Archaeologists Hunt for Ark of the Covenant

Archaeologists are searching for evidence of the tabernacle that once housed the Ark of the Covenant at the site of an ancient city on the West Bank.

According to Fox News, associates for Biblical Research, a group of universities and individuals, recently finished four weeks of excavation in Shiloh. The excavation ran from May 21 to June 17 and the goal was to eventually locate the tabernacle.

Dr. Scott Stripling, director of excavations at Shiloh and provost at the Bible Seminary in Houston, Texas said they have just begun the process of accumulating evidence. He is “confident” the tabernacle rested at Shiloh and believed the site could offer up valuable clues.

Stripling says that tabernacle was located at Shiloh in 1400 B.C. for about 350 years. It was destroyed by the Philistines in 1050 B.C., around the same time that they briefly captured the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites in a nearby battle, Stripling told Fox News.

The Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem by King David around 1000 B.C. but disappeared when the city was destroyed. There are many theories about its ultimate fate.

The recent excavation unearthed a lot of animal bones, which the group believes could be from animal sacrifices. The bones have been sent to ABR’s zoo archaeologists for analysis. The Bible specifies that sacrificial animals must be young, Stripling explained, so if the bones match the type and age specified in the Bible, then “we may be looking at evidence that the tabernacle sat nearby,” Stripling told Fox News.

The group registered 700 objects — including seal impressions, scarabs, tools, weapons, jewelry and more. Stripling also says they found about “2,000 pieces of pottery a day.”

Fox reports that this dig was the first in a series of at least five annual excavations at the site by ABR under the auspices of the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria.

This is not the first group to focus their attention on Shiloh. Prominent Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein led a dig in the 1980s, but did not reveal the tabernacle, reports The Times of Israel.