Shilo ( ) is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located 28 miles (45 km) north of Jerusalem on Route 60 and organised as a religious community settlement, it is neighboured by the Israeli settlements of Eli and Maale Levona and the Palestinian villages Sinjil, Turmus Ayya and Qaryut, and falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In it had a population of , including Shvut Rachel. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. Location The city of Shilo held a central place in the Biblical history of the Jewish people. During the period between capturing the Land and building the Temple, in the days when Joshua divided the land among the 12 tribes, the Tabernacle resided in Shilo. Until the death of Eli the High Priest, Shilo was the place of pilgrimage for the Children of Israel. Three times a year the faithful traveled to Shilo to bring their festival offerings. Tel Shilo is now an archaeological site, where once the spiritual life of the Jewish people was centered for 369 years in the 11th and 12th centuries BCE. In addition, there are artifacts from other periods, notably from the end of the Second Temple period (130 B.C.E. – 70 B.C.E.), the Byzantine period (350–618), and the early Muslim period (638–900). The first archaeological excavations began in 1922–1932 by a Danish expedition. The finds were placed in the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen. In 1980, Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist from Bar-Ilan University, initiated four seasons of digs and many finds were revealed including coins, storage jars, and other artifacts. Many are preserved at Bar-Ilan University. In 1981–1982, Zeev Yeivin and Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun excavated at the presumed site of the tabernacle. Ceramics and Egyptian figurines were found. In the summer of 2010, excavations at Tel Shilo were carried out under the auspices of the Staff Officer for Archeology in the Civilian Administration Antiquities Unit in cooperation with the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. A portion of the Canaanite period wall from 3700 years ago was uncovered in an attempt to ascertain if this was the first evidence of civilization. One notable find, not far from the wall, was a Roman coin from the period of the Bar Kokhba revolt. A second season of excavation revealed a large structure, perhaps of an administrative character,