Biblical city
Shiloh
Khirbet Seilun, West Bank · Ephraim hill country
Shiloh housed the tabernacle through the period of the judges and was where Hannah prayed and Samuel was called. After the ark was captured, the site declined, and Jeremiah later invoked its ruin as a warning to Jerusalem.
History in Scripture
Israel set up the tabernacle at Shiloh, and it served as the central sanctuary through the era of the judges. Hannah prayed there, Samuel grew up there, and after the ark was captured at Aphek the site was destroyed — a ruin Jeremiah later used as a warning to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:12).
The ancient city
Located in the Ephraimite hill country off the main road, Shiloh was a sheltered, defensible place suited to a religious centre rather than a trading city.
The site today
Khirbet Seilun is an active excavation with visitor facilities, showing destruction layers and Iron Age remains consistent with the biblical account.
Key passages
Sources & notes
Description summarizes standard historical and archaeological reference works. Imagery is added separately and is labeled by type.