In This Issue
-
Abraham Children
-
BMP of the UCS
-
Great Loss
-
Auction results
-
Studies
-
high priest
-
ENGRAVING
-
Life after
-
Call for Papers
-
Web
links
-
The Samaritan Update, is a
Monthly Internet Newsletter, a Division of The-Samaritans.com.
Subscription is free via E-mail only.
-----
Editor: Shomron
Co-Editor: Osher
Sassoni
Staff Writer:
Staff Photographer:
Staff Translator:
Special Contributors:
----
Contact information:
The Editor
Your link
to the Update Index
and to our
Web Site: The-Samaritans.com
Subscribe To the Newsletter -The
Samaritan Update.
Sign Up !
For More Information
Samaritan
Studies and Related Conferences:
See this issue
In
Planning Stage
SES: In University of Papa/ Hungary in 2008.
organised by
Dr. Joseph Zsengelle'
SBL 2008
call for papers
Aramaic Studies
Important Links
Samaritan Museum on Mount Gerizim.
Plan on buying a
Book? Buy through us and support our main website:
www.the-samaritans.com


Have you purchased your book lately?

Feasts & Fasts, A Festschrift in
Honor of Alan David Crown
Available from
www.mandelbaum.
usyd.edu.au

New
Samaritans-
A DOCUMENTARY on Samaritan brides from the Ukraine
Dictionary
by H. Shehadeh
here for
article in Arabic
|
ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN: Race, Identity
and the DNA of The Chosen People, bestselling author Jon Entine
(http://www.jonentine.com)
vividly brings to life the profound human implications of the Age of
Genetics while illuminating one of today's most controversial topics: the
connection between genetics and identity.
Entine weaves a fascinating narrative, using breakthroughs in genetic
genealogy to reconstruct the biblical tradition of the ancient Israelites.
What is the genetic evidence of the story of the Exodus? What can DNA tell
us about the Samaritans, whose genetic and cultural uniqueness rivals
modern Jews? Can genes help bridge the religious
and spiritual gap that sometimes separates Christians, Jews, and Muslims
by underscoring the shared legacy of the Israelites? Legendary accounts of
the Hebrew lineage of Ethiopian tribesmen, the building of Africa's Great
Zimbabwe fortress, and even the so-called Lost Tribes are reexamined in
light of advanced DNA technology.
As people from across the world discover their Israelite roots, their
riveting stories unveil exciting new approaches to defining one's
identity. Not least, Entine addresses possible connections between DNA and
Jewish intelligence and the controversial notion that modern descendants
of the Israelites are a "race apart." ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN is
a compelling reinterpretation of biblical history and a challenging and
exciting illustration of the promise and power of genetic research.
Find out more at
http://www.abrahamschildren.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Preliminary proposal to add the Samaritan alphabet to the BMP of the
UCS
Source Michael Everson & Mark Shoulson
www.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3291.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Loss
On November 3, 2007, Fr. Guy Dominique Sixdenier,
OSB, died in Paris at 90 years of age. Together with Prof. Abraham Tal
he founded the Société d’Études Samaritaines in Paris in 1985. For many
years Fr. Sixdenier tirelessly worked for the SES, organising congresses
and promoting Samaritan studies internationally.
Rev. Guy-Dominique Sixdenier, (1917-2007) a french orientalist and
philologist, PhD, member of the New-York Academy of Sciences, member of
the Société Asiatique, Past Secretary of the Edition Critique de la Bible
Latine (Roma), co-founder and Secretary of the Societé d’Etudes
Samaritaines, author of many articles and papers about the Samaritans,
co-director with J-P. Rothschild of “ Etudes samaritaines. Pentateuque et
Targum, exégèse et philologie, chroniques ” (Louvain 1988) ;
http://www.cimec.ro/Arheologie/livingpast/nr1/sixdenier/samaritains.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lot 124 :
Samaritan Homilies and Sermons, Manuscript on Parchment, [Damascus]:
ca.1335
Price Realized:
$25,000
Pre-Auction Price Estimate:
$5,000 - $7,000
Title:
Samaritan Homilies and
Sermons, Manuscript on Parchment, [Damascus]: ca.1335
Description:
14 leaves (4 x 23/4 in.;
100 x 70 mm) in two gatherings [1 4 , 2 3 ] written in ink on parchment
in vocalized Arabic script with occasional phrases in Paleo-Hebrew
(Samaritan) script; modern foliation in pencil. ff.1, 8 loose, ff.2-7
unsewn and loosely nested; ff.9-14 sewn with a filament of twisted
parchment. Brittle, with numerous cracks, holes, and losses; stained and
soiled. Leaves secured atop a modern red velvet tray and tied with
attached ribbons, and set within a modern red velvet cloth portfolio.
Published: Marina Rustow,
"The Samaritans," Scripture and Schism: Samaritan and Karaite
Treasures from the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New
York: 2000, pp. 6-59.
Notes: Dating back more
than 2,500 years, the Samaritans are the longest-lived religious sect in
Jewish history and their traditions, beliefs and practices are still
maintained by a small community of less than eight hundred. As they
always have, most Samaritans live in the vicinity of the biblical city
of Shechem (Nablus) near Mt. Gerizim in Israel. The Mountain is central
to Samaritan worship and beliefs and is the site of the sect's annual
Passover sacrifice. With their own version of the Pentateuch, the
Samaritans have always maintained the use of Hebrew, written in Paleo-Hebrew
letters, for ritual purposes and used Aramaic as a vernacular until
around the 11υth century when, under the influence of Islam, it was
gradually replaced by Arabic. At about the same time, the Samaritans
began to develop an important center in Damascus. During the course of
the 14th century the two centers achieved the height of their social and
religious development, and the contact between them, which sometimes
reached the dimension of competition, brought about the strengthening
and crystallization of the Samaritan life by the renewed writing of
books on religious law, history, and the order of rituals. This
manuscript is a rare relic of a bygone era in Samaritan history when
their numbers were measured not in hundreds but in hundreds of
thousands. For a complete transcription of the
manuscript as well as a translation into Hebrew, please inquire of the
department.
http://www.sothebys.com/
http://www.Artfact.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samaritan Studies -- News
From July 22 to 26, 2007, the International Congress of
the Society of Biblical Literature took place in Vienna, Austria. The
following papers on Samaritan subjects were read:
Samaritan Studies Session
I
7/23/2007
8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Room: Elise Richter Saal - Hauptgebaude
Abraham Tal, Israel, Presiding
Reinhard Pummer, University of Ottawa
The Origin of the Samaritans Reconsidered Again, Or: Is Samaritanism a
Jewish Sect or an Independent Form of Yahwism? (30 min)
Ingrid Hjelm, University of Copenhagen
Samaria, Samaritans and the Composition of the Hebrew Bible (30
min)
József Zsengellér, Reformed Theological Academy
Temple of Mount Gerizim as a Trojan Horse: Facts and Interpretations of
the Archeological Finds (30 min)
Break (30 min)
Stefan Schorch, Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel
The References to Mount Gerizim in the Samaritan Pentateuch (30
min)
Ariyeh Kasher, Tel Aviv University
Malthace: Herod's Samaritan Wife (30 min)
Lester Grabbe, University of Hull
Jubilees and the Samaritan Tradition (30 min)
Samaritan Studies Session II
7/23/2007
1:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Room: Elise Richter Saal - Hauptgebaude
Reinhard Pummer, University of Ottawa, Presiding
Victor Rebrik, St. Petersburg, Russia
Samaritans in the Gospels (30 min)
Menahem Mor, University of Haifa
The Samaritans during the Second and Third Century CE (30 min)
Abraham Tal, University of Tel Aviv
Discerning Late Samaritan Aramaic (30 min)
Break (30 min)
Mose Florentin, University of Tel Aviv
Motivation and Ideology, Community and Language: Some Observations on the
Literary Character of the Samaritan Targum (30 min)
Benjamin Tsedaqa, Institute of Samaritan Studies, Holon, Israel
An Introduction to the First English Translation of the Israelite
Samaritan Pentateuch (30 min)
Biblical Scholarship from the Reformed Theological
Academy in Pápa and the Caspar Karoli Reformed University in Budapest
7/24/2007
1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Room: Elise Richter Saal - Hauptgebaude
József Zsengellér, Reformed Theological Academy,
Pápa, Presiding
János Bolyki, Caspar Karoli Reformed University, Budapest
Critical Editon Project of the Samaritan Pentateuch
(30 min)
EABS: Politicization of
Bibles and Biblicization of Politics: Some Aspects
7/23/2007
1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Room: Marietta Blau Saal - Hauptgebaude
Jeremy Punt, University of Stellenbosch,
Presiding
Yairah Amit, Tel Aviv University
The Samaritans: Biblical Considerations in the Solution of a Political
Problem (45 min)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prof. Menahem Mor of Haifa University is
preparing the publication of the papers which were presented at the
Sixth International Congress of the SES in Haifa in July 2004. The
volume will also include papers which were read at the SBL Congress in
Vienna. It is to be published by Walter de Gruyter in Berlin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Proceedings of the Fifth International
Congress of the Société d’Études Samaritaines,
Helsinki, August 1-4, 2000,
were published by Geuthner in Paris in 2005.
http://www.geuthner.com/
Reinhard Pummer, "The Samaritans and Their
Pentateuch," in The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding
Its Promulgation and Acceptance, ed. Gary N. Knoppers and
Bernard M. Levinson (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2007), pp. 237-269.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A
Bibliography of the Samaritans, Third
Edition, by Alan David Crown and Reinhard Pummer is presently available
from the publisher at 40% discount. See the website of Scarecrow Press
(http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Series/).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A 17th century meeting with the Samaritan high
priest
posted by Mississippi Fred MacDowell
In 1697 an Englishman named Henry Maundrell (1665-1701), was
elected Chaplain at the
Levant Company
in Aleppo. That year he embarked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for
Easter. The trip was chronicled by him and published in 1703 as
Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at
Easter, A.D. 1697. The book went through many printings, as
well as translations into other languages.
There is an interesting part about his visit to the Samaritan
כהן גדול
while in
שכם.
Leaving Sebasta we passed in
half an hour by Sherack, and in another half hour by Barseba, two
villages on the right hand; and then entering into a narrow valley,
lying east and west, and watered with a fine rivulet, we arrived in
one hour at Naplosa.
http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2007/11/17th-century-meeting-with-samaritan.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENGRAVING, PRODUCED IN THE 1870s. FULL SHEET ENGRAVING FOLIO OF PICTURESQUE PALESTINE
DESCRIPTION: RUINS ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT GERIZIM ON THE SITE OF THE
SAMARITAN TEMPLE

Full page bookplate produced by Appleton in the 1870s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is there a Life after Death?
By Shomron
I happened upon this story of a near death experience
just recently. So curious as I get, I did a Google search on the subject. I
was amazed at what I found.
Many people who have had these near death experiences seem to tell of a
bright light associated with a feeling of total love, peace and
tranquility. Many associate this with the creator. Some stated that they
had understood what life was about and what we were supposed to do here
today. Some claim that they were met by people in robes, even relatives
that had past on some time earlier.
One interesting story tells of a male nurse that was
with a patient who was brought back to life, who seemed to be talking to someone. The patient asked
questions and even began confessing some wrongs he had done in the past.
Some say that they understood all knowledge and that they understand that
they existed since the moment of creation and shall always exist. One
person wrote, "I experienced what we mean when we say that we have free
will and that we choose everything. There are no absolutes. I watched
every thought I had ever chosen to its natural end, and each person it had
touched. I knew that I was, and had always been a speaker. Which meant I
carried between entities and their expressions. I was in physical reality
because it is time for the physical being to mature and accept their
responsibility for their creation and to realize that they create their
reality."
It is very interesting to read these personal testimonies. Some tell of
seeing their bodies, hearing what was said, visiting relations, and so on. But
what I really found fascinating is the many said that they seemed to fall,
some said it was like into the earth. I have always felt that most likely
we were in the lower firmament, but could we be in the upper firmament?
Also, take note that Moses' face was so bright, he had to cover it! So
if you are so interested, check these links out!
http://www.nderf.org/NDERF_NDEs.htm
http://www.near-death.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SBL 2008: Aramaic Studies Call for Papers
The Call for Papers is now
open and updated for the Aramaic Studies section of the 2008 SBL
conference. Meeting Begins:
11/21/2008 Meeting Ends:
11/25/2008
Call For Papers Opens:
11/17/2007 Call For Papers Closes: 3/1/2008
Aramaic Studies
The Aramaic studies section
is intended to provide a forum for scholars interested in various
aspects of Aramaic language and its literature. Previous paper topics
have included aspects of the Targumim, Qumran Aramaic, Peshitta,
Samaritan papyri, and Elephantine Aramaic. The call for papers is
open to any submissions in Aramaic studies. A brief business session
will also be held to discuss the future of Aramaic studies.
All questions should be
directed to Christian Brady
(cbrady@psu.edu).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Web links
A Samaritan parallel to
a famous saying in Pirkei Avot
http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2007/12/samaritan-parallel-to-famous-saying-in.html
7-2. Samartian Aramaic: The ten northern tribes of Israel:
Samaritan Targum, Memar Marqah (Prose) and the Defter (liturgical texts).
http://www.aramnahrin.org/English/Interview_Chairmain_Aram-Naharaim_27_6_2007.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biblio
Musicology and Sister Disciplines: Past, Present, Future : Proceedings of
By David Clive Greer, Ian
Rumbold, Jonathan King Contributor Bernard Williams, Ian Rumbold, Jonathan
King Published 2000
Oxford University Press
Musicology/ Congresses 712 pages ISBN 0198167342 brief info on
Samaritan music pgs 403-4 |