An ancient vase that provided evidence that Shilo was sacked by Philistines has been stolen from the Shilo site.
Avital Sela, who manages the site, told Arutz Sheva that once the vase was discovered to have been stolen, a complaint was filed with police.
Sela explained that the vase, which was dated precisely to the year in which the destruction of Shilo was assumed to have taken place, "connected all of the Biblical pieces into one puzzle."
The First Book of Samuel does not say when and how Shilo, which served as the Israelite capital for 369 years, was destroyed. The vase, along with remains of ashes from a fire, indicate large scale destruction at the same period in which the War of Even Ha'ezer (Ebenezer) against the Philistines was waged.
Israel suffered a crushing defeat in that war, which is believed to have been waged near present-day Afek. The two sons of Eli the High Priest were killed, and Eli himself died upon hearing the news. Worst of all, the Holy Ark, which the Israelites had brought to the battleground, was taken by the Philistines.
With the vase, archeologists and scholars now had more evidence to back the assumption that after defeating the Israelites at Even Ha'ezer, the Philistines advanced upon Shilo and sacked it.