November 20th, 2003  

Vol.  III - Nu.7

• Developments

• The Asatir

• Notes and Extracts

• Samaritan Related Books

• Websites

Notes and Extracts From the Semitic manuscripts in the John Rylands Library: V. In the Samaritan Nablus Two Centuries Ago. By Edward Robertson, D.Litt., D. D. Reprint from the "Bulletin of the John Rylands Library," Vol. 22, No. I, April, 1938. (page 17a-18a)

A dream of  similar character befell Sadaqah b. Sarur, which Ibrahim b. Ya'qub, nephew of Muslim records.

Sadaqah was sleeping on the eve of Friday when he dreamed that he was making his way to the village of 'Awartah, and when he arrived at the tomb of Phinhas he found a service in progress. In the company of worshippers he recognised only Sheikh Muslim (Mashlamah b. Murjan) the brother of the writer's father, and two others, the priest Levi and the priest Joseph. Stationed between them was the Saint himself. As the service proceeded those present pressed forward to kiss the hands of the Saint. Sadaqah drew near and asked Muslim's permission to do likewise, but he was told, "That is not for you. He is not of our shpere." Sadaqah noticed that Muslim was wearing a green turban, so he asked him: "O my uncle, whence have you the turban?" He answered: "It is a mark of favour from our Master, 'Abisha', the composer. He put it upon me, and there is none other in this state of existence privileged to wear it." The he added: "O Sadaqah, you will take a message to my nephew Ibrahim and will say to him: 'Thy uncle sends you greeting and enjoins on you [to recite] the "chapters of the place" on the eve of Kippur (the Day of Atonement).'" And as Sadaqah was withdrawing from the place with the service still proceeding, he awoke.

   The Ibrahim who wrote the account we have just given had himself a dream, which took him to the cave of macphelah at hebron, where the Patriarchs are burned. This dream because of its character, he was convinced, presaged his entry hereafter into the blissful Garden through the blessing of those at whose place of sepulture he found himself present. In his dream he saw himself approaching Hebron after a long journey as a weary traveller. On reaching the town he was directed by a stranger to the 'abodes' of the Patriarchs. He describes the majesty of the place, beggaring all description, its vastness, it pillars, its carpets, its embroidered hangings. He entered tomb after tomb all branching off from the main cave. Three beautiful maidens, whom he took to be inhabitants of Paradise, guided his steps, (Page 18) but would not suffer him to approach near to them. They directed him to a chamber of surpassing beauty where they lay the Patriarchs in raiment-like shrouds of dazzling whiteness. There he stood quaking all over. He remarked that there were seven in all, four above and three below. The four were Adam, Seth, Noah and Lamech; the three were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Tears coursed from his eyes. "With my head bowed to the earth I remained silent and downcast, and I prayed my Lord to inspire me to recite what he should choose and be pleased therewith, and that he might enable me to express the feelings of all living. And all the while I was weeping." He then enumerates the passages of Scripture and parts of the liturgy which he recited. During it he remained with senses numbed, bathed in perspiration and swimming in a sea of fear. He uncovered his head and fell at the feet of these saints with an earnest prayer for help. Whilst so engaged, some one spoke to him, saying, "O follow, those outside await you," and lo! and behold it was his cousin, 'Abd al-Fattah, who urged him to hasten. And so he made his way from the tomb, and as he reached the outer world again he awoke. (This entire article will soon appear at the-Samaritans.com.)

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Samaritan Related Books:

The Book of Genesis in the Samaritan Version of the Pentateuch, copied by hand from a 13th century manuscript by Abraham nur Sadaqah, 1959 (Shown at right). The editor of this newsletter recently purchased this book from a person in the UK. That person purchased it at Thornton's Bookshop in Oxford in the late 70's in their Oriental room, where long out of print books used to be found. Now their room is gone and all that remains is a small book case of books. To Bad!

Booklet written in Hebrew (shown at left) by Israel Belkind (1861-1929), Bilu founder and educator. He was the editor of "HaMeir,"

 The booklet contains 3 chapters with one being: “The Samaritans” (with a picture of the great priest of the Samaritans), “72 pages. Printed in Tel-Aviv, Palestine in 1928. (Photo is inside cover and and inside page)

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Jewish Local Patriotism and Self-Identification In The Graeco-Roman Period. Edited by Sian Jones and Sarah Pearce with article by Richard Coggins, Jewish Local Patriotism: The Samaritan Problem.

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Websites

Western Evangelical Seminary BST 550
The Old Testament and the Ancient Near East ,Shechem by Rod Johanson

Excavations: The areas first known excavator was Ernst Sellin, a German biblical scholar. Ernst headed two campaigns between 1913 and 1914 and five campaigns between 1926 and 1928. Due to the misfortunes of war and allied bombings his field records and final report manuscripts were lost during World War 2. The next exaction was done as a joint venture between Drew University and McCormick Theological Seminary in 1956. This work was headed up by G. Ernest Wright and Edward G. Campbell. The work consisted of several excavations between 1956 and 1973.{4}http://www.seminary.georgefox.edu/courses/bst550/reports/RJohanson/Shechem.html

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The "Samaritan" Error In The Qur'ân

^cAbd ar-Rahmân Robert Squires, Elias Karîm, M S M Saifullah & Muhammad Ghoniem

7. Conclusion:

Until the middle of the 20th century it was commonly believed that the Samaritans originated from a mixed race people living in Samaria at the time of the Assyrian conquest (722 B.C.). In recent years however, new research based on a more careful study of the Chronicles of the Samaritans has led to a re-evaluation of their origins. The Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and until the 17th century C.E. they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas.

The Qur'ânic mention of the name Sâmirî sometimes translated as "Samaritan" (Qur'ân 20:85, 87 and 95) is entirely consistent with modern investigations into the origin of the Samaritan sect.

http://admin.muslimsonline.com/~islamawe/Quran/Contrad/External/samaritan.html#TraditionalView 

Thank you!