SHILOH (Heb. Šilô or Šilôh; Gr. Sēlō, Sēlōn). - An ancient locality in Palestine in the tribe of Ephraim, corresponding, according to the biblical indications (Judg. 21:19), to present-day Hirbet Sejlūn, 5 km south of Lubbān, 40 km north of Jerusalem, on the road to Nābulus.
Conquered by the Hebrews, it became the center of Joshua's activity and of the assemblies of Israel (Josh. 18:8-10; 19:51; 21:2; 22:9-12). The presence of the Ark and the Tabernacle made S. a goal of pilgrimages (1 Sam. 1:4); on the occasion of an annual feast the Benjaminites carried off the dancing girls (Judg. 21:13-23). After the Ark fell into the hands of the Philistines and the Sanctuary was destroyed, where the priest Eli had received the boy Samuel (1 Sam. 4; Jer. 7:12; 26:16; Ps. 38:60), the city gradually lost its former importance, although it was still populated (1 Kings 11:29). It regained splendor in the time of the Seleucids down to the Byzantine era; Christians, Jews and Muslims venerated its sacred memories until the 14th century.
The archaeological excavations undertaken by a Danish society in various campaigns, from 1922 to 1932, brought to light the various historical phases of the city. Occupied already in the Middle Bronze period, it enjoyed great prosperity until the Iron Age (13th-10th centuries B.C.). After this period the archaeological material becomes scarce, corresponding to the state of semi-abandonment in which the city was left after the victory of the Philistines. The Hellenistic rebirth is attested by numerous pottery finds, by a villa with a bath, by the circuit of the walls and of the necropolis cut into the rock on the road to 'Ajn Sejlūn. The flourishing Christian period is represented by a three-aisled basilica of the 5th century and by another small church with storied mosaics and inscriptions. In the crumbling mosque of el-'Arba'in, there is a lintel carved with Hebrew friezes, which likewise indicates the presence of an ancient synagogue.
Bibliography
Donato Baldi