Just weeks before archaeologists uncovered ancient storage jars at Tel Shiloh, the same excavation team made another discovery that's reshaping how researchers understand the site: the southern wall of a massive structure whose dimensions and orientation closely match the Tabernacle described in Exodus.
The wall, found during the 2026 excavation season, gives researchers a far more complete picture of the building's footprint than they had before. Previously, archaeologists could only speak about the structure in partial terms - its general orientation and some of its limits were known, but its full outline remained uncertain.
Excavation director Dr. Scott Stripling of the Associates for Biblical Research said the newly exposed wall now allows the team to reconstruct the building's complete dimensions, giving them a much stronger basis for comparing it to other cultic architecture - and to the measurements Scripture gives for the Tabernacle itself, the portable sanctuary that once housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The find builds on years of work at the site, where researchers have long argued that a monumental building's east-west orientation and 2:1 proportions align closely with the biblical description in Exodus. Stripling's team has excavated Shiloh since 2016, uncovering evidence - including altar horns, ceramic pomegranates associated with priestly garments, and thousands of sacrificial animal bones - that continues to support the biblical account of Shiloh as Israel's first worship center.
Combined with the recently discovered ancient jars nearby, the newly mapped wall adds one more piece to a puzzle archaeologists have been assembling for nearly a decade - bringing them closer to understanding exactly where Israel once gathered to worship, centuries before the Temple in Jerusalem was ever built.
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