CITY GATE DISCOVERED AT SHILOH
A city gate at Shiloh, an ancient Israelite city, has been discovered. What is the import of such a discovery.
“When he mentioned the ark of the God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the city gate.His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years”—1 Samuel 4:18 NIV
The remains of a city gate were discovered recently in Shiloh, Israel. This was the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the time of the Judges. The remains of this city gate gate were discovered by the Associates for Biblical Research along the northern wall of this ancient Israelite city. The team discovered that the defensive embankment against the city wall had a gap at this point, where the remains of the gate were discovered. The terrain leading up to this place was internally terraced upward., and “the city gate” being at this location also makes sense because the main spring that the city’s inhabitants used was located about a kilometer to the north. It is possible that this was “the city gate” where “Eli fell backward off his chair . . . and he died”.
