Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars
Pillared storehouses and pithoi along the northern wall — the sanctuary's pantry
Found 1981 — Israel Finkelstein (Bar-Ilan University, 1981–84); earlier storerooms by the Danish expedition (Hans Kjaer, 1926–32); further rooms by ABR (Scott Stripling, 2017– )
Where Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) (West Bank (Palestinian Territories, Israeli-administered))
Dates from c. 1150–1050 BCE · Iron Age I · Judges; Eli and Samuel
Now at Buildings in situ; jars and finds in the Israel Antiquities Authority collections and the Tel Shiloh visitor center
How Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars was found
Finkelstein's Area C on the western slope exposed pillared buildings terraced against the Middle Bronze wall, packed with large collar-rim storage jars and destroyed by fire. The Danish team and later ABR uncovered additional storerooms with pithoi along the northern fortification.
What it is
Long, narrow pillared rooms built against the inside of the old city wall, some in units of three chambers with a narrower entry room. Their floors held dozens of collar-rim pithoi — tall storage jars with a thick ridge below the neck — some over a meter high, together with smaller vessels. The rooms ended in a fierce fire that left thick ash and collapsed brick.
Why it matters for the Bible
A village does not need this much storage. Finkelstein read the rooms as public storehouses for a central sanctuary that received grain, oil and wine from the surrounding hill-country settlements — exactly the picture of tithes and pilgrim offerings brought to Shiloh in 1 Samuel 1–2. The collar-rim jar is also the classic pottery type of the Iron I hill-country settlers, so these rooms tie Shiloh to the early Israelite villages around it. Whether the storehouses belonged to a tabernacle or to a local chiefdom's center is where scholars differ.
The Hebrew word: oh-TZAHR
אוֹצָר
אוֹצָר is pronounced oh-TZAHR and means storehouse, treasury (Strong's H214).
People this discovery connects to
- Elkanah — אֶלְקָנָה (el-kah-NAH) — God has created / acquired
- Hannah — חַנָּה (chan-NAH) — grace
Places
- Shiloh — שִׁלֹה (shee-LOH) — tranquil (uncertain)
Events
Yearly pilgrimage and offerings at Shiloh · Hannah bringing Samuel with flour, wine and a bull (1 Samuel 1:24)
Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars in Scripture
Deuteronomy 14:23 Tithes of grain, wine and oil are to be eaten 'in the place YHVH chooses' — Shiloh in this period.
Joshua 18:1 First mention of Shiloh in Scripture.
1 Samuel 1:24 Hannah brings a bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine to the house of YHVH at Shiloh — the kind of goods these jars held.
Questions people ask
What is Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars?
Long, narrow pillared rooms built against the inside of the old city wall, some in units of three chambers with a narrower entry room. Their floors held dozens of collar-rim pithoi — tall storage jars with a thick ridge below the neck — some over a meter high, together with smaller vessels. The rooms ended in a fierce fire that left thick ash and collapsed brick.
When was Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars discovered?
It was found in 1981 by Israel Finkelstein (Bar-Ilan University, 1981–84); earlier storerooms by the Danish expedition (Hans Kjaer, 1926–32); further rooms by ABR (Scott Stripling, 2017– ), at Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun).
Where is Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars today?
Buildings in situ; jars and finds in the Israel Antiquities Authority collections and the Tel Shiloh visitor center.
Which Bible verses does Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars relate to?
Deuteronomy 14:23, Joshua 18:1, 1 Samuel 1:24.
Related discoveries
- מִשְׁכָּןShiloh (Tel Shiloh / Khirbet Seilun)Iron I storerooms, collared-rim jars, and an altar horn at the home of the Tabernacle
- מִשְׁכָּןShiloh Monumental Iron I BuildingEast-west structure on the northern platform proposed as the tabernacle's resting place
- שׁוֹק הַיָּמִיןShiloh Animal Bone DepositsTens of thousands of bones from sheep, goats and cattle — with a bias toward the right side
- רִמּוֹןShiloh Ceramic PomegranateA clay pomegranate from the sacred area of Iron Age Shiloh
- קֶרֶןShiloh Altar HornsThree horned corner stones of a four-horned altar, found in secondary use
- שִׁלֹהShiloh's Burnt Layer and Sacred-Precinct WallThe fiery end of Iron I Shiloh around 1050 BCE — the aftermath of Eben-ezer?
Sources
- I. Finkelstein (ed.), Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site (Tel Aviv University, 1993)
- Bible Archaeology Report, 'Three Things in Shiloh Samuel Likely Saw' (2023)
- Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, 'Shiloh' (2019)
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