A group of young Samaritans people who is interested in
their culture, heritage and the future of their small community, we establish
an association which is called Samaritan myth. This association is aimed on
the definition of Samaritan's culture and heritage the internal and external
one.
Security Mount Gerizim
A group of young people keen on the security
of Mount Gerizim
The English Translation of the
Samaritan Pentateuch
Update on the English Translation of the Samaritan
Pentateuch from Logos
Unknown publication date
The first-ever English translation of the
Samaritan Pentateuch, prepared by Benyamin Tsedaka WILL be
published by Logos.
The book shall be published near the end of this
year. We shall keep you informed when we learn more.
New Samaritan Museum
Article w/ photos of the new
Museum
Open from Sunday until Friday
time 8:00 - 17:00, the New museum is about 100 meters away from the
original location.
A group of Samaritans have been
educating people on the Samaritans throughout the land.
U.S. consulate
in Jerusalem decided to camp care, love and peace, organized by the
Association legend to bear all the expenses
http://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov/pe1229010.html Society received a letter today from the University of
Jordan to study the possibility of organizing an exhibition on campus for
two days
National Geographic Magazine is preparing a
feature story on David and Solomon in their December Issue 2010. Their
photographer was at the Samaritan Passover Sacrifice obtaining photos for
this article.
A producer from CBN News
that focuses on a documentaries about archaeology in the
Middle East will visit Mount Gerizim in the middle of July for interviews
and to film the mount.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Endangered
Alphabets Project is finished (and the
book version is nearly ready). You can find all the details at
http://www.endangeredalphabets.com,
but I thought you'd
like to see a photo of the finished text.
Very best wishes,
Tim Brookes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disagreeing View of a Greek Inscription
by the Editor
Recently I read an article, One God Supreme: A Case Study of Religious
Tolerance and Survival by Michael Meerson, Princeton
University. The article was written in the Journal of Greco-Roman
Christianity and Judaism vol. 7 (2010)32-50.
http://www.jgrchj.net/volume7
Meerson's article focuses on the Greek inscription found on a sundial in
the essay of Y. Magan, 'Mount Gerizim- A Temple City.' This
essay was in the 33rd (2000) issue of Qadmoniot, published
by
Israel Exploration Society . This is one of five Hellenistic era
Greek inscriptions found on Mount Gerizim. The inscription, Greek for 'the
God Most High" is the primary interest of Meerson's article relating it to
similar discoveries in other areas.
The
article is worth reading but I disagree that the Samaritan Israelites
would have kept this at their own discretion. I would have thought they
they would have used one of the Torah names; Bethel (Gen. 12:8), House of
God (Gen. 28:17), Luz (Gen. 28:19), the Chosen Place (Deut. 12:11), and
the Everlasting Hill (Deut. 33:15).
The
sundial itself was
believed to be first used in Egypt in the form of an
obelisks (3500 BC) and used later by the Greeks, hence the Greek
script. The sundial was an instrument that was adopted by the Romans to my
knowledge wrote in Greek. Further the sun dial, a smaller version of the
Obelisk would have been associated with a sun deity which the Samaritans
would have well known, been forbidden by them to associate.
There was another
sun dial that was found on Gerizim in 1968 from the ruins of Tel Er Ras of
the Roman Hysistos build by Roman Emperor Hadrian. See article below. This
attests to the Roman- Greek usage.
Even
though Ahaz has been associated with a sundial (Isaiah 38:8 and II Kings
20:11) in roughly 700 BC, does and does not mean that the Samaritans did
not have something similar for calculating their calendar. But had they, I
can only feel that if any writing was on their instrument, it would have
not been Greek.
The
Hellenistic
period according to Menachem Mor (The Samaritans Edited
by Alan Crown JCB Mohr 1989, pg 14), 'Can one identify different
ideologies among the Samaritan population? One group would have been the
Samaritan Hellenists, who preferred to adopt the Hellenistic way of life
and perhaps looked forward to changing the status of Shechem...' This
would have been a small and unauthorized by the larger and priestly ruling
class that preferred to remain with the ancestral laws that their
forefathers had instructed them.
Anything on Mount Gerizim would have been watched over very carefully by
the Priestly family until and only when they would not have been permitted
to ascend to the summit when under foreign rule. This is documented when
foreign rulers built their structures on the mount.
The
sundial in question in my opinion, was in fact the remains of a foreign
influence that was properly broken up and discarded in which the remains
were found. The would have never been any willingness of the 'Samaritans
permit the Greek god to come and go,' as Meerson so concludes. For
the Samaritan Israelites to permit this as Meerson suggests, would
have been a great sin on them and Torah would not allow them to associate
with foreign deities.
The conference, "The Samaritans in biblical traditions", will take
place from the 30th June to 2nd July 2010 in Zurich. For internet
posting of the program, with many links, go to
http://www.agenda.uzh.ch/index.php?reihe=671
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Web Resources
Ancient site near Nablus
'too problematic' to open.
Mount Gerizim is sacred to
the Samaritans who regard it, rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount, as
the location chosen by God for a holy temple. By
Chaim
LevinsonTags:
Israel news
Behind the rusty iron
fence surrounding the archaeological work on Mount Gerizim lies
one of Israel's most impressive antiquities sites. But the Civil
Administration is keeping the compound closed despite its huge
tourism potential. It says planning at the site near Nablus in the
West Bank is "too problematic." cont.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/ancient-site-near-nablus-too-problematic-to-open-1.299573
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grilled
greatness: From the Samaritans' sacrifice to the 'shipudiyot'
eateries in the marketplace - every skewer of meat has its own
inimitable taste.By Ronit
Vered
"It's the fire of
hell," says the Samaritan priest, pointing at the infernal
flames leaping from the three large roasting ovens. The
ovens, two-meter-deep pits lined with stone, have been fed
chunks of olive wood since the early morning hours of
Passover eve. These are the hours when the members of the
sect still have enough patience to explain to
folklore-hungry guests the customs of ancient forefathers,
which have been preserved for thousands of years. Meanwhile,
children are throwing branches with green leaves into the
ovens, and happily watching frightened onlookers flee for
their lives from the tongues of fire and the clouds of
sparks. The square on which this special ceremony is
conducted, in the heart of the Samaritan neighborhood on
Mount Gerizim, is still quite empty. cont.
by Malkah
Fleisher On Wednesday, a small and ancient community in the Samaria region
performed a Passover offering just as it has done for over two thousand
years.
Israel's small Samaritan community gathered, as it does annually, to offer
sacrifices on Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem. Heads of Samaritan
households slaughtered 35 sheep that were offered in a way very similar to
that prescribed in the Torah, for sacrifices at the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem.
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2010_04_25_archive.html
......His research
of the people and ethnic groups who lived in the Land of Israel is
summarized in a book dedicated mainly to the Samaritan sect: From
Samaria to Shechem: The Samaritan Sect in the Ancient Period. He also
published bibliographical collections ,with Uriel Rappaport, covering the
extensive works on the Second temple period and numerous articles in the
field of Ancient Jewish History.
http://boulderjewishnews.org/2010/bar-kochba-lecture-10/
Yesteday (28/4/10) as part
of a Departmental field trip, I had the opportunity to visit the
fascinating Samaritan Passover Sacrifice on
Mt. Gerizim,
just next to Shechem/Nablus. Without getting into the very
complicated, and controversial, history of the Samaritans, the
Samaritans celebrated their traditional Passover (on a different day
from the Jewish Passover) and include in it, as their central act, a
very impressive sacrifice of many sheep. The whole process, besides
being quite breathtaking (and at times, quite gory), is a real “time
tunnel” back to methods of sacrifice and ritual of ancient times. In
fact, standing there and watching the various parts of the ceremony,
one can almost see a visual representation of portions of the biblical
texts on sacrifice (as in, e.g., Leviticus), or other ancient near
texts on sacrificial practices. It is definitely something that
everyone dealing with ancient cultic practices should see. Here are
some pictures from the ceremony. Please note – some are rather gory.
http://gath.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/visit-to-samaritan-passover-sacrifice/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celebrating the conclusion
of the tenth annual Zajel International Volunteering CampNear the
conclusion of the Zajel volunteering camp, the internationals made a visit
to the Samaritan sect in Nablus. Mr. Ya'qoub Samiri, head of the Samaritan
Myth Society in the city spoke about the history of the Samaritans, their
traditions, customs, religious rituals, and their historical affiliation
with Nablus. He also described the religious tolerance that characterizes
its relationship with other religions and sects in the city. The
volunteers were further involved in discussions about several topics
related to the Samaritan way of life, how they deal with others, the
reality of the Samaritan woman, as well as the Samaritan traditions that
characterize their different social celebrations and occasions.
Jews and Samaritans: The Origins and
History of Their Early Relations by
Gary Knoppers (Oxford University Press, 2010) New
Release Hardcover, Not Yet Printed, Expected:
8/15/2010
Mount Gerizim ~
Frederic P. Miller (Editor),
Agnes F. Vandome (Editor),
John McBrewster (Editor) Paperback: 172 pages Publisher:
Alphascript Publishing (February 16, 2010) Language: English
ISBN-10: 6130668473 ISBN-13: 978-6130668471
Product Description
Mount Gerizim is one of the
two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus,
and forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated,
the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal. The mountain is one of the
highest peaks in the West Bank, as well as being higher than most
mountain peaks in Israel, and rises to 2849 feet (881 meters) above sea
level, 228 feet (69.5 meters) shorter than Mount Ebal. The mountain is
particularly steep on the northern side, is sparsely covered at the top
with shrubbery, and lower down there is a spring with a high yield of
fresh water. The mountain is sacred to the Samaritans who regard it,
rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount, as having been the location chosen
by Yahweh for a holy temple. The mountain continues to be the centre of
Samaritan religion to this day, and over 90% of the worldwide population
of Samaritans live in very close proximity to Gerizim, mostly in Kiryat
Luza, the main village. The Passover is celebrated by the Samaritans on
Mount Gerizim, and it is additionally considered by them as the location
of the near-sacrifice of Isaac. According to classical rabbinical
sources, in order to convert to Judaism, a Samaritan must first and
foremost renounce any belief in the sanctity of Mount Gerizim.
A Grammar of the Samaritan Language: With Extracts and Vocabulary
(Classic Reprint) ~
George Frederick Nicholl (Author) Paperback: 148 pages
Publisher: Forgotten Books (April 19, 2010) Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440071063 ISBN-13: 978-1440071065
Three months' residence at Nablus,
and an account of the modern Samaritans (Hardcover) ~
John Mills (Author) Hardcover: 350 pages Publisher:
BiblioLife (April 4, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10:
1117943488 ISBN-13: 978-1117943480
Remarks On Dr. Sharp's Pieces On the Words Elohim and Berith, Among
Which, in Shewing the Absolute Unfitness of the Arabic Tongue to Give
Root to the Divine ... Samaritan, and Arabic Dialects; Shewin ~
Benjamin Holloway (Author) Product Description: This is an EXACT
reproduction of a book published before 1923. Paperback: 72 pages
Publisher: Nabu Press (April 20, 2010) Language: English
ISBN-10: 1148939121 ISBN-13: 978-1148939124
The Samaritans, the Earliest Jewish
Sect: Their History, Theology and Literature (Hardcover)~
James Alan Montgomery (Author),
The John C. Winston Co. (Creator) This is an EXACT reproduction of a
book published Hardcover: 424 pages Publisher: BiblioLife
(April 6, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1140521195
ISBN-13: 978-1140521198
Samaritans: Samaritan, Al-Khadra Mosque, Sanballat the Horonite, Delos
Synagogue, Eudokia of Heliopolis, Julianus Ben Sabar, Abu L-Fath Books
LLC (Creator) Paperback: 56 pages Publisher: Books LLC
(May 29, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1157341322
ISBN-13: 978-1157341321 Product Description
Purchase includes free access
to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's
book club where you can select from more than a million books without
charge. Chapters: Samaritan, Al-Khadra Mosque, Sanballat the Horonite,
Delos Synagogue, Eudokia of Heliopolis, Julianus Ben Sabar, Abu L-Fath,
Amram Ibn Salameh, Hananiah, Abu Sa'id Al-Afif, Kiryat Luza. Excerpt:
The Samaritans (Hebrew: Shomronim, Arabic: as-Smariyyn) are an
ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents
to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism. Based
on the Samaritan Torah, Samaritans claim their worship is the true
religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile,
preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to
Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion
brought back by the exiled returnees. Ancestrally, they claim descent
from a group of Israelite inhabitants who have connections to ancient
Samaria from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the beginning
of the Common Era. The Samaritans, however, derive their name not from
this geographical designation, but rather from the Hebrew term ,
"Keepers ". In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of
Judaism, their claim of ancestral origin is disputed, and in those texts
they are called Cutheans (Hebrew: , Kuthim), allegedly from the ancient
city of Cuthah (Kutha), geographically located in what is today Iraq.
Modern genetics has suggested some truth to both the claims of the
Samaritans and Jewish accounts in the Talmud. Although historically they
were a large community up to more than a million in late Roman times,
then gradually reduced to several tens of thousands up to a few
centuries ago their unprecedented demographic shrinkage has been a
result of various historical events, including most notably the bloody
repression of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 CE) aga... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=28179
Samaritan Culture and History: Simon Magus, Samaria, Justin
Martyr, Sargon Ii, Tribe of Ephraim, Parable of the Good Samaritan ~
Books LLC (Creator) Paperback: 66 pages Publisher:
Books LLC (May 29, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10:
1157341330 ISBN-13: 978-1157341338
Product Description:
Purchase includes free access
to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's
book club where you can select from more than a million books without
charge. Chapters: Simon Magus, Samaria, Justin Martyr, Sargon Ii, Tribe
of Ephraim, Parable of the Good Samaritan, Tribe of Manasseh, Samaritan
Script, Mount Gerizim, Mount Ebal, Shechem, Holon, Tribe of Joseph,
Samaritan Hebrew Language, Kutha, Samaritan Aramaic Language, Yahu-Bihdi,
Andronicus Ben Meshullam, Sanballat Ii, Olympias, Malthace. Excerpt:
Justin Martyr (also Justin the Martyr, Justin of Caesarea, Justin the
Philosopher, Latin Iustinus Martyr or Flavius Iustinus) (103165) was an
early Christian apologist and saint. His works represent the earliest
surviving Christian "apologies" of notable size. Most of what is known
about the life of Justin Martyr comes from his own writings. He was born
at Flavia Neapolis (ancient Shechem in Judaea/Palaestina, now modern-day
Nablus). According to the traditional accounts of the church, Justin
suffered martyrdom at Rome under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius when Junius
Rusticus was prefect of the city (between 162 and 168). Justin called
himself a Samaritan, but his father and grandfather were probably Greek
or Roman, and he was brought up as a pagan. It seems that St Justin had
property, studied philosophy, converted to Christianity, and devoted the
rest of his life to teaching what he considered the true philosophy,
still wearing his philosopher's gown to indicate that he had attained
the truth. He probably traveled widely and ultimately settled in Rome as
a Christian teacher. It is alleged that his relics are housed in the
church of St. John the Baptist in Sacrofano, a few kilometers north of
Rome. In 1882 Pope Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed for his
feast day, which he set at 14 April, the day after the day indicated as
that of his death in the Martyrology of Florus; but since this date
quite often fal... More:
http://booksllc.net/?id=16403
Torah: Masoretic Text, Sacrifice, Samaritan Torah, the Bible Code,
Shittah-Tree, Biblical and Talmudic Units of Measurement,
(Paperback)
LLC Books (Creator) Paperback: 154 pages, Publisher:
Books LLC (May 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1157529097
ISBN-13: 978-1157529095
Samaritans: Past and Present Current Studies