SAMARITANS

SAMARITANS . The Samaritans are an ethno-religious group in Palestine and in Israel. Their religious center is Mount Gerizim in the vicinity of Nablus. Half of the community lives on the mountain, half lives in Ḥolon, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv. In the early twenty-first century the community comprises approximately 660 members. The Samaritan religion is an outgrowth of the Israelite-Jewish religion as it existed around the beginning of the common era. It therefore has many features in common with Judaism, above all the belief in the first five books (the Pentateuch) of the Bible. As opposed to Judaism, though, the Samaritans never developed the institution of the rabbinate but are led by priests and a high priest.

Historical Significance

As a group the Samaritans have always lived in Palestine; that is, from their inception in antiquity to the present there have been Samaritans in the Holy Land. Their numbers have varied from tens or even hundreds of thousands in the early period to barely over one hundred in the nineteenth century. For this reason it has often been assumed that they preserved biblical traditions that were lost in Judaism. Although it can be shown that certain elements of Samaritanism go back to antiquity, such as the recitation of the Torah, not all their beliefs and practices necessarily continued unbroken from antiquity to modern times; each case has to be judged on its own merits. Due to the lack of sources for long stretches of Samaritan history, it cannot be ruled out that certain rituals were revived by going back to the text of the Torah. Nevertheless, Samaritanism represents an important nonrabbinic tradition of ancient biblical religion.

Major Theories of the Origin of the Samaritans

According to traditional Samaritan beliefs (as expressed in chapters 9 and 10 of the chronicle of Abū al-Fath and in chapter 43 of the Samaritan Book of Joshua ; see below), their origin goes back to a schism in the time of Eli, a priest at Shiloh during the period of the Judges (1 Sam. 1:9, 2:11). Eli is said to have left the sanctuary on Mount Gerizim and erected a schismatic sanctuary in Shiloh that ushered in the Era of Divine Disfavor, or Pnwth (pronounced Fanūta)—God turned away (Aramaic, pny ) his face from his people. The Samaritans consider themselves to be those Israelites who remained faithful to Gerizim. In Judaism it was believed—beginning with Josephus (Antiquities 9:288–291) and up to modern times—that the Samaritans originated in the pagan or the mixed population (Israelite and pagan) of the northern kingdom, Israel, after the Assyrian conquest in 721 bce, as told in 2 Kings 17:24–41. On the basis of this account, Jewish sources then pejoratively called the Samaritans "Kutim" after one of the peoples settled in Israel by the Assyrians. Since the Samaritan religion contains no traces of syncretism, and since not all inhabitants of the northern kingdom were deported by the Assyrians, it is thought by some modern authors that the Israelites that were left in the country are the ancestors of the Samaritans.

Another view of the origin of the Samaritans is the assumption that the Samaritans developed from dissident Jews of the southern kingdom, Judah, breaking away from Judaism in the fifth or fourth century bce, a belief based on certain passages in the Bible (Ezr a 4:1–5; Neh. 13:28) and in Josephus (Antiquities 11:302–347). The discoveries in Qumran and recent archaeological excavations (those undertaken since 1984), however, suggest a different reconstruction. It is now virtually common opinion among scholars of Samaritanism that the origin of the Samaritans as a distinct religion has to be sought in Maccabean times. The tensions between the YHWH-worshiping northern Israelites and the Judeans that surfaced after the Babylonian Exile resulted in a break between the two groups in the second century bce. In the time before the break the northern Israelites who worshiped YHWH can be called proto-Samaritans—Israelites from Samaria who were in the process of developing into a religious community independent from Judeans. Decisive for the split was the rejection of Jerusalem as a relevant place of worship and the establishment of Gerizim as the only legitimate sacred place by the northern Israelites (or proto-Samaritans) who thus became the Samaritans. Both form and recitation of the Samaritan Pentateuch, the oldest extant Samaritan writing, reflect precisely this time period.

Evidence for the Community's History

There are no early Samaritan sources relating their own history. The most important extant Samaritan chronicle was written by Abū al-Fath ibn Abī al-Hasan al-Sāmirī al-Danafī in the fourteenth century, the Kitāb al-Tarīkh. Although Abū al-Fath used older sources for his compilation, it is only to a limited extent that his work can be used for the reconstruction of Samaritan history. In the main it is necessary to rely on non-Samaritan sources, such as Josephus, Greek and Roman authors, early Christian authors, rabbinic writings, Byzantine laws, Muslim sources, travel accounts, and archaeology. For any reconstruction the origin and Tendenz (or bias) of the writings must of course be taken into account. In the case of the rabbinic literature the different layers of redaction and the chronology must be established to arrive at a proper interpretation. Furthermore, there is the question of how far rabbinic passages concerning the Samaritans are reflections of actual situations or attempts at Jewish self-definition vis-à-vis others. Mutatis mutandis such criteria are to be applied to all literary sources. Archaeology of Samaritan sites, in particular on Mount Gerizim, as well as the excavations of several synagogues have come to play an increasingly vital role in the exploration of early Samaritan history.

History of the Samaritans

As mentioned above, the Samaritans originated in the Maccabean period. A crucial event in the relations between northern Israelite YHWH worshipers and Judeans was the destruction of the Samaritan sanctuary on Mount Gerizim by John Hyrcanus I (134–104 bce) at the end of the second century bce. According to Josephus, the temple on Mount Gerizim was built at the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Josephus's account, however, must be treated with caution. Excavations on the top of Mount Gerizim have unearthed a large city with an extensive, fortified sacred precinct in the center, dated by the excavator, Yitzhak Magen, to the Hellenistic period. In the center of the sacred precinct stood (most likely) a sanctuary. According to Josephus (Antiquities 11:310, 13:256), this was a temple similar to the one in Jerusalem. But some scholars think it may well have been an open-air sanctuary with an altar as described in Exodus 24–40. The archaeological finds, on the other hand, convinced the excavator that it was in fact a temple building. Due to Roman and Byzantine building activities on the very spot, however, many of the earlier installations have been destroyed. The Hellenistic sanctuary appears to have been preceded by a sanctuary from the Persian period built, according to the excavator, in the first half of the fifth century bce. Mount Gerizim was certainly a holy place from ancient times on (see Deut. 11:29, 27:11–13; Josh. 8:33–35; John 4:20). Definite judgments about the buildings on the mountain can only be made after all the excavated material has been assessed. The Samaritan tradition is silent on the city as well as on the temple except for a few scattered passages in medieval chronicles that briefly refer to a temple (Abū al-Fath, Kitāb 63, 79, 80, 102, 183; Stenhouse, 1985).

Despite the breach between Jews and Samaritans in Maccabean times, the two communities continued to interact. This becomes clear from the discussions in rabbinic literature that presuppose such relations and from archaeological excavations that have brought to light miqvaʾot (ritual baths) and synagogues just like those of the Jews. In the Middle Ages the Samaritans incorporated Jewish midrashim into their own compositions and even adopted (with adaptations) whole Jewish writings.

Early in their history as a distinct religion, Samaritans experienced the rise of divisions. It seems that the Samaritan heresiarch Dositheus arose in the first century ce and still had followers, the Dositheans, in later centuries. The third and fourth centuries ce were a period of religious reform and literary creativity. The person credited with this reform, Baba Rabba, is known only from later Samaritan sources. He strengthened the lay element and reorganized the Samaritans by establishing a "Council of Elders" and installing leaders who, together with priests, presided over newly established districts into which he divided the area inhabited by the Samaritans. During Baba Rabba's lifetime lived some of the greatest poets and writers of the Samaritans, including Amram Dāre and Mårqe, both authors of many hymns. Mårqe is also author of the Samaritan midrashic work Memar Marqah (Mīmār Mårqe ), or Tībåt Mårqe. The Samaritan sources also ascribe the building of synagogues to Baba Rabba.

The fortunes of the Samaritans sharply declined over the course of the Byzantine period. The Byzantine emperors persecuted them more than they persecuted the Jews, as becomes clear from Byzantine legislation. This maltreatment at the hands of the Christian authorities provoked the Samaritans into several uprisings during the fifth and sixth centuries ce described in Christian sources. The revolts left the Samaritans weak and severely decimated at the end of the period. A great number perished, and some converted, genuinely or otherwise, to Christianity. In the wake of the first revolt in 484 ce, Emperor Zeno built a church to the Virgin Mary on the site of the former Samaritan sanctuary, the ruins of which are still visible. The church's enclosure was reinforced by Emperor Justinian I (527–565 ce) after the Samaritan revolt of 529 ce. Little wonder that the Samaritans, like other populations repressed by the Byzantines, were ready to cooperate with the conquering Muslims in the seventh century ce, although the Byzantines forced them to fight the Muslims. While the Umayyad rulers (661–750 ce) treated the local population well, the situation changed under the Abbasids (750–1258). Higher taxes and cruel local rulers made life difficult for the Samaritans and other non-Muslims. Extreme economic hardships imposed by Muslim rulers caused many families to convert to Islam. Thus the numbers of Samaritans decreased further in the Muslim period. From the eleventh century on, Arabic was used for their writings, and there is even an Arabic translation of the Pentateuch.

During the crusader period (1099–1291) the Samaritans seem to have suffered less, although some Samaritan buildings were destroyed. A note by the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela from approximately 1170 indicates that in all of Palestine there lived fifteen hundred Samaritans (or Samaritan families), one thousand of whom lived in Nablus. There were also small numbers of Samaritans in Damascus and in Egypt. Although, similar to the other local population of Palestine, the Samaritans were of inferior social status, they were allowed to continue their cult on Mount Gerizim and to regulate their own affairs. They did suffer, though, from Muslim violence.

The crusaders were driven from their last Syrian and Palestinian possessions in 1291 by the Mamluks. For the Samaritans the following period was one of relative calm, and in fact the fourteenth century saw a Samaritan renaissance with many new writings, among them the chronicle of Abū al-Fath. Samaritans continued to live in Nablus, Gaza, Cairo, and Damascus. Their numbers, however, dwindled further, until they counted only a few hundred. In 1517 the Mamluks were overthrown by the Ottomans when Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) defeated their troops in Syria and in Egypt. Palestine was now governed by Turkish officials. Despite their small numbers and persecutions by Muslims in the seventeenth century, the Samaritans survived and even experienced a flowering of religious literature. Toward the end of the sixteenth century European scholars obtained Samaritan manuscripts and began a long correspondence with the Samaritans. Gradually, Samaritan communities outside of Nablus, in particular in Cairo, Gaza, and Damascus, ceased to exist, and the one in Nablus counted barely two hundred individuals. This number dropped further until the mid–nineteenth century, when there were only slightly more than one hundred Samaritans left. Late in that same century some Samaritans began to marry Jewish women, and the numbers of the Samaritans increased. This trend continued into the twenty-first century. Around 1900, Samaritans began to settle outside Nablus again. Eventually the Samaritans living in Israel concentrated in Ḥolon, so that two Samaritan centers, Kiryat Luza (the Samaritan settlement on Mount Gerizim) and Ḥolon, developed.

Beliefs and Practices

The foundation of Samaritan beliefs and practices lies in the Pentateuch that the Samaritans have in common with the Jews. Thus the basic monotheistic outlook of Samaritanism is the same as in Judaism. Specific to the Samaritans is the belief, based on a slight difference in the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, that the place chosen by God for his worship is Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem; it is on this mountain that the only legitimate sanctuary was to be built. The only prophet was, according to the Samaritans, Moses. He is the subject of extraordinary praise and admiration in Samaritan literature. In the end-times a prophet like Moses (Dt. 18:15, 18:18), the Taheb (the "returning one," from the Aramaic twb ), will appear and bring back the Era of Divine Favor, or Rhwth —God will again be pleased (Aramaic rď y ) with his people. The concept of the Taheb underwent a development in the course of Samaritan history from a prophetic to an eschatological figure.

Samaritan eschatology also underwent changes, in particular the idea of the resurrection of the body. Early Christian as well as rabbinic sources accuse the Samaritans of not believing in resurrection. The rabbinic tractate Massekhet Kutim even makes the acceptance of resurrection by the Samaritans one of two conditions on which the latter will be "taken back" by the Jews, the second being the renunciation of Mount Gerizim and the acceptance of Jerusalem. A gradual change began in the eleventh century and was completed by the fourteenth century, so that modern Samaritans believe in resurrection. The concept of the Day of Vengeance and Recompense, on the other hand, has existed in all epochs of Samaritan religion. Its basis in the Samaritan Bible is Deuteronomy 32:35. Whereas the Jews read "vengeance is mine," the Samaritan Pentateuch (as well as the Septuagint) reads "for the day of vengeance." It is the day of the final judgment.

Samaritan practices, like their beliefs, have much in common with those of the Jews. Samaritans celebrate the feasts based in the Pentateuch but not festivals introduced into Judaism later, such as Purim and Ḥanukkah. The feast of Passover is observed by the Samaritans as it is described in Exodus 12—that is, sheep are slaughtered, roasted, and eaten on Mount Gerizim. Three times a year—at Pesaḥ-Massot, Shavuʿot, and Sukkot—the Samaritans make a pilgrimage (Ex. 23:14–19) to the top of Mount Gerizim. In the course of the pilgrimage they visit a number of sacred sites on the mountain, including the place where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, and conclude the pilgrimage on the so-called Eternal Hill, a flat rock that the Samaritans associate with the most significant events in their religious history. For the festival of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, the Samaritans build succot within their houses, using the "four species" mentioned in the Bible (Lv. 23:40) to make roofs, a custom that may date from the period of Byzantine persecutions.

The liturgy, other than the pilgrimage, is held in synagogues. Women attend synagogues on Yom Kippur only; at other times, including the Sabbath, they pray and read the Scripture at home. The leaders of the community are the priests, headed by a high priest, now the oldest priest. Circumcision is always performed on the eighth day after the birth of a boy. Sabbath is strictly observed through prayers and abstention from work; prepared food can only be kept warm in thermo dishes. Men perform the Sabbath prayers in the synagogue. Samaritan synagogues have no pews, so the worshipers pray on carpets spread on the floor; shoes are left at the entrance. A special Sabbath dress, a long striped robe, is worn by men during Sabbath; the prayer shawl of a long, white cloth is worn over the Sabbath dress in the synagogue. Men's heads must be covered during prayer.

Literature

The oldest and most important writing is the Pentateuch. Except for a small number of readings specific to the Samaritan version and variations in spelling, it is the same text that the Jews have. The oldest extant copies date from the tenth or eleventh century. The most revered Torah scroll is the so-called Abisha Scroll, believed by the Samaritans to have been written by the great-grandnephew of Moses. In the third or fourth century ce the Samaritans translated the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, the Samaritan Targum. Numerous liturgical compositions date from the fourth century ce to the present. One of the major works is Tībåt Mårqe by the third- or fourth-century Samaritan poet and scholar Mårqe, mentioned above. It is a midrashic work in six books on passages of the Pentateuch. Samaritan scholars also wrote halakhic works, the oldest extant compilations dating from the eleventh century; no authoritative collections similar to those in Judaism were made. In the twelfth century Munajja b. Sadaqa authored a halakhic compendium that outlines the differences between Samaritan and Jewish halakhah.

There are a number of so-called chronicles, that is, accounts of events in Samaritan history, sometimes ranging from the creation of the world to the time of the author or copyist. They were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. The earliest chronicle is called Tūlīda (Chronicle). Its oldest part dates from the twelfth century, although the main portion of the text was written in the fourteenth century, and it was continued by later scribes until 1859. In the thirteenth century the Samaritan Arabic Book of Joshua was written or compiled from earlier sources, originally covering the time from the death of Moses to Alexander the Great; it too was later expanded.

There is also a list of Samaritan high priests, the so-called Shalshāla or Chain of the High Priests, whose date of origin is unknown. It extends from Adam to the compiler, Jacob b. Aaron, in the nineteenth century. The oldest complete chronicle is Abū al-Fath's chronicle, the Kitāb al-Tarīkh. Composed in 1355 ce, it is the most important Samaritan source for their history. A Continuatio of this chronicle is a firsthand source of the impact of early Islam (seventh to tenth centuries) on the Samaritans. A more recent chronicle is the Chronicle Adler, so named after its publisher, Elkan Nathan Adler. In addition to the above literature, Samaritans also wrote grammatical, lexical, and exegetical works.

The Samaritans in the Ideology and Self-Image of Judaism and Christianity

From the time of Josephus, Judaism applied 2 Kings 17 to the Samaritans, seeing in them a semipagan group that was only superficially close to Judaism. Rabbinic writings were ambiguous, sometimes admitting that the Samaritans are scrupulous observers of the law, sometimes considering them as outright Gentiles, and sometimes placing them somewhere in between Jews and non-Jews. In 1985–1986 the Israeli chief rabbinate and rabbinical courts declared that the Samaritans are Gentiles. Contemporary Jewish scholars, on the other hand, are divided. Some see the Samaritans as a branch of the Jewish people, others underline the introduction of foreigners into Samaria in biblical times. The state of Israel regards the Samaritans as a branch of the Jewish people and applies the Law of Return to those Samaritans who want to move from Nablus to Israel.

Christian authors of antiquity saw the Samaritans as a sect of Judaism. Later Christianity lost sight of the Samaritans until they were rediscovered in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century the first copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch was acquired and published. It was subsequently used in disputes between Catholics and Protestants; the former thought it supported the Septuagint version against the Masoretic text favored by the Protestants. Most Christians associate Samaritans primarily with the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37).

Bibliography

Alan David Crown, ed., A Bibliography of the Samaritans (Philadelphia, 1993), is a helpful reference work. Comprehensive sources are Alan David Crown, ed., The Samaritans (Tübingen, Germany, 1989); and Alan David Crown, Reinhard Pummer, and Abraham Tal, eds., A Companion to Samaritan Studies (Tübingen, Germany, 1993). Also important are James D. Purvis, The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origin of the Samaritan Sect, Harvard Semitic Monographs 2 (Cambridge, Mass., 1968); Hans G. Kippenberg, Garizim und Synagoge: Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zur samaritanischen Religion der aramäischen Periode, Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 30 (Berlin and New York, 1971); R. J. Coggins, Samaritans and Jews: The Origins of Samaritanism Reconsidered, Growing Points in Theology (Oxford, 1975); and Reinhard Pummer, The Samaritans, Iconography of Religions 23, 5 (Leiden, 1987).

Modern editions and translations of Samaritan texts include Abraham Tal, The Samaritan Pentateuch, Edited according to MS 6 (C) of the Shekhem Synagogue, Texts and Studies in the Hebrew Language and Related Subjects 8 (Tel Aviv, 1994); Abraham Tal, The Samaritan Targum of the Pentateuch, Texts and Studies in the Hebrew Language and Related Subjects 4–6 (Tel Aviv, 1980–1983); Mosheh Florentin, ed. and trans., The Tūlīda: A Samaritan Chroncile (Jerusalem, 1999 [in Hebrew]); Paul Stenhouse, trans., The Kitāb al-Tarīkh of Abū ʾl-Fath, Studies in Judaica 1 (Sydney, 1985); Milka Levy-Rubin, ed. and trans., The Continuatio of the Samaritan Chronicle of Abū l-Fath al-Sāmirī al-Danafī, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 10 (Princeton, N.J., 2002); Zeʾev Ben-Hayim, ed. and trans., Tībåt Mårqe (Jerusalem, 1988).

Josephus's texts in Greek and English can be found in Ralph Marcus, ed. and trans., Josephus, VI: Jewish Antiquities, Books IX-XI (Cambridge, Mass., 1966). A summary report in Hebrew on the excavations on Mount Gerizim by Yitzhak Magen is in Qadmoniot 120 (2000)—the whole issue, in fact, is devoted to the excavations on Mount Gerizim; the individual articles are as follows: Yitzhak Magen, "Mt. Gerizim—A Temple City" (pp. 74–118); Ephraim Stern and Yitzhak Magen, "The First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim—New Archaeological Evidence" (pp. 119–124); Yitzhak Magen, Levanah Tsfania, and Haggai Misgav, "The Hebrew and Aramaic Inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim" (pp. 125–132); Yitzhak Magen, "Mt. Gerizim during the Roman and Byzantine Periods" (pp. 133–143). For earlier English reports see Frédéric Manns and Eugenio Alliata, eds., Early Christianity in Context, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Maior, 38 (Jerusalem, 1993). On synagogues see Reinhard Pummer, "Samaritan Synagogues and Jewish Synagogues: Similarities and Differences," in Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue, edited by Steven Fine, Baltimore Studies in the History of Judaism (London and New York, 1999), pp. 118–160.

For contemporary Samaritan life, see the biweekly newspaper A.B.: Samaritan News (1969–). Since 1984 the "Société d'Études Samaritaines" has organized international congresses at regular intervals and has published their proceedings.

Reinhard Pummer (2005)