=Fortunes of the Ark.= From the northern battle-field, the ark was first borne in triumph to the Philistine city of Ashdod near the coast. Thence, to avert a plague, it was carried to Gath, which is probably identical with Tell es-Safi, that guards the entrance to the Valley of Elah. From there it was transferred to Ekron in the north. As the lowing cows drew it back across the plains to the Hebrew territory they must have turned to the southeast, following the Valley of Sorek, until they reached the city of Bethshemesh, beside which runs to-day the railway, as it enters the Judean hills. Kirjath-jearim, where the ark finally rested, was probably about five miles due east of Bethshemesh, farther up the valley which led toward Jerusalem. =The Sanctuary at Shiloh.= The history of Samuel, the seer who was able to interpret the meaning of this great crisis in Israel's history and to point out the way of deliverance, opens at Shiloh, in the territory of southern Samaria. This little town was east of the central highway and at the northern end of a fertile plain, from which valleys radiate in all directions. The town itself lay on a rounded, rocky hill, lower than those around it, and was encircled by deep valleys on the east, on the north, and on the west. The hill rises in terraces to a flattened knob now crowned with extensive ruins.^{(80)} The rude mosque and spreading tree, which are supposed to mark the site of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary, stand in front of the hill; but the cuttings in the native rock, in which the semblance of an ancient altar can still be distinguished, the small rock-cut reservoirs, and the level terrace near by all suggest that the site of the rude sanctuary in which the ark was at first deposited lay back of the hill now crowned with the ruins of the town. Here doubtless the maidens of Shiloh once took part in the religious dances. Here the people from all parts of the land resorted at the annual feasts, and here Samuel sat at the feet of the aged Eli. It is a quiet spot,^{(81)} with picturesque views of mountain and plain, central yet apart from the streams of commerce and war--a fitting place for worship. It never recovered, however, from its destruction at the hands of the Philistines after their great victory and from the loss of prestige which came from the capture of the ark. Even during the days of Samuel, its traditions appear to have been transferred to the northern Gilgal, five miles over the hills to the southwest.