Although insufficient portions had been allotted to a few of the tribes, such as the Simeonites and the Danites, they still owned some lands which might afford a partial subsistence, and become the nucleus for a further extension of property. The Levites alone had been left altogether unprovided with landed possessions. This was done in strict conformity with the injunctions of Moses, lest the tribe of priests, by misusing its rights of birth, should become affluent agriculturists, and be drawn away from their holy avocations by the desire of enriching themselves--like the Egyptian priests, who, under the pretext of defending the interest of religion, despoiled the people of its property, and formed a plutocratic caste. The Levites were to remain poor and content themselves with the grants made to them by the owners of lands and herds, they being required to devote all their attention to the sanctuary and the divine law. During Joshua's rule the camp of Gilgal, between the Jordan and Jericho, was the centre of divine worship and of the Levitical encampment; here also the tabernacle of the covenant had been erected, and sacrifices were offered up. But Gilgal could not permanently serve as the place for assembling the people, for it lay in an unproductive and unfrequented district. As soon as the affairs of the people were more consolidated, and after the Trans-Jordanic warriors had returned to their homes, another locality had to be selected for the sanctuary. As a matter of course, it was expedient that the sacred place should be situated within the confines of Ephraim. Joshua likewise had his seat amongst the Ephraimites, namely at Timnath-Serah, a town which that tribe had gratefully allotted to him. Shiloh (Salem) was chosen as the spot for the establishment of the sanctuary. When the ark of the covenant arrived there, an altar was, as a matter of course, erected by its side. Here the public assemblies were held, if not by all the tribes, certainly by those of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. Phineas, the high priest of the house of Aaron, and the priests who succeeded him in office, took up their abode in Shiloh. It is highly probable that many of the Levites resided in that town whilst others were dispersed throughout the towns of the several tribes; but on the whole they led a wandering life. Through the immigration of the Israelites, the land of Canaan not only received a new name, but assumed a different character. It became a "Holy Land," "the Heritage of God," and was regarded as favourable to the people's destination of leading a holy life.