday), 14.2.12, unanimously approved a plan to renovate and strengthen 13 additional initiatives, at a cost of NIS 72.5 (NIS 32.5 will be financed by the Heritage Plan and NIS 40 million will be financed by outside sources).

The approved initiatives include archaeological sites, sites and structures for preservation and archives, as well as intangible initiatives that promote culture and the arts. Included among the approved initiatives are: An interactive reconstruction of a watchtower-and-stockade community; operating the Yemin Moshe windmill in Jerusalem; preserving and upgrading the Umm El-Umdan archaeological site (near Modi'in), which presents a complete section of a Jewish community from the Hasmonean period; the development of Tel Shilo, where the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant situated; upgrading the presentation at Beit Hapkidot in Rosh Pina and renovating the first Hebrew school in the community; and operating the "Adopt a Site" plan in which students will preserve archaeological sites at Tel Yokneam, Tel Usha and Tel Batash.

...During the meeting, it was made clear that Rachel's Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs are on the list of the heritage sites of the Jewish People and that their location, importance and centrality will not be infringed on.

Reminder:

In 2010, Netanyahu announced a list of sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, which were slated for rehabilitation and renovation as part of Israel’s National Heritage Program. However, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed concern that inclusion of the two sensitive sites would escalate tensions in the region, and U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said the sites were “of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam and to Christianity as well.”

^

Tel Shiloh Tourist Development Attacked

Tel Shiloh is in the news:

Archaeologists say new buildings at Tel Shiloh designed to strengthen local settlements, damage antiquities.

and from the Haaretz report [with my comments]

The Mateh Binyamin Regional Council has commenced construction at the archaeological site of Tel Shiloh, despite the fact that building plans there have not yet been approved. The local council claims that work at the site is legitimate since it is conducted according to an existing plan. Nevertheless it ordered a stop to construction after archaeologists, strongly opposed to the plan, threatened to lodge a complaint.
Tel Shiloh is one of the most important ancient sites in Judea and Samaria. Tradition has it that the Ark of the Covenant was placed there before being transported to Jerusalem. Excavations have discovered multiple layers, dating back to the Bronze and Iron ages, as well as the classical, Byzantine and Muslim periods. The site is managed and developed by the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.

Last year, a large observation tower was completed at the site’s highest point.

The tower angered archaeologists [er, certain left-wing archaeologists who do not want Jews to reside in Judea and Samaria which would not leave archaeologists in 1000 years with any work] The current construction plans are much more grandiose than those for the tower, and incorporate massive development of large areas at the bottom of the mound, including those with archaeological relics. [that is very disputable since, properly, the work is not on the Tel itself] The plan calls for the construction of an amphitheater, a 60-room hotel, a large parking lot and commercial center, galleries, shops and “boutique workshops that will not harm the environment.”

“The proposed plan will cause irreparable damage to the character of the site and its antiquities,” says archaeologist Yoni Mizrahi of the “Emek Shaveh” organization of archaeologist and community activists, which is trying to use archeology as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians. [a bridge?  they do not want Israelis across the Green Line]...The proposed plan is scandalous and has been brought forth before serious discussions or ratification by planning bodies. The law is being broken and antiquities damaged [nothing is damaged and by the way, does he protest Waqf destruction of Temple Mount artifacts?]. The purpose of this construction and usage of antiquities is to strengthen the settlements in the area. This is a clear statement by Israel and the settlers regarding their intentions as to the future of the area.”

In two weeks the Civil Administration’s planning committee will hear the arguments opposing the plan. Among the opponents is the Emek Shaveh group, which says that construction will damage important archaeological layers. Members of the group arrived two weeks ago to prepare their case and were surprised to see that work had already begun. There were many bulldozers at work, with workers claiming that they were building an amphitheater.

The Mateh Binyamin Regional Council initially stated that they were operating under an older plan but then they ordered the work stopped, instructing the contractors to return things to their previous state. This was supposedly ordered by the Civil Administration.

Mizrahi says that the site’s management is selective in presenting the site. Visitors are guided mainly around the story of the Ark, [not my tour] although this period is actually only scantily represented at the site. Later periods left behind many more significant findings. “The tour ignores the rich diversity and complexity of the site and highlights only one period, which left behind very little,” Emek Shaveh wrote in its opposition to the plan.

^

The Truth from Tel Shiloh

Yesterday, MK Zehava Galon minimized the value of Tel Shiloh. 

Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On attacked the decision to fund Tel Shiloh. Netanyahu's "extreme right wing government is isolating Israel from the international community," she said.

A more neutral observer notes

The motivating force of practical Zionism since 1967 has been the attempt to turn the historical attachment to all parts of the Land of Israel, which nobody disputes, into a political right. To translate the desire to return to Shiloh, Beit El, Anatot and Hebron—the cradle of the nation — into a diplomatic right over which there can be no compromise because it is impossible to compromise on a right granted thousands of years ago. By means of that same right, claim those who hold it sacred, the Zionists came to the Jezreel Valley and Jerusalem, and afterward to Shiloh and Hebron.

And that is correct.  We are not isolating ourselves but instructing the world and our immediate neighbors that that sacred right is not a myth.  It is not fancifal or fake.  It is real.  It comes out of the ground we dig, and out of our minds and hearts.  It is who we are as Jews.  Isolated or not, that is the truth and truth is as sacred as our beliefs.

The Jewish people possess not only a right, but a heritage, a legacy.  It is religious, cultural, historical and legal.

Today, some two dozen Tel Shiloh guides underwent an intensive half-day seminar.

Some pictures:

And those were from just the 1st century Roman period until the late Byzantine and early Muslim periods, 5th to 7th centuries.  You can see an olive press (one of those weights is Second Temple period), walls, a possible stone-engraved relief, store rooms, plumbing and more.

Soon, we will be seeing more as a new excavation should begin mid-March in the area that may have contained the Tabernacle court.

__________

Follow up from yesterday:

Some government officials suggested that the decision was motivated by fear of worldwide condemnation. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed concern that inclusion of the two sensitive sites would escalate tensions in the region, and U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said the sites were “of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam and to Christianity as well.”

Hershkowitz submitted a letter to Hauser, Army Radio reported, demanding that Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs be added back to the list.

“Omitting Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs is like denying our elementary heritage,” he wrote in the letter, according to Army Radio. “They are the burial sites of our three fathers and four mothers. The state of Israel extracts its entire heritage from these sites.”

Army Radio quoted a Prime Minister’s Office statement as saying that “the projects slated for approval today are sites that require immediate and urgent renovation. Rachel’s Tomb is already undergoing extensive renovation anyway and no specific problems were identified at the Cave of the Patriarchs.”

^

JewishIsrael Claims: "Medad 'Found Jesus'; Is Venal

There is a site devoted to exposing missionary activity by Christians, Messianic Jews and what-not in Israel. It is JewishIsrael.

As with persons who are enthusiastic about their work, or too deeply ideological consumed by their mission (sorry about that play on words), or even needing to screed their message to obtain contributions, they hyper their call to action as well as fudge their 'facts'. They engage in classic guilt-by-association and in my specific case now, impugn one's motives and character.

I think even they have now committed a Jewish Halachic crime of 'halbant paninm' *.

In this post, the are attacking, mainly, Tommy Waller's efforts. But before Tommy and his HaYovel group of volunteers are touched upon, allow me to mention...me.

Here's what they write:

Jesus in Shiloh

Nitzana is not the only place where Jewish lines are being crossed by Christians. It seems that Yisrael Medad found Jesus in Shiloh. Medad, who works with the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and serves as a foreign media spokesperson for the communities in Yehuda and Shomron, blogged about new archaeological church excavations, which could put Shiloh on the map in a big way – for Christian pilgrims. What is most disturbing is the comparisons Medad draws, when perhaps he should have drawn differentiations instead...

...Medad's enthusiasm is most likely not theological in nature. It may derive from his hopes for a possible windfall for Shiloh, his hometown. With the prospect of increased Christian tourism and support, it is unlikely that interested parties in Yehuda and Shomron are going to call for a moratorium on cooperation with evangelical messianics anytime soon. However, rabbis, Jewish community leaders and activists should understand that they are playing with some pretty strange fire. Extreme caution is called for, lest Torah observant Jews break new theological ground, rather than hold Israel’s ground in Yehuda and Shomron.

From the halls of the CUFI Summit in Washington, to the Hills of Yehuda and Shomron, to liaison and winery offices, to the pages of a website, Mike Isley and Tommy Waller are united in messianic Christian fellowship.

I do not know who wrote that fiendish (I almost wrote devilish but I might have been accused of assuming Christian semanitcation - I made up that word, I think, but not to be confused with incantation or worse, incarnation) portrayal. I think one of the activists of JewishIsrael was for many years a Christian Messianist although she was born Jewish, later returning to the fold but, of course, Ellen Horowitz, a good Jewish girl, formerly of the Reform persuasion, and whose husband is trying to help people with other issues which need attention, is responsible for the content. I was informed, although not sure this was publicised, that Mina Fenton, one of the more fanatic anti-missionary activists, is no longer affiliated with JewishIsrael because she is too...ah, I cannot embarass anyone in public, so let's just say the two didn't see eye-to-eye anymore.  I admit, I cooperated with the two women - and others - in the matter of  Vatican attempts to wrest control of Mt. Zion from Israel over five years ago or more and would still do so.  I harbor no guilt-by-association prejudices but try to deal from issue to issue and position by position.  And in an aside, in the post, you can see a good few pictures of David Wilder who has 'repented' his previous cooperation and gone over to Ellen's side.  Imagine what people are now thinking when they see David's picture there.

Now, as I seem to shun posts that go on and on, let's try to be to the point:

a) in writing this:

Nitzana is not the only place where Jewish lines are being crossed by Christians. It seems that Yisrael Medad found Jesus in Shiloh.

the logical intimation is 1) Jewish lines are being crossed; 2) they are being crossed like in Nitzana; 3) Yisrael Medad did what was done in Nitzana; 4) Yisrael Medad found Jesus.

And what was done in Nitzana?

a synagogue in Eretz Yisrael was deliberately used as a forum for a Jew-gone-Christian to publicly testify her faith in jesus

Did I do that?  Did I do all that, including the above 1-4?

Is JewishIsrael crazy?  Is the writer mentally disturbed?  Or, perhaps, was caught up in an esctatic (I almost wrote orgiastic but I think that would be inapporiate) grip of religious fervor?  Or theological thundering?

Well, just to assure you,what I found was the name of Jesus in several inscriptions from the Byzantine period (333 - 614 CE) at Tel Shiloh and environs.  In addition, I have not "gone over".  Moreover, I do not cooperate with either missionaries or Jews-for-Jesus people in matters of faith or other concerns.  I do, however, seek to bolster Israel's security and the existence of the state, its diplomatic standing and other political matters and will work with anyone who is not engaged in using that cooperation to further 'soul-snatching'.

One of my mentors on this issue is the great nationalist poet Uri Tzvi Greenberg who was even bold enough to pen a poem, INRI פארן צלם  that was typographically formed as a cross (here in Polish translation; see, too, this paper and especially p. 12 and here ands here).  Oh, he didn't convert if you are wondering.

To return to Shiloh, Tel Shiloh has been know as a site of Christian residency for almost a century since a Danish excavation began to uncover what we now know are three Byzantine-era basillicas.  In that sense, Tel Shiloh is no different from hundreds of other locations that attract Christian tourism.  If JewishIsrael is suggesting all non-Jewish tourism to Israel be halted as part of their campaign, well, I know a good few tour guides, hotel owners, cafe managers, taxi and bus drivers and souvenir shop owners that may be upset.

Two more points.  The first, in writing:

a moratorium on cooperation with evangelical messianics...playing with some pretty strange fire. Extreme caution is called for, lest Torah observant Jews break new theological ground, rather than hold Israel’s ground in Yehuda and Shomron.

I am aware that there are those among Christians who seek to advance Christianity over the true essence of God's Covenant with People of Israel as expressed in His promises regarding the Land of Israel.  If there is "strange fire", it is that which is being stoked by JewishIsrael.  If any "extreme caution" is required, I know who needs to review their methodology of argumentation and analysis.  If anyone is breaking new ground, - theological - no; political - yes, then it is JewishIsrael.  If anyone may be contributing to a weakening of the Jewish people's hold on the ground in Judea and Samaria, I think it is JewishIsrael.

My second point, in summary, is that in writing

From the halls of the CUFI Summit in Washington, to the Hills of Yehuda and Shomron, to liaison and winery offices, to the pages of a website, Mike Isley and Tommy Waller are united in messianic Christian fellowship

you can see, again, an invidious maneuver to smear anyone - and most certainly me  -involved in the effort to seek links between Jews and Christians, to be tainted as potential "messianic Christians" fellow travellers, at the least.

This is an intolerable line of argumentation, to be rejected and denounced.

Oh, and one last point, the title of the post is "The Sons of the Foreigners will Plant Strange Worship in Your Land" which you may assume echoes this from Isaiah 62:8 - "The LORD hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be food for thine enemies; and strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast laboured."

But the phrase "sons of foreigners", in Hebrew בני נכר, is in other portions of Isaiah's prophecy and most definitely not in the way JewishIsrael would want you to think about relations with non-Jews.

In Isaiah 60, you can read:

And aliens shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; for in My wrath I smote thee, but in My favour have I had compassion on thee. 11 Thy gates also shall be open continually, day and night, they shall not be shut; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings in procession. 12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the cypress, the plane-tree and the larch together; to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and I will make the place of My feet glorious. 14 And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee shall bow down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breast of kings; and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour, and I, the Mighty One of Jacob, thy Redeemer. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy officers peace, and righteousness thy magistrates. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, desolation nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down, Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, wherein I glory. 22 The smallest shall become a thousand, and the least a mighty nation; I the LORD will hasten it in its time.

And in Isaiah 61, we further read:

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But ye shall be named the priests of the LORD, men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their splendour shall ye revel.

I have pointed out this prophecy to Ellen, her assistants and even Rabbis who advise her.  It is the exact opposite of the message they are propagating. It suggests that what I am doing is most definitely what should be done.  Carefully, intelligently and wisely.

So far, no one has even attempted to address its import.  Empty responses.  Hollowness.  No wise reactions.  No intelligent discussion.  No careful debate. The Rabbis they are spoonfeeding with information who cannot read or understand English is another issue, like Rav Dov Lior and Rabbi Elchanan Bin-Nun. The ganging up on Rav Eliezer Melamed is also atrocious.

That says a lot about what JewishIsrael is all about.

If you think like me, please, let Ellen know.  You can contact her at info@jewishisrael.com.  The Current Board Members include:

Administrative Director: Avraham Leibler
Public Relations Director: Shulamit Leibler
Content and Research Director: Ellen W. Horowitz

Rabbinic Director: Rabbi Dr. Sholom Gold
Academic and Religious Advisor: Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey R. Woolf
Academic Advisor: Professor Richard A. Landes
Community Affairs Advisor: Anita Tucker

If you want to let them know what you think, and you don't have to agree with me, for it's a free blogosphere, let them know as well.

P.S.  In truth, I could have written 3000 more words, but it's erev Shabbat.  I managed to do the chicken soup and shop.  And there is so much more positive things to do.

______________________________

*

halbanat panim, literally "whitening the face," but understood as doing something which shames or embarrasses someone in public. For example...Rabbi Elazar HaModai warns us that someone who shames another in public has no share in the world to come! (Avot 3:15) .

And yes, my wife has that post up, but I try to keep personal issues out of my blogging life.


PPS I left this as a comment over at JewishIsrael's blog. Will it go up?  It has.

^

Chanukah Archaeology at Tel Shiloh

New finds at Tel Shiloh (in Hebrew).  And now in English.

Remember Emek Shaveh's wars and campaigns against Israel's archaeology administration beyond the Green Line, but not only?  We have news for them (below, keep scrolling).

Remember this?

Mizrachi also cites the Tel Shiloh and Sussiya archeological sites in the West Bank as problematic because they are run by settlers instead of a neutral body of experts.
“These sites have been handled very badly by settlers who use them to justify their settlements there and have ignored many layers of archeological evidence to focus on the Bible regarding their finds,” he says.
“We regularly criticize the way their finds are being presented because it’s always linked to the settlement. Now, I’m not saying that there is no Jewish history at these sites – we do believe Jewish history is there – but we are saying you cannot only focus on this period and ignore the whole story.”

These things and also these unnerve them to insanity. 

And these events:

Searching for the Lost Oil Lamp

Chana's Prayer

Dance Festival

Well, now the news.

See that spot?

Well, that was formerly a Hellenistic period non-Jewish dwelling area.  It's preserved.  Tel Shiloh people don't destroy or hide things.  The pottery and other artifacts attest to its identity.

And in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the rule of Antiochus IV, it was razed by a conquering force.  It was a violent act.  And it was done by the Hasmoneans during the revolt against an oppressive rule.

Yes.

The Chanukah story.

The archaeology excavation was supervised by the Civil Administration's Archaeology Unit headed by Hanina Hizami and conducted by Reut Livyatan Ben-Aryeh.

The Hebrew Yedioth Ahronot item with a lamp and a coin from the period of Antiochus III:

There is evidence of a fire, smashed jugs and ballista stones.  Other evidence included a fish bowl and handles of wine containers:

The site then became the residence of Jews. The proof for that are mikvaot, coins of the Hasmonean dynasty, the Herodian dynasty as well as from the period of the Great Revolt against Rome, 67-70CE.

Archaeology - from then to today.

And there's this at Susiya, too.

^