“Mount Gerizim,
All the Days of Our
Lives”
November/
December 2014
Vol. XIV - No 2
In This Issue ·
Future Events ·
1940 film ·
Commentary ·
Papers ·
Letter Beth ·
TRUST & Women ·
Auctions Results ·
Lectures ·
Schwartz’s Collection ·
Keyboard ·
Repository ·
Joseph Cycle ·
Gerizim Key ·
SBL ·
Call for papers ·
Images ·
From the Editor ·
Past Publications ·
Future Publications ·
Recent Publications ·
Links ·
Old News ·
Biblio
Future Events
It has been 3653 years since the entrance into
the Holy Land
This counting began on the Sixth Month of the
Year of Creation (Samaritan’s typical calendar)
It has been 6442 years since Creation
1st day of the 10th
Month 3653- December 21, 2014
1st day of the 11th
Month 3653- January 20 2015
1st day of the 12th
Month 3653- February 18, 2015
1st day of the 13th
Month 3653- March 19, 2015
1st day of the 1st
Month 3654 – April 18, 2015
Passover Sacrifice Saturday evening- May 2,
2015
Conclusion of the Festival
of Unleavened Bread- May 9, 2015
Shavuot- June 28 2015
Festival of the First Day of
7th Month 3654- Oct. 13, 2015
Day of Atonement- Oct. 22,
2015
Festival of Succot- Oct. 27,
2015
Festival of the 8th
day of Succot 3654- Nov. 3, 2015
[Calculated by: Priest
Yakkiir ['Aziz] b. High Priest Jacob b. 'Azzi – Kiriat Luza, Mount Gerizim]
~~~~~~~~~~~
1940
Samaritan Passover under the British Mandate Film.
This is a Black
and White film with a British commentary of the events of Passover including
the Sacrifice. The film is just over 7 minutes long. From
Bridgeman Images
Footage
number BOF739708 Medium HD
Description
When the Jews under Nehemiah returned
to Jerusalem they found the walls of the city torn down. Under the leadership
of Nehemiah they set about the task of rebuilding. Shows stone mason at work
with hammer and chisel. History of the Samaritan Israelites. The Samaritans
from Shechem (Sichem) asked to help and the Jews refused. The Samaritans went
back to Shechem and carried on the religion of Moses in their own way. Shows
ancient city of Shechem (Sichem). Shows Samaritan camp on top of mount Gerizim
the week before Passover. Shows Samaritans preparing scaffolding for sacrifice.
Shows pits to burn the parts of the sheep not permitted to eat and pit to cook
the sacrificed sheep parts. Shows Passover preparations under British Police
protection. Image of Samaritan High Priest. Shows sheep carcasses being cleaned
and prepared to cook. Passover feast being prepared by the Samaritan
Israelites. As Samaritan High Priest prays the Passover feast is eaten in a
hurry as demanded in the book of Exodus. The day after the feast people gather
on the mountain top to pray. Close-up of the Pentateuch, one of the world's
oldest books.
[Matzliach b. Phinhas b. Yitzhaq b. Shalma was High
Priest during 1933-1943.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ṣadaqah al-Ḥakīm’s
Commentary on Genesis. Part Two Chapters VII-XX
Preliminary edition by Haseeb Shehadeh
The first part of the commentary of the first six chapters was published
in https://shomron0.tripod.com/2014/julaug.pdf and can
be seen here: https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/Sadaqap1.pdf
Now see Part Two: https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/Sadaqa2.pdf
This thirteenth-century
Arabic commentary by the physician Ṣadaqah b. abū al-Farağ Munağğā
b. Ṣadaqah b. Ġarūb al-Sāmiriyy al-Dimashqiyy (d. 1223) is
the oldest commentary to have come down to us. It has survived in two
manuscripts: R. Huntington 301 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (203 fols.,
Genesis 1: 2 — 50: 5) and Cam III 14 (114 fols., Genesis 1: 4—49: 16) in the
Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg. The portion of the commentary
that appears below reflects Sadaqah’s broad knowledge of medicine, as well as
of Rabbinic, Karaite and Arabic sources of philosophy, grammar and exegesis.
This portion, including the first six chapters of Genesis, has been ready in my
computer for almost two decades. Unfortunately, I did not find the time to
continue with this project, and I therefore decided to make this portion
available to Samaritans as well as to all who are interested and able to read
and understand this kind of Arabic. This edition is based on R. Huntington 301
with some readings taken from Cam III 14. Based on my preliminary research into
the latter manuscript (as well as Cam III 5 and 6), I can say that this source
does not present substantially different readings from R. Huntington 301. The
character آ stands for the Oxford manuscript and the
character س stands for the manuscript in Saint
Petersburg. The slash indicates the end of one page and the beginning of the next.
It should be mentioned that almost 11% of the Oxford manuscript, 22 first
folios, was rendered into Modern Hebrew by A. Loewenstamm in the early 1980s. A
facsimile of the text and the translation were published in Jerusalem in 2008.
Now see Part Two: https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/Sadaqa2.pdf
~~
On: Karaite and
Samaritan Studies, Collected and Posthumous Papers by Ayala Loewenstamm
By Haseeb Shehadeh (University of Helsinki)
https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/ksstudies.pdf [2014] Arabic
~~
Why Did God Start the
Torah with the Letter Beth? By Ab Sikkōwwā el-Sirrāwē
By Haseeb Shehadeh (University of Helsinki)
https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/letterbeth.pdf [2014] Arabic/Hebrew
~~~~~~~~~
Photos of the Nablus
Synagogue
Śâmî
Čøhéñ recently
posted a number of photos on his Facebook page of work being done on the Nablus
Synagogue on Dec. 29, 2014. The synagogue has been sitting empty for a good
number of years. The Samaritans have decided it was time for the historic
Synagogue to be brought back to original appearance with some modifications to
the roof structure.
~~~~~~~~~~~
TRUST joins Women of
Action (Seeds of Peace) visit to Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim
By TRUST-Emun
.Oct. 17, 2014
A group of
Palestinian and Israeli women from the Women of Action (Seeds of Peace) visited
Mt. Gerizim – Har Bracha (Mount of Blessing) the home of the Samaritans near
Nablus/Schem in on October 17, 2014. The arriving women all embraced and kissed
and expressed delight to see each other after many months and such a hard
summer of war and violence.
At this spot we
had listening circles where all of the Israeli and Palestinian women shared
about the difficulties we have suffered over the summer during the war, and the
ongoing struggles now. Women expressed anger, hurt, shame, despondence,
frustration, and much pain. As one woman reported “everyone on every side said
that they had the worst summer of their lives and had sunk into depths of
despair”. And when discussing our feelings about being together, one said “I
didn’t come here to visit the Samaritans, I came here to be with my sisters.”
Everyone expressed relief and happiness to feel the support of each other and
to experience our sisterhood of suffering together. I carry the smiles and
embraces in my heart.
~~~~~~
A rich and varied collection, which includes Piyutim for special events, poems
for different occasions, eulogies, parts of prayers, and more.
One of the most remarkable items, is an authorization-certificate written on
behalf of the Samaritan dignitaries in Nablus (1868 – signed by hand and with
ink stamps), authorizing that Ya'akov ben Aharon is the High Priest and
spiritual leader of the Samaritan people [At the same time the priest Amram ben
Shlomo was also serving as High Priest of the Samaritans, until his death in
1874, however due to internal criticism - following his marriage to a woman,
who her husband was forcefully made to convert to Islam, in order to save her
from converting also - the priest Amram was forced to hand over his position to
his nephew, Ya'akov ben Aharon].
Other details in the collection:
• Supplication, hand-written on paper.writing: Ab-Sakuwah ben Abraham Haddanafi
[ 18th century]. On the outer part of the page a decorated writing is
inscribed, with Samaritan writing in especially large letters. At the front of
the page some fine illustrations were added, depicting branches with leaves and
fruit, painted with purple ink. Ab-Sakuwah ben Abraham Haddanafi – head of the
"Danafies", lived in the end of the 17th century, and the beginning
of the 18th. [4] pages.
• A single leaf (paper), with an illustration featuring the image of the temple
and its vessels, according to the Samaritan tradition [beginning of 20th
century].
• Two pages in Samaritan writing, Piyutim for Yom Kippur and in honor of the
book "Molad Moshe", by the High Priest Shlomo ben Tabiah, and by
Shlomo ben Ab-Sakuwah Haddanafi [18th /19th century].
• A poem for the festival of Shavuot, by Ab-Sakuwah ben Abraham Haddanafi
(unknown copier) [the 18th century].
• A wedding poem by Tabiah ben Yitzhak – High Priest, in his own handwriting.
• A handwritten pamphlet, prayers for the Shabat before Shavuot. Writing:
Marchiv ben Yehoshua Hamarchivi [end of the 18th century (?); 19th century].
Manuscript of [15] pages.
• A segment of text describing the Samaritan customs, written by the High
Priest Ya’akov ben Aharon.
• A single page featuring the 12th chapter of the Book of Exodus, written in
large letters (the paragraph recited by the High Priest at the beginning of the
ceremonial sacrifice of Passover) hand-written by Ab-Chisda Ben Ya’akov
Hacohen.
• A poem of warning and reproof by Ya’akov ben Aharon Hacohen.
A full list can be sent on request.
Additional documents.
A total of 43 documents, some including a few pages. Varying size and
condition: Poor-fair to good. Some of the documents are described in Hebrew;
some are incomplete.
Estimate $10,000-15,000 Sold for
$9,000.00
Lot 1413: Samaritan prayer Siddur, with owner's signet Priest
Amran Ishak - President of the Samaritan Community, Nablus-Jordan
Description: Samaritan prayer
Siddur, with owner's signet Priest Amran Ishak - President of the Samaritan
Community, Nablus-Jordan Notes: Eretz-Israel Books in
Hebrew
This sold for $170.00.
~~~~~~~~
Auction
Result: Fine Judaica: Books, Manuscripts, Ceremonial Objects & Art by
Kestenbaum & Company November 13, 2014, 3:00 PM EST New York, NY, USA Lot
309, the Samaritan Scroll valued to sell between $8-12,000 DID NOT SALE See description in previous issue of the
Update https://shomron0.tripod.com/2014/septoct.pdf
~~~~~~
Pittsburgh gets glimpse
of modern Israelite Samaritans
By
Toby Tabaqchnick The Jewish Chronicle 12/3/2014
~~~~~
Israelite
Samaritan Benyamim Tsedaka in conversation with Dale Lazar
Monday, November 24, 7 pm
This event is free and open to the public
Join us for a conversation with
noted historian, author and elder of the Israelite Samaritan community,
Benyamim Tsedaka, facilitated by photographer Dale Lazar. Mr. Tsedaka’s visit,
his first to Pittsburgh, introduces the upcoming exhibition.
The
Israelite Samaritans and the Festival of Unleavened Bread: Photographs by Dale
Lazar
Fine Perlow Weis Gallery
May 4–July 24, 2015
Lectures and Photos in
Pittsburgh 2014
Dale Lazar Photography
The
Israelite Samaritans: photography & Lecture Series
http://dalelazarphotography.smugmug.com/
~~~~~~~~
By Nadav Man. Published 02.27.10
The Schwartz couple arrived in Israel from Czechoslovakia in
1939. Miko was a certified photographer employed by the mandatory radio
authority. He also took photographs for Keren Hayesod (Foundation Fund) and the
Jewish National Fund. Thanks to his photojournalist mandatory license, he
visited many places: Jewish settlements, Arab villages, cities and agricultural
and industrial areas.
Continue reading at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3852090,00.html
Photos in part
2: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3878149,00.html
~~~~~~~~
Samaritan Keyboard
Visit Jim Ridolfo’s web site for Samaritan
Font.
The Samaritan keyboard
for OS X 10.* and Windows 2000, 7, and 8 is a resource I produced for my own
research using the excellent free software
package Ukelele for OS X, and Microsoft Keyboard
Layout Creator for Windows.
Download for Windows 2000
and higher: http://rid.olfo.org/doc/samaritankeyboardwindows0.20.zip
Download for OS X 10.5 and higher: http://rid.olfo.org/doc/samaritankeyboardosx0.40.tar.gz
~~~~~~~~~
Larry
Rynearson, editor of The Samaritan Update, has made the following
digitized manuscript available from his personal collection.
(Manuscript
LR2), Samaritan Book of Joshua in Samaritan Hebrew, 1908 CE. Available: http://samaritanrepository.org/res/rynearson/lr2samaritanbookofjoshua.pdf [15mb]
The
Samaritan Book of Joshua by Samaritan High
Priest Abisha b. Phinas b. Yitzhaq (1880-1961) [Naji b. Khidr] b. Isaac b.
Salama b. Ghazal/Tabiah. He copied the manuscript in the year 1326 Hijra
[Muslim Calendar] 1908 C.E. The copyists would normally write the short work in
less than 24 hours to sell quickly to make money to support his family in
Nablus. Attached are photos of the hand-written book. The book is a red cloth
hardcover measuring 7 3/8” x 5 3/4” x 3/8” thick. The typical Samaritan cover
end wrap is missing. The original purchaser dedicated the book to his family,
presumed in 1912 C.E., three years after his visit to Nablus.
Abisha
b. Phinhas is also the scribe of other works: Sassoon 387, 723, 510; LC Sam. MS
4, 6, 13, 16; Rylands Sam. 162; Columbia 71 and Columbia K 64 (Asatir); BL Or.
7925, 10200, (1910), 10746, 10778 (1905), Or. 10862 (1908), 10863, 12250.
http://www.samaritanrepository.org/collections/rynearson/
Congratulations Jim Ridolfo and Janice
Fernheimer for your new born son, De. 22, 2014 (photo Right)
And
Congratulations Jim Ridolfo and William Hart-Davidson on your new book Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities out
Jan. 19, 2015.
http://www.amazon.com/Rhetoric-Digital-Humanities-Jim-Ridolfo/dp/022617669X
~~~~~~
The Joseph Cycle
(Genesis 37-45) in the Samaritan-Arabic Commentary of Meshalma ibn Murjan
By
Gladys Levine Rosen is now available
online in the archives of the Samaritan Update.
https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/theJosephCycle.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samaritans Honor Bank
of Palestine Chairman and Confer ‘Gerizim Key’ Medal upon Him
The Samaritan
sect in Nablus Governorate has honored BOP Chairman and General Manager Hashim
Shawa for his continuous efforts and liberality, conferring upon him for the
first time the ‘Mount Gerizim Key’ medal in appreciation for his services and
contribution to corporate social development in Palestine and support he
provided to the Samaritans.
The honoring
ceremony took place in the guest house in the Samaritan Quarter in Nablus and
was attended by Nablus Governor Akram Rjoub, Nablus Mayor Ghassan Shakaa,
representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and departments and organizations
operating in Nablus, as well as BOP officials, eminent Samaritans and legal
personalities. The Samaritan High Priest Abdallah Wasef handed Shawa ‘Mount
Gerizim Key’ medal in the first honoring ceremony of a Palestinian economist
from the Samaritan sect.
For his part,
the Secretary of the Samaritan sect Ishaq Radwan said BOP has left an indelible
mark in supporting the Samaritan sect with the view of preserving it as an
integral part of the Palestinian people. He also extended gratitude to all
organizations and institutions that support the Samaritans.
Director of the
Samaritan Legend Association Ya’coub Al-Kahen stated the association is seeking
to accomplish several activities aiming to introduce the public to the
Samaritan sect. The activities will include public displays, panel sessions and
meetings for young people. Al-Kahen added the conference of the medal upon BOP
Chairman and General Manager demonstrates “our appreciation for his efforts and
unlimited contribution in support of the Samaritans.”
Director of the
Samaritan Youth Club Ismail Alteif said that Mount Gerizim has always embraced
lovers of peace from the three monotheistic religions. He also thanked BOP for
its continuous support to the Samaritan basketball team, adding that BOP has
been always in the forefront in supporting the Samaritans.
For his part,
Shawa valued the generous gesture of the Samaritan sect, stressing the fact
that the Samaritans are an inseparable part of the Palestinian community. At
the same time, Shawa confirmed BOP’s commitment to economic development and to
supporting local institutions and associations. “This is our national duty,” he
emphasized, “until our aspiration to establish an independent Palestinian state
with Jerusalem its capital has been realized.”
‘Gerizim Key’
is a medal of honor conferred by the Samaritans to a person or institution
supporting the Samaritans, who represent the smallest and oldest sect in the
world that is trying to keep alive its doctrinal theology, rites, culture,
language, customs and norms.
The
decision-making committee for the conference of the medal comprises the High
Priest, Samaritan Sect Committee, Samaritan Legend Association, and Samaritan
Youth Club. The Samaritans, numbering 780 people, live on top of Mount Gerizim
south of Nablus.
http://bankofpalestine.com/en/media-center/newsroom/details/414
~~~~
Presented Nov. 23, 2014
in San Diego at the Society of Biblical Literature seminar on Johannine
Literature.
Samaritan and Jewish Meals in Late
Antiquity: Between Archaeology and Literature
Program Unit: Meals in the Greco-Roman World
Steven
Fine, Yeshiva University
Recent scholarship has shown considerable interest in the
history of Jewish dining habits as discussed by the rabbis in late antique
Palestine. These have resulted in significant monographs in both English and
Hebrew. This talk will widen this conversation in three ways: by exploring
archaeological evidence for Jewish practice in Israel, in diaspora communities,
and among Samaritans. I will focus upon drawing connections between material
culture and rabbinic and Samaritan literary sources from late antiquity.
Biblical Inerrancy and Textual Criticism: A
Curious History
Program Unit: Metacriticism of Biblical Scholarship
Ron
Hendel, University of California-Berkeley
The modern doctrine of biblical inerrancy that emerged in
the late 16th and 17th centuries was, in part, a response to text-critical
controversies. The problem of textual variants in the MT, the LXX, and the
Samaritan Pentateuch became incendiary in Protestant-Catholic controversy,
particularly after the Council of Trent elevated the status of the Vulgate. The
orthodox Protestant position on textual variants crystallized into the doctrine
of inerrancy in creeds of the late 17th century. This little-known chapter of
textual-theological dispute has implications for contemporary biblical
scholarship.
The Yahwistic Psalms in Papyrus Amherst
63
Program Unit: Israelite Religion in Its West Asian
Environment
Tawny
Holm, Pennsylvania State University
The unique Papyrus Amherst 63 from Upper Egypt contains
three Yahwistic psalms in columns xii-xiii. The papyrus as a whole was written
in Aramaic but using a Demotic script that paleographically dates to the Early
Hellenistic period. These Yahwistic psalms were placed at a pivotal point in
the liturgical portion of the 23-column text. However, only one of them has
received much attention (xii 11-19), because it closely resembles the biblical
Psalm 20. P. Amherst 63 is likely the product of a single, yet quite diverse,
Aramean or Aramaic-speaking community that included a number of Judeans and
Samaritans, amongst other groups who came to Egypt from the Syro-Mesopotamian
region and farther east. Thus, these three Yahwistic psalms will be studied
within the religious and social context of the production of P. Amherst 63.
This paper stems from the author's work on a forthcoming volume on Early
Aramaic Literature for the SBL series "Writings from the Ancient
World."
The Place That the Lord Your God Will
Choose
Program Unit: Book of Deuteronomy
Magnar
Kartveit, School of Mission & Theology (Misjonshogskolen i Stavanger) (Norway)
The phrase "The place that the Lord your God will
choose" is the standard text in the masoretic text of Deut 12:5.11.14.18
etc., while the Samaritan Pentateuch reads "The place that the Lord your
God has chosen." This phrase is almost exclusively found in Deut 12-26,
which is supposed to be the oldest part of Deuteronomy. If parts of Deuteronomy
has a Northern origin, do chapters 12-26 also come from the north? And if so,
does the masoretic text reflect the original reading of the phrase mentioned?
This presentation will discuss this question and present possible answers.
Samaritans, Galileans, and Judeans in
Josephus and the Gospels
Program Unit: John, Jesus, and History
Reinhard
Pummer, Université d'Ottawa - University of Ottawa
The paper will explore the relationship between Samaritans,
Galileans and Judeans in Josephus and the Gospel of John as well as other New
Testament writings. Among the subjects to be discussed will be that of the
Samaritan idea of the eschatological prophet, the Taheb, and its distinction
from Jewish concepts of messianism.
Deuteronomy in the Samaritan Tradion and
the Northern Origins of Deuteronomy
Program Unit: Book of Deuteronomy
Stefan
Schorch, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
The suggestion that Deuteronomy is of northern origin or at
least very strongly influenced by traditions from Northern Israel has been
advanced over a long period and by numerous important scholars, e.g. Adam C.
Welch, Albrecht Alt, Gerhard von Rad, and Moshe Weinfeld. The paper will give
this problem a fresh look, from the perspective of the Samaritan Pentateuch and
its textual history. It will be shown that the Samaritan text, as against the
Masoretic text of Deuteronomy, preserves a number of textual variants, which shed
new light on the origin and the history of the Book of Deuteronomy and provide
additional support for its origin in the North.
Confession and Deception in Josephus'
Samaritan Ethno-Geography
Program Unit: Josephus
Chris
Seeman, Walsh University
Josephus deploys an array of conflicting ethno-geographical
descriptors in his portrayal of the Samaritans in the Antiquities: Chuthaeans,
Medo-Persian colonists, expatriate Jerusalemites, Shechemites, Sidonians at
Shechem. While some of this shifting nomenclature may reflect divergence among
Josephus’ sources, the polemical intent of their conflation has long been
recognized. By generating inconsistent testimony concerning their
ethno-geographical origin, Josephus develops the theme of Samaritan duplicity. By
imputing deception to Samaritan self-identification, Josephus seeks to
discredit the claim that they descend from Ephraim and Manasseh. They are
geographically “out of place” (unlike Judeans, whose ethnonym corresponds to
their place of residence and authenticates their possession of the only
legitimate cult center). Thus, geographical markers contribute to Josephus’
project of reinforcing the coherence of Judean identity at Samaritan expense.
This paper examines Josephus’ use of ethno-geographical confession and
deception in his account of Macedonian rule. Specifically, it considers the
role of the ruler (Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV, Ptolemy VI) as witness
and umpire in Judean-Samaritan “identity politics.”
http://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Congresses_Abstracts.aspx?MeetingId=25
~~~~~~
Call for Papers
2015 INTERNATIONAL MEETING of SBL (Society of Biblical Literature)
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Meeting Begins:
7/20/2015 Meeting Ends: 7/24/2015
Call For Papers
Opens: 10/29/2014 Call For Papers Closes: 2/12/2015
BIBLICAL
CHARACTERS IN THE THREE TRADITIONS (JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM)
John Tracy
Greene greenej@msu.edu
Description:
This seminar approaches biblical literature through its most famous and pivotal
characters, for it is around them that the subsequent biblical story is
organized and arranged. Moreover, these characters have come to enjoy a life
and fame that extends well beyond the basic Old Testament, Miqra, and New
Testament, and even into the Qur’an and Islamic oral and written texts. As was
demonstrated at the recent Tartu seminar, Samaritan texts and traditions
(unfamiliar to many) have a contribution to make to the seminar as well. Our
work seeks, among other goals, to facilitate a meaningful and informed dialogue
between Jews, Christians, Muslims and Samaritans by providing both an open
forum at annual conferences, and by providing through our publications a
written reference library to consult. A further goal is to encourage and
provide a forum in which new scholarly talent in biblical and related studies
may be presented.
Call
for papers: Moses, the biblical figure, has long been researched from different
theological, historical, archaeological, literary, egyptological, apocryphal,
and linguistic perspectives. These approaches only scratch the surface of how
scholars have responded to this figure. Recent approaches to Moses in Jewish,
Christian, Muslim, and literary investigations are invited. No more than 20
abstracts will be accepted for this seminar in Buenos Aires. Abstracts
mirroring most recent approaches will be considered first. We seek discussion
concerning a Moses to be understood in the 21st Century.
~~~~~~~~~
Images from
Beth
Shean, Samaritan Synagogue Mosaic floor 6th century C.E.
See
all their Samaritan related images at The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem
website
http://cja.huji.ac.il/browser.php?mode=search&query=samaritan&area=all&cat=all&scope=3
~~~
The Ancient Samaritans
of Israel: From Mount Gerizim to the Ukraine
By Paul Sorene on 5 November 2014
See
his article and the wonderful past and present photos at
~~~~~~~
'The Samaritan Passover - When the guard of Turkish soldiers is sufficiently strong to maintain
order, and permit the Samaritans to meet in the open air, the law is read as
they stand inside a circle of stones. At sunset they assemble in this enclosure
for the Passover, and the men, facing the high priest, recite exodus XII, 6.
The lambs are seized by the Shochetim, examined by the high priest, and slain:
then hastily prepared for roasting in the pit of fire'
DATE PRINTED: 1900
IMAGE SIZE: Approx. 20.0 x 15.0cm, 7.75 x 5.75 inches (Medium)
Artist/Cartographer/Engraver: Norman H.
Hardy from the publication of "Customs
of the World"; Edited by Walter
Hutchinson, with an introduction by A.C. Haddon, Published by Hutchinson
& Co., London. It is posted on Ebay
for sale.
Norman H. Hardy
(b. 1864- d. January 10, 1914.). [Not sure when or even if he visited the
Samaritans.]
~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Editor
As the Editor
of the Samaritan Update, I wish to establish that the purpose of these issues
is to help inform people and assistant scholars with unknown and renewed
sources of material that was not at their disposal, to help accomplish their
work and writings concerning the Samaritan Israelites. The Samaritan Update was
encouraged from the beginning back in 2000 by Samaritan Osher Sassoni, just for this propose and has since been the main
focal point ever since. I offer my thanks and respect to Benyamim Tsedaka, Juanita Berguson, Paul Gordon Collier and Ralph Benko for their encouragement and
support! I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and wish you blessings that
you have not known!
All information
that has basically been displayed in the Samaritan Updates has been from the hard
work of scholars and authors that have endeavored to write and record their
thoughts and experiences in the past. These have formed the basics of the
education of what we know today of the Israelites Samaritans! Today’s records
shall be tomorrow’s history! I want to thank all these scholars and people that
have brought their work to my attention in the past and in the future! As
someone once said, ‘there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.’ We
learn from our environment,
this simple information that has been instilled in our simple minds shall
change with education. It is up to us all, to do what is right, to educate
those that know little of the existence of the Samaritan Israelites.
View this wonderful
image of a Samaritan Pentateuch, Damascus, Syria,
1339. Exodus 20 BL Or. MS 6461, ff.
69v–70
One of the Oldest Samaritan Texts that has survived to this
day.
A high-quality version of this image can
be purchased from British Library Images Online.
For more information email imagesonline@bl.uk
I recently
located the following information from a wonderful source compiled by Willem
Smelik, Sources for Manuscripts of Targumic Literature in Public Collections
Selective Bibliography: Catalogues (1992). see: http://www.targum.info/catalogues.html
Also see Catalogue
of Oriental Manuscripts
by John MacDonald
Or. 148, 151, 152, 154, 156, 158, 159, 160, C. 205, Car. C. 185 (10
MSS). In addition to these MSS the Zentralbibliothek has acquired: Or. 31,
32, 66 (Samaritan pentateuch scrolls), 143-161, 163, 170-175
Selly Oak
Colleges, Birmingham UK: 3 Hebrew and 2 Samaritan MSS, 40 Genizah fragments
(Pearson).
The Library of
the British and Foreign Bible Society, London UK: 7 scrolls and 2 Samaritan
Pentateuchs (given by Gaster).
H.D. Coxe, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum
Bibliothecae Bodleianae. Pars secunda: Codices Latinos et Miscellaneos
Laudianos complectens. Oxford, 1858-85.
Vol. 2 is interesting. Coxe noted the possession of the Colleges at
Oxford, later additions have been recorded in the Bodleian copy. Among these
are 6 Samaritan MSS at Keble.
Berkeley
(California) University of California General Library: 5 MSS, among which
Yemenite MSS of Midrash Aziri and Saadiah on the Pentateuch. Leaf of a
Samaritan MS
Oriental
Institute, University of Chicago: 2 Hebrew MSS. There are also 4 Samaritan MSS.
Haverford
College: R.W. Rogers, ``A Catalogue of Manuscripts (Chiefly Oriental) in the
Library of Haverford College,'' Haverford College Studies 4
(1890) 28-50. 21 hebrew, 1 samaritan MSS in the J. Rendel Harris Collection
Ithaca (New
York) Cornell University: I. Rabinowitz, ``Semitic MSS in the Library,'' Cornell
Alumni News 60 (1957) 281-282. 8 Arabic MSS in
Hebrew characters, scroll of Esther, 2 copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and
other Samaritan items
New Haven,
Connecticut. [L. Nemoy, Catalogue of Hebrew and Yiddish manuscripts
and Books from the Library of Sholem Asch Presented to Yale University by Louis
M. Rabinowitz. With an introductory essay by Sholem
Asch. [Yale University Library Miscellanies, 5]. New Haven, 1945.
40 MSS. Nemoy has described 2 (of the 3) Samaritan MSS in his Arabic catalogue
(nos. 1663-1664)]
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. [Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning:
B. Halper, Descriptive Catalogue of Genizah
Fragments in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1924.
Cf. JAOS 45 (1924?) 332ff; Shaked, A
Tentative Bibliography,
pp. 231-233.
The Library contains 256 Oriental MSS (in 1966) in many languages, the bulk of
which once belonged to judge Mayer Sulzberger. The catalogue preopared by J.
Reider in 1933 is ready, but has never been published; descriptions of Hebrew
MSS (nos. 1-66), Judeo-Arabic (nos. 67-74), Samaritan (75-120).]
“During
a sojourn of the librarian in the Near East, in 1927, an opportunity presented
itself to purchase a representative collection of Samaritan manuscripts,
including an ancient codex of the Pentateuch. With their acquisition, the
Library became at once the largest repository of Samaritanica in the country.”
Page 81, ‘Jewish Book Collection in the United States, In Commemoration of the
Centenary of Mayer Sulzberger.’ By Adolph S. Oko in American
Jewish Year Book
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania Library: 1 Samaritan MSS.
Princeton, New
Jersey. [Princeton University Library: 9 Samaritan MSS. Cf. De Ricci, Census, p. 869 and
Suppl. p. 312 (with correction).
Also an
interesting website by The National Library of Israel. They have launched a new Merhav
library catalog that searches in all the library databases.
Also in the
book
Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Toronto: 3 Samaritan
MSS. (OC 16-18) and two loose vellum leaves (OC 49-50).
U. of Toronto: roll containing the Samaritan Pentateuch,
obtained in 1912 at Nablous.
Strasbourg. B.
nationale et universitaire: Cat. gen. 47(1923) pp. 681-724, nos. 39274122. 186
MSS. p. 725, nos. 41 13-41 15: 3 MSS. in Samaritan
In
Milan the Ambrosiana collection of 121 Hebrew MSS. (and one Samaritan
Pentateuch)
Also, of
interest is the Braginsky Collection
of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books from the notable library of Swiss
collector René Braginsky, which includes objects ranging from a 6th-7th century
Shema Yisrael (Hear O Israel) amulet to a rare early 20th century Samaritan
Ketubbah (marriage contract) from Shechem. http://www.braginskycollection.com/ View the marriage contract (ketubbah)
from Shechem (Nablus) for the Samaritan Abraham b. Joseph Denufta (ha-Dinfi)
and Temima, daughter of Isaac b. ha-Levi Amram from 1905 shown left #79 of the catalogue.
Also see #68 of
the same Ketubbah at http://www.braginskycollection.ch/Ketubbot.html
Also an
interesting discovery is a Samaritan scroll, possibly in the old St. Mark’s
Library as the Keller Library News, September 14, 2012 informs us. The
Keller Library is at The General Theological
Seminary, New York, NY.
~~~~~~
Cairo to
Constantinople- The Prince of Wale’s Journal: 6 February- 14 June 1862
From the Royal
Collection Trust: http://rc.onlineculture.co.uk/ttp/
The following
is the Prince’s journal that mentions the Samaritan in his own handwriting.
(Page 45) April
12th
We remained in
our encampment during the forenoon, & soon after 12 rode to see “Jacob’s
Well” wh. is on the side of the town wh. we entered. It is said to have been
dug by Jacob, & supposed to have [been] the well where Our Saviour had the
conversation with the woman of Samaria. We rode back thro’ the town to our
encampment; the streets are very narrow, & very slippery. We dined at 2
o’clock, & the Pasha dined with us; he had formerly served in the Turkish
Navy in the Crimean War, & has got our medal. At a little before 6 in the afternoon
we rode up Mount Gherizin [sic] (wh. is just (page 46) above our camp) &
Buc[??]stone Buckstone & his wife accompanied us.
We had a
beautiful view fr. the top, & saw the sea in the distance, & the snow
clad Mount Hermon. The spot was shown us, wh. the Samaritans suppose to have
been where Abraham intended to sacrifice his son Isaac.
The Samaritans,
had pitched their tents near the top of the mountain for the Feast of the
Passover, wh. we witnessed. About 20 in number said prayers first (about 20 [illegible
word crossed through] minutes before sunset) Then at sunset 6 sheep were
killed; after some more prayers, hot water was poured on them, & the wool
was taken off, they were then cut open & trussed with sticks, like
[illegible word crossed through] spatchcocks. A large pit had been dug before,
& a fire lit in it, in wh. the sheep were afterwards to be roasted,
preparatory to eating them, wh. was not to take place till about midnight. It
was late, so we did not remain to see them roasted, but Dr. Stanley remained
behind to [illegible word crossed through] see the end of the ceremony. It was
very interesting, as it is supposed to be nearly like what the old Jewish
ceremony of the Passover used to be. The Samaritans were very civil to us,
& gave us seats to see the ceremony (wh. was performed in open air). We did
not get back to our camp till past 9 o’clock, & the descent of the mountain
was very difficult, though the moon was shining brightly.
(page 47)
Sunday April 13th
Soon after 9
A.M. we went into the town, Dr. Rosen (who had arrived the evening before fr.
Jerusalem) accompanied us.
We first saw an
old picturesque tower, about 6000 years old & an old Mosque & the
remains of S a Synagogue. We then went into the Samaritan Synagogue & some
of the same [men] we saw yesterday showed us 3 very old copies of the
Pentateuch on parchment. We then saw two Mosques, wh. had formerly been Xtian
Churches. No Europeans had ever been in these Mosques before us, as the people
of Nabulus are very fanatical, & no traveller dared to venture inside them;
we had however no difficulty in going in. At about 11.30. Dr. Stanley read
Divine Service in one of our tents, & the Buckstones came to it. In the
afternoon we went to see some caves, up part of a hill near our camp, & afterwards
had a capital view of the town.
Bedford was on
the tour with the Prince of Wales.
At the link
below, you can download an expandable image to get a closer look.
This is the
same curtain that we featured in our August 2005 issue of the Samaritan Update.
https://shomron0.tripod.com/2005/aug.html
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2700940/embroidered-cover-at-nabulous-nablus
~~~~~
Past Publications
Israel
in the Books of Chronicles,
by H.G.M. Williamson. Cambridge
University Press, UK. 2007
This book analyses a much neglected writer s
contribution to the debate within Judaism in the post-exilic period about who
might legitimately be included within the reconstituted Jerusalem community,
and notably the Chronicler s attitude to the status of the Samaritan sect. It
has been almost universally accepted that Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah are all
parts of a single work, and so the rather exclusive attitude of Ezra-Nehemiah
has been read back into Chronicles. Many believe that the Chronicles intended
to reject the Samaritan claim to inclusion. Dr Williamson challenges both the
assumption of unity of authorship and the attribution of an exclusive attitude
to the Chronicler, providing evidence to support the case for separate
authorship, and examining Chronicles in its own right. A study of the use of
the word Israel and an analysis of the narrative structure jointly lead to the
conclusion that the Chronicler reacted against the over-exclusive attitudes of
some of his contemporaries, and looked for the reunion of all Israel around
Jerusalem and its temple. This study will interest both Old Testament scholars
and students of Jewish history and culture.
~~~~~~~~~~
The sketch was
completed by Corwin K. Linson (1864-1959) a painter and illustrator
from the New York area. He shared a studio with Stephen Crane, author of The
Red Badge of Courage.
Many of the top institutions exhibited Linson’s work,
including the Paris Salon in 1890; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1892-93,
1904, 1925; the Art Institute of Chicago and National Academy of Design,
1892-95; and the Corcoran Gallery Biennial, 1923. Examples of his work can be
found in the collections of Williams College, Williamstown, MA; the Library of
Congress, Washington, DC; and the Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA, among others.
So who is the
Samaritan in Linson’s sketch?
He is Ab Hisda (Hasda) (1883-1959) teacher, scholar, copyist, restorer of
manuscripts. He is the son
of Jacob b. Aaron b. Shalmah b. Tabya b.
Ishak shown on page 14.
There is a
wonderful photo of Ab Hisda on page 15 in the National Geographic Magazine vol. 37, No.1, January 1920.
Ab Hisda’s son was High Priest Yoseph
ben Ab-Hisda ben Yaacov ben Aaharon (1987–1998)
THE MOUNTAIN OF
BLESSING. From Pictorial Journey through the Holy
Land; or, Scenes in Palestine. London: The
Religious Tract Society, 1867. Page 173
~~~~~~~~~~~
Journeying in the Land where Jesus Lived by Gerard
Benjamin Fleet Hallock, American Tract Society, New York: 1903
(p. 100) The present city contains about twenty-four thousand
inhabitants including one hundred and seventy Samaritans—the Only remaining
remnant of that people—a few Jews, about seven hundred Christians, mostly members
of the orthodox Greek Church, a few Roman Catholics and about one hundred and
fifty Protestants. The place is the (p. 101) seat of a subordinate Turkish governorship and
has a garrison accommodating a regiment of infantry. It is the seat also of a
bishopric of the orthodox Greek Church. It has eight large Mohammedan Mosques,
two so-called colleges, one for girls and one for boys, and a number of lower
grade schools called Koran Schools. It is also a station of the English Church
Missionary Society, which maintains here a church, a school and a hospital.
There is also a Roman Catholic Church with mission house attached and the
United and Orthodox Greeks each have a church. One of the Mohammedan Mosques,
called the Great Mosque, bears quite a remarkable resemblance to the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It is believed to have been originally a
church built by the Christian Emperor Justinian. Another interesting mosque is called The Mosque of Victory, or
more popularly “The Green Mosque.” It also was probably a Crusaders’ church. We
are told it is on the spot where Jacob stood when his guilty sons brought
Joseph’s blood-stained coat, and showed it to him. By the side of the church
rises a peculiar sort of clock-tower and on it is a Samaritan inscription. The
Samaritans Say that they once possessed a synagogue here. In the northeast
corner of the town is a mosque called “The Mosque of the Lepers,” being
attended exclusively by the lepers who have a home in the buildings about it.
(p. 102) It is believed that this Mosque too was erected by the Crusaders
as a hospital for the Templars. A little further to the north we were shown
what Muslim tradition declares to be the Tomb of Jacob’s sons, with a nearly
new mosque beside it.
The streets of Shechem, especially in the
Samaritan quarter, are so narrow that the houses usually are joined above and
then the streets become a tunnel with an occasional shaft overhead to- admit a
ray of light and a little air. Through these crooked streets we made our way to
their synagogue. On our way, in a bare room, we saw a school, where the boys
were studying the Samaritan dialect of the Hebrew. They must have been studying
very hard, for they were all doing it almost at the top of their voices.
Reaching the synagogue the rabbi, who is a very venerable and fine appearing
man, received us cordially. Putting slippers on our feet, to show due
reverence, we entered the main room of the synagogue, which, small as it is, is
too small to contain all the people of the congregation. The thick-walled
building has a small dome, a kind of altar or holy place, and is so constructed
that during worship the congregation faces Mount Gerizim. The rabbi claims to
be a high priest of the tribe of Levi, and signed himself on photographs of
himself holding the Samaritan Pentateuch, which he sold us, as “Jacob, son of
Aaron, Chief Priest.”
As is well known, the Samaritans accept only
the five books of Moses as their Bible, but the teaching of the Law they
observe with scrupulous care, and (p. 105) their own priceless treasure is a
copy of the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, which they claim was
written by Abishua, the son of Phineas, the son of Eleazer, the son Aaron. It
is astonishing to find that it is written in the “round” Hebrew character,
which was in use before the days of Ezra. Scholars believe that 'it is a copy
of older manuscripts which was made about the fourth century after Christ. They
hold it in high reverence. When we offered to touch it the rabbi gently forbade
us; but small imitations of it were offered us in tin cases at prices varying
from twenty-five cents to one dollar. The copy they show is in a remarkable
silver case, the outside of which is figured with a representation of the
tabernacle of Moses, the ark, the cherubim, the rods of Moses and Aaron, the
altars for burnt offerings and for incense, the seven-branched candle— stick,
and, in short, all the tabernacle furniture. They observe seven feasts in the
year; though only one, the passover, is observed with its former ' solemnities.
The Sabbath is kept by them with great strictness. The years of jubilee and
release are also observed. The high priest may consecrate any of his family to
the priesthood provided he is over twenty-five years old and has never had his
hair cut. They wear white turbans, or, for the sake of keeping peace with the
Mohammedans, more often of pale-red color. The women must let their hair (p.
106) grow, and wear no ear-rings, because of them the golden calf was made.
When a boy is born there is great rejoicing, and his circumcision always takes
place on the eighth day after his birth. Boys marry as early as fifteen or
sixteen years of age and girls at twelve, and Samaritans may marry Christian or
Jewish girls provided they will become Samaritans.
As we said, their most important annual
observance is the feast of the Passover, which they keep more nearly according
to the directions in Exodus than do the Jews themselves. For this they are
encamped in booths or tents on Mount Gerizim. Lambs one year old are selected,
and, as the sun goes down, are slain and placed over the fire. The blood is
caught and sprinkled over the sides and tops of the doors. About midnight, when
the lambs are roasted, they are eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread,
and in great haste. Any parts remaining are burned with fire.
The Samaritan population is a strong
corroborative argument for the truth of the Bible. Their copy of the Pentateuch
agrees in all essential respects with the Hebrew Bibles from which our English
versions are translated. In some particulars it closely agrees with the
Septuagint, the Greek translation made in Egypt in the third century before
Christ. The course of their history, too, is quite clear back as far as the
building of the second temple, (p. 107) about 536 B. C. One cannot but
pity this vanishing remnant of an historic people. Their reverence for their
fragment of Scripture is touching, pathetic, inspiring. It points them to the Star
which should arise out of Jacob; but when the Star arose, when Christ came
among them in person, most of them failed to recognize who he was. Their day
seems nearly done, their entire disappearance as a community only a matter of a
comparatively short time.
~~~~~~
The Emperor Zeno, Religion and
Politics by Rafal
Kosinski. Cracow, Jagiellonian
University
Item
Description: Jagiellonian University, Cracow, 2010. ISBN:
978-83-62261-18-5 Description: softcover, 289 pp. (24x17cm) Condition: very
good Weight: 505g. I. Introduction 1. The Significance of Emperor Zeno's
Religious Policy 2. Sources Pseudo-Zacharias and Euagrios Scholastikos The
Tradition Associated with Theodore Lector The Roman Tradition Other Sources
Epistolographical Sources II. Decisions of the Council of Chalcedon: Acceptance
and Opposition (451-471) 1. The Council of Chalcedon 2. The Anti-Chalcedonian
Reaction in the First Years after the Conclusion of the Council 3. The
Consolidation of the Chalcedonian Movement during the Reign of Leo I 4.
Recapitulation III.Zeno 1. Tarasikodissa 2. Zeno's Relations with Peter the
Fuller 3. First Year of Zeno's Reign 4. Akakios IV. Basiliskos'Usurpation 1.
The Usurpation 2. Timothy Ailouros and the Publication of the Encyclical 3. The
Revolt at Constantinople and the Fall of Basiliskos V. The Chalcedonian
Reaction 1. The Political Situation in the Empire after Zeno's Return to Power
Armatos Theoderic Strabo and Theoderic the Amal Marcian 2. Zeno's Constitution
of 17 December 476 3. Bishops of Asia 4. Antioch 5.Egypt 6. Rome and
Constantinople 7. Vandals 8. Recapitulation VI.Henotikon 1. Growing animosity
between Zeno and Illos 2. John Talaia's Delegation 3. Talks with Peter Mongos,
Delegates 4. Palestinian henosis 5. The Henotikon 6. Reactions of Adherents and
Opponents of Chalcedon to the Henotikon and the Recognition of Peter Mongos 7.
Recapitulation VII. The Revolt of Illos 1. The Course of the Revolt 2.
Kalandion and Peter the Fuller 3. The Revolt of Illos and the Followers of
Hellenic Religion Pamprepios Pagans in Aphrodisias Alexandria, Activity of
Peter Mongos and Persecutions of Pagan Philosophers Athens, the Closing of the
Parthenon and Asklepieion Gaza and Berytos Severianos Trombley's Hypothesis on
Quasi-Justinian Laws 4. Samaritans Dating of the Events The Course of the
Events The Church of Mary Theotokos The Causes of the Samaritan Disturbances 5.
Anti-Jewish Riots at Antioch VIII. Acacian Schism 1. The Question of Italy 2.
Schism with Rome 3. Peter Mongos' Conflict with the Radical Anti-Chalcedonian
Opposition 4. The Last Years of Zeno's Reign 5. Palestine and Syria towards the
End of Zeno's Reign 6. Zeno's Policy towards Clergy and Monks Monasticism
Clergy and Church Structure Appendix. The Emperor Zeno's Church Foundations 1.
Churches Founded by Zeno A. Isauria-Cilicia 1) Seleukeia in Isauria (Meriamhk,
Ayatekla) 2) Alahan 3) Koropissos/Dalisandos - Dag Pazan 4) Korykos 5) Alaklise
6) Anemourion 7) Karhk 8) Kanlidivane 9) Okttzlu B.Egypt 10) Abu Mina VI.
Henotikon 1. Growing Animosity between Zeno and Illos 2. John Talaia's
Delegation 3. Talks with Peter Mongos' Delegates 4. Palestinian henosis C.
Syria D. Cyprus 12) Kampanopetra E. Palestine 13) Gerizim F.Caria 14?)
Aphrodisias G. Hellespont 15?) Kyzikos H. Greece 16?) Thessalonica 2. The
Characteristics of the Emperor Zeno's Founding Activity. Conclusions
Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index of People Index of Places.
~~~~~~~~
II. Conservative Editorial
Processes in the Samaritan Pentateuch
In: God's Word Omitted
Göttingen (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) 2013
pp. 93-102
~~~~~~
Recent Publications
By
June Ashton and Alan D. Crown “The Continuity of scribal practices and the
Samaritan tradition” in Manuscrits hébreux et arabes
: mélanges en l'honneur de Colette Sirat Turnhout : Brepols, 2014
By Walter
Houston
Between Salem and Mount Gerizim: The Context of the
Formation of the Torah Reconsidered (2014).
Between Salem and Mount Gerizim: The Context of the Formation of the Torah
Reconsidered. Journal of Ancient Judaism: Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 311-334.
DOI:
10.13109/jaju.2014.5.3.311
Abstract
Building on recent suggestions, I argue that
the final composition of the Pentateuch in the Persian period was the result of
common enterprise or compromise between the province of Samaria and Jerusalem.
This is based on an examination of the historical circumstances as well as on
the contents and text of the Pentateuch. Contrary to the picture painted in
Ezra-Nehemiah, there were good relationships and contacts between the upper
classes of the two provinces throughout the period, and it is probable that the
priestly staff of the temple of Argarizim, which recent evidence shows was
established in the mid fifth century, was closely related to that of Jerusalem.
The identities of both holy places are hinted at in the text. The likely
original text of Deut 27:2-8 ordains sacrifice to be made and the Torah to be
inscribed on Mount Gerizim (v. 4), not on Mount Ebal as in the MT. This either
suggested the establishment of the sanctuary there (Kartveit), or was suggested
by it (Nihan). On the other hand, Gen 14:18 refers to Jerusalem under the name
of Salem. The Torah contains material of northern origin, and some of it,
especially the story of Joseph, originated relatively late. The Tabernacle and
ritual texts in P do not, as often thought, represent the Jerusalem temple, but
an ideal sanctuary, and they are available to reform the practice of both
temples. The MT, like the Samaritan Pentateuch, contains revisions away from
the common inheritance.
By Stephen Shore From
Galilee to the Negev. An intimate portrait of Israel and the West Bank. Phaidon Press (May 12, 2014) 223 pages
See a review: http://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/article/view/id/20822
Ed. by Ameling, Walter / Cotton, Hannah
M. / Eck, Werner / Isaac, Benjamin / Kushnir-Stein, Alla / Misgav, Haggai /
Price, Jonathan / Yardeni, Ada
Volume
3, South Coast: 2161-2648
A
multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad
[South
Coast: A Multi-Lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad]
De Gruyter, Germany, 2014
This third
volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae includes inscriptions
from the South Coast from the time of Alexander through the end of Byzantine
rule in the 7th century. It includes all the languages used in the inscriptions
of this period – Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Samaritan, Christian
Palestinian Aramaic, and Nabataean. The 488 texts are classified according to
city, from Tel Aviv in the north to Raphia in the South.
~~~~
Future Publications
The progressive spread of Arabic as the dominant spoken and
written language in the lands conquered by Islam led the Jewish, Christian and
Samaritan communities under its rule to translate their sacred scriptures: the
Hebrew Bible, the Old and New Testaments and the Samaritan Pentateuch
respectively, into Arabic from languages such as Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Latin
and Coptic. This resulted in a large number of partial and integral
translations revealing a great variety in stylistic approaches, vocabulary, script,
and dogmatic concerns. Many of the surviving manuscripts and fragments are
nowadays kept in libraries all over the world and still await edition and
closer study. This series addresses this lacuna in research by publishing
critical (including synoptic) editions of Arabic versions of individual
biblical books produced in the Middle Ages and beyond, as well as studies that
examine the different schools and persons that took part in this scriptural
translation enterprise, analyzing their aims and methodologies, as well as the
social and cultural implications of their endeavor. In addition, the reception
of and reactions to these Bible translations by Muslim authors fall within the
scope of the series.
http://www.brill.com/products/series/biblia-arabica
~~~~~~~
Links
A yearly visit from the holy land to
North Potomac
By Samantha Schmieder
Gazatter.net
Herbert & Eileen Bernard Museum
The Samaritans are a small group,
distinct from the Jews, who claim descent from the Israelites from the Northern
Kingdom in Samaria. The Tabernacle plays a central role within Samaritan
tradition. The diagram pictured left is labeled in the ancient
Paleo-Hebrew script still used by the
Samaritans. Multihued metallic paints are used to depict a plan of the
Tabernacle with representations of the furnishings of the sanctuary, including
birds as the cherubim atop the Ark of the Covenant.
See page 9 in Temple Emanu-El Bulletin,
Vol. 83, No. 9, May 2011
http://www.emanuelnyc.org/publication_spool.php/pub_411.pdf
The Museum link is http://www.emanuelnyc.org/art/TEEhome.htm
-
The Ancient Samaritans of Israel: From Mount Gerizim to The
Ukraine
By Paul Sorene. 5 November 2014
http://flashbak.com/the-ancient-samaritans-of-israel-from-mount-gerizim-to-the-ukraine-24280/
Besuch bei den Samaritanern. Von Richard C. Schneider, ARD Tel Aviv
http://www.tagesschau.de/videoblog/zwischen_mittelmeer_und_jordan/samaritaner-101.html
Mount Gerizim Museum
http://www.arn.ps/archives/155887 (Arabic)
Nablus Museum
http://www.nablus-museum.com/?cat=20
Reading the
Samaritan ketubah at the wedding of Barry Tsedaka and Reoot Sassoni
Belying current tensions, army foresees
Israeli-Palestinian clinic in West Bank
By Mitch Ginsburg Nov. 21, 2014
The Times of Israel
Leiba, in fact, had just returned from a unique nephrology
conference that he had organized, hosted by the Samaritan community on a
mountaintop up above the Palestinian city of Nablus, where 30 Israeli and 13
Palestinian colleagues met to discuss kidney diseases and, perhaps, to lay a
thin bridge over a tumble of increasingly troubled water.
His vision is to found a
joint Israeli-Palestinian medical clinic on Mount Gerizim, where Israeli
and Palestinian doctors will work in tandem treating patients suffering from
kidney diseases and other ailments.
Read the full article
From the Editor of the Samaritan Update: This is the best news I have read all year!
Everyone needs to support this wonderful idea and every one of those
involved whether Israeli or Palestinian!
It would also be nice to have visiting
doctors and nurses visit from around the world.
Thank you Mitch Ginsburg for
writing the article and thank you Times of Israel for publishing this!!
~~~~~~~
"Zwischen
Mittelmeer und Jordan" Besuch bei den Samaritanern Stand: 06.10.2014
Die Samaritaner sind eine aussterbende Religionsgruppe in Israel
und den Palästinensergebieten, Es gibt nur noch etwa 900 von ihnen.
"Schomronim" - "Bewahrer" - nennen sie sich. Nahe Nablus im
Westjordanland liegt ihr Heiligtum: der Berg Garizim.
Von Richard C. Schneider, ARD Tel Aviv
http://www.tagesschau.de/videoblog/zwischen_mittelmeer_und_jordan/samaritaner-101.html
Meet the
Samaritans-Israel’s Tiniest Minority by Judy
lash Balint Nov. 23, 2014
http://www.demotix.com/news/6326565/meet-samaritans-israels-tiniest-minority#media-6326436
Samaritan’ Customs
& Traditions
by Abdallah Bayyari Nov. 14, 2014
http://www.nablus-museum.com/?p=960
Das
Volk der Samariter gibt es noch heute by Daniel Gerber
~~~~~
Old News
Where the Feast
of the Passover is Still Celebrated Exactly as in Biblical Times
[The
drawing has the artist signature of R.T. The four photographs are from
Underwood & Underwood] See the page in pdf
In
the town of Nablus (the ancient Shechem), which lies on the neck of land
between the mountain of Curding and the mountain of Blessing, that is to say
between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, lives at the present day a sect of people
absolutely unique in the world. Originally many in number, there remain now but
a few score of them. One of them it was who talked with the man of Nazareth as
he sat on the well of their forefather, Jacob, that hot day close on 2,000
years ago. The sect of the Samaritans has retained the old forms of ceremonies
of religion unchanged from the time of Moses and Aaron; and from the latter the
present high priest, by name of Jacob Aaron, claims lineal descent. Among the
ancient religious ceremonies still observed among them is that of the feast of
the Passover, which they keep in strict accordance with the law of Moses,
unlike their brethren, the Jews, who have in many ways modernized that solemn
occasion.
The
first feast of the Passover was ordered to be slain at sunset and eaten at
midnight and this is the rule observed by the Samaritans year by year, with the
exception of this year, when it was slain at noon and eaten at sunset. The
reason was this: In accordance with their reckoning the feast fell this year on
a Friday (our Good Friday), and in order to obey both command, namely, to burn
anything that might be left over with fire, and to extinguish all fires before
Saturday (the Sabbath) it was necessary to eat the Passover, burn the remains,
and extinguish the fire before midnight.
The
Open Air Ceremony
The
service began at 12 o’clock, and was held in the open air on a flat, circular
plat of ground surrounded by loose pile of stones a few feet high; inside the
inclosure none but the Samaritan were allowed to stand, and round the circle
were stationed Turkish soldiers to insure the absence of outsiders. In the
front of the circle stood the high priest, clothed in a long, loose, green silk
robe, and wearing on his breast a gold medal presented to him by the community
on his completion of forty years’ service in that capacity. On his head he wore
the ordinary tarboosh of the country with a white cloth bound round turban
fashion. Behind him stood the male Samaritans, each wearing a long white
garment over his ordinary clothes, put on expressly for the prayer hour. The
postures during prayer are varied, sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling, and
sometimes entire prostration with the forehead touching the ground. The
language used is rabbinical Hebrew, and all the prayers are chanted in a
monotone, at first softly, but at times swelling out into a perfect roar of
sound. Part of the service is in the form of responses by the high priest and
the community. Among the praying figures browsed the seven lambs appointed for
the slaughter. The last prayer was said in Arabic, and was for the Sultan Abdul
Hamid Kahn; and a very beautiful prayer it was.
Behind
the prayer circle there was a long, deep, square trench dug in the ground. In
this a fire was burning, and over it at one end of the trench were two huge
caldrons containing boiling water. Beside the trench and distant from it about
three or four yards another deep pit had been dug; it was perhaps eight to ten
feet in circumference and six feet deep, and was lined with stones. In it a
fierce fire had been kept burning for some five or six hours.
Prayers
over, the sheep were caught and hustled and bustled about till they were
brought to the edge of the trench in which was the fire. They were held there
by young men while several more prayers were chanted, and then amid much
shouting the two butchers went round and killed the lambs over the fire in
order that the blood might run into it and be burned. In a few seconds all was
over, and the lambs, with their throats cut, lay in a row. It seemed to be part
of the ceremony to dabble in the blood, and some fathers whom I saw had put
their babies’ fingers in the warm blood and then dabbed their faces with it.
The act of slaughter is exceedingly quick, being done at one gash, as the knife
must not be brought back; the larynx is severed, in order that the animal may
not make any sound, for if it did it would be disqualified. When all are killed
an examination takes place to insure their having been properly slain in
accordance with the law and if, as in this case, it as satisfactory, boiling
water from the caldrons is poured over the carcasses to enable the hair to be
pulled off, as they are not skinned. The carcasses are then slung on poles held
on two men’s shoulders and opened up and cleaned. The right shoulder, together
with liver, heart and all entrails, are burned on a grating placed over the
fire in the trench. As there were only two butchers among the Samaritans this
year, the process took some little time; each lamb when finished had a pole
thrust straight through it and was then laid on a grating made of branches of
trees and well salted.
When
all the lambs were finished and laid there further prayers were said over them.
The oven or pit was now heated again and flames belched from its mouth. Seven
stalwart young men seized the seven spits and stood round the edge till the
flames subsided somewhat, and at a given signal from the high priest they
simultaneously plunged the lambs into the furnace; the grating was then placed
on the top of the oven and finished the first of the ceremonies of the day.
We were
then invited into the tent of the high priest and were offered Passover bread
and cheese and coffee and lemonade were handed round. As we sat talking to him
and his brother and sons, he brought out at our request the old copy of the
Pentateuch, which is said to be in the handwriting of Abiathar, the son of
Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and there is little doubt that
it is actually so. I believe the photograph I am able to send is, if not
unique, at any rate one of the very few which exist of this wonderful old roll
of manuscript.
We
asked the high priest from whom the Samaritans are descended, and he told us
the following interesting facts about them:
What
Happened to the Samaritans?
After
the Assyrians had carried away into captivity part of the population of the
kingdom of Israel, the country they left was gradually colonized by foreigners,
who intermingled with the people of Samaria. The population thus acquired a
mixed character, and when the original inhabitants returned after the captivity
there was a marked difference between them and the Samaritans. The Jews refused
to hold any intercourse with them, and refused their aid in building the walls
and temples of Jerusalem. They even refused to let them participate in their
worship. Eventually under the leadership of a certain Sanballat, the Samaritans
built a city and sanctuary of their own on the top of Mount Gerizim, the ruins
of which we could see from the tent where we sat. From that time the town of
Shechem (Nablus) rose in importance, as it lay at the foot of the mountain, and
Samaria declined. Conflicts between the Samaritans and the Jews were many, and
during the time of the Romans many of the former were killed. Their numbers are
steadily decreasing; at the present time they do not number more than 200. Thus
at the Passover seven lambs were sufficient for all who could partake of it.
As
sunset draws near a crowd again collects round the closed oven, waiting for it
to be opened. Half an hour before the sun actually set this done, and the
roasted scraps were fetched from the floor of the oven by men who jumped down
and picked up a few scraps at a time. The morsels were placed in six large rush
baskets; these were then placed in the center of the prayer ground. The high
priest took his place as before, but this time he laid beside him on the ground
a pair of shoes, and ebony walking stick inlaid with silver and a towel or
handkerchief and his shoes. A long form of prayer was again gone through which
ended just after sunset. As they rose after the final prostration each man
girded his lions with a towel, grasped the staff in his hand, slipped his feet
into the shoes and stood round the baskets, from which he seized morsels and
ate them, together with small sandwiches of unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
After
the first few mouthfuls had been eaten in the open the baskets were carried
away to the tents where the women joined in finishing the meal.
We
saluted the high priest once more and took our departure down the mountain,
having witnessed on of the most ancient and unique ceremonies in the world,
which carried us back in thought many thousands of years to the days of Moses
and the flight from Egypt.
The Smallest and Oldest Religion Sect in the World A Community of Samaritan in the Heart of the Mohammedan Country- Singular Religions Views.
There is to be found in the heart of the small city of Nablus, in North Palestine, a little religious community now numbering about 150 souls which has defied the ravages of war and poverty and oppression nearly 3,000 years. Unlike the Vaudois, these Samaritans have had no friendly system of mountainbuttresses to defend them through the centuries; and still more unlike the long-lived Savoyard Protestants, they have been right in the pathway along which the devastating armies have marched back and forth from the time of Sargon to Napoleon. But they have lived on, and their unity has never been broken. They have clung to little Nablus and their sacred Mount Gerizim, says Rev. John F. Hurst, D. D., in an article in Harper's for September, as the very cactus roots to the granite sides of the somber Ebal that confronts them across their little enchanted valley.
The feeling with which the present Samaritans regard the Mohammedans is of that intense bitterness which they have always manifested toward the Jews. And why not? Does not the Samaritan date his faith from Abraham, or rather from Adam? and has he not a right to call that an infant religion which has been in existence for only the trifle of 12 centuries? Is not the Koran one of your new catch penny romances, while that mysterious copy of the Pentateuch, made of sacred lamb skins, which the Samaritans have been reading and kissing through these many ages. Is the oldest copy in existence, written down by Aaron's own grandson, and the veritable original of all the Pentateuchs in the world?
The Samaritan Synagogue.
As the population of Nablus is just about 12,000, the little Samaritan community is almost absorbed by the surrounding Mohammedan mass. Save to a careful observer, the very existence and presence of the. Samaritans as a distinct element of citizenship in Nablus would not be noticed. The Samaritans wear a turban, much like that of their true Moslem neighbors, but between the history and theology of the two classes there is not a single point of positive resemblance.
The Samaritan synagogue is a small building in the center of Nablus, half obscured by the surrounding dwelling. I passed through arched and littered streets to a little court, in the middle of which was a little plot of grass, relieved by three trees, two of which were lemon. I here found a little Samaritan school, and at the sight of a stranger the children sprang from the floor where they were sitting. Kissed my hand, and begged for backsheesh. The teacher was a youth of about 14, the son of Amram the high priest. I was greatly disappointed at failing to find Amram himself, but in the end this circumstance aided me in my chief object, for the young man was willing, for a good fee, to show me the ancient Pentateuch. His father might have been deaf to all entreaties.
A Very Ancient Volume.
The claim of the Samaritans to have a copy of the Pentateuch older than the Jewish is supported by their own unbroken tradition, and by the opinion of some learned men of the present time in Christian countries. But the weight of internal evidence is against it among which may he mentioned grammatical emendations, late glosses in the text, insertions of foreign passages, alterations, Samaritanisms, and changes in support of Samaritan doctrine.
There are three codices kept in the little synagogue in Nablus, two being generally shown to strangers. It is very rarely that the veritable one can be seen. My good fortune in getting a hasty look at it was due to the venturous and avaricious spirit of Amram's son, rather than to any management of my own. Having first exhibited the two imitations, the young man, upon the offer of an additional fee, then brought out the original scroll from a chest. After the removal of the red satin cover I saw that the codex was inclosed in a silver cylindrical case, which had two doors opening on two sets of hinges. When these doors were thrown back the whole column was exposed to the vision. This cylinder is of rich workmanship. It is about 2 1/2 feet long and nearly a foot in diameter, and presents in exquisitely raised work, a good plan of the Tabernacle, with every part given with the utmost minuteness and rarest skill. The roll consists of dingy skins prepared be Tore the Invention of parchment sewed together with neat stitches, and worn and patched, and here and there entirely illegible. The skins are of equal size, and measure each 25 inches long and 15 wide.
An Evening at Amram's House.
Before leaving Nablus I had the opportunity of spending an evening with Amram at his own house. He lived in the greatest simplicity, though In Palestine that is the rule rather than the exception. Mrs. El Karey, the wife of the missionary in Nablus in the employment of the Church Missionary Society of London, was good enough to accompany me and serve as interpreter. The venerable high priest, who was barefooted, and clad In a great turban and loose flowing robe, received us with calm and dignified cordiality in his room at once his parlor, dining room and bedroom. His very aged mother was lying on the floor, covered with bedclothing, and asleep. There were several children, half asleep, lying about the room. Amram's son-in-law was slowly copying a Pentateuch for the Samaritans have no printing press. It requires a year to make a copy, which is never sold, and is only used by the community. The aged mother of Amram arose after we had been present a few minutes, the many ornaments on her neck and in her ears making a harsh, tinkling sound as she moved. I was invited to a seat on the floor, and to take coffee and cigarettes. The mother, on seeing guests in her presence, took a rude bellows and blew up the dull coals under the copper kettle. Coffee, the Oriental's unfailing proof of hospitality, was handed us in little cups.
The Samaritan Theology.
The peculiar views of Amram may be said to represent very fairly the theology of his dying community. The world, be claimed, is about 7,000 years old. For 55 years men will go on increasing in wickedness, after which there will come a time of great peace and purity. Then there will come on a new period of consummate wickedness, which will last 300 years. This time will be consummated by the total destruction of the world. After this the general judgment will take place, when the righteous will go to lire with God and the wicked with Satan. There are some people who hare clean hearts, or at least are accepted as clean, though none are absolutely pure. Just here Amram looked off, as if in the distance, and said. "God is one!" Here he intended a slight thrust at all Christians, because of their emphasis of Christ and His divine character.
Amram' Prediction.
He spoke with interest of the ruins on Mt. Gerizim, and of the increase of his community within the last 30 years. He closed by expressing his firm belief that the time would come when the Samaritans would be the most numerous body in the world.
Amram has since died, and the sedate son-in-law, being the eldest male relative, has succeeded him in the high-priesthood.
Gerizim’s Passover.
The Only
Hebraic Sacrifice Now Reverently Observed
[Pittsburg Dispatch]
With
t5he setting of the sun Friday evening commenced the Hebrew Passover. It is
interesting to learn how, even to this day, the beginning of the week is
observed in the East by the Samaritans who still live near the Mount Gerizim.
The
whole community, amounting to about one hundred and fifty-two, from which
hardly any variation has taken place within the memory of man, are encamped on
the day of the full moon of the moth of Nisan, in tents on a level space, a few
hundred yards below the actual summit of the mountain. This place is selected
on account of its comparative shelter and seclusion, for few are they who can
be present at this celebration if they are of other denominations, and allowed
to observe part of the ceremony they are rigidly excluded from the other. While
the men assemble in sacred costume on the rocky terrace the women are shut up
in tents.
About
half an hour before sunset the whole male community, attired in long white
robes, gather round a long trough that has been previously dug in the ground,
and the priest, ascending a large rough stone in front of the congregation,
recites in a loud chant, in which others join, prayers or praises, chiefly
turning on the glories of Abraham and Isaac. Their attitude is like that of all
the Orientals in prayer, standing, occasionally diversified by stretching out
their hands, and more rarely kneeling or crouching, with faces wrapped in their
clothes and bent to the ground, toward the Holy Place on the summit of Gerizim.
The priest recites his prayers by heart, the others have books in Hebrew or
Arabic.
Suddenly
there appear among the worshippers six sheep, driven up by the side of six
youths dressed in white shirts and white drawers. The sun, which has been
burnishing up the Mediterranean in the distance, now sinks to the furthest western
ridge overhanging the plain of Sharon. The recitation becomes more vehement.
The priest turns about, facing his brethren, and the whole history of the
exodus, from the beginning of the plagues of Egypt, is rapidly, almost
furiously, chanted. The sheep, which are innocently playing among the
congregation, are now driven more closely together. The sun is touching the
western ridge, when the youths burst into a wild murmur of their own, draw
forth their long bright knives and brandish them aloft. In a moment the seep
are thrown on their backs, and the flashing knives rapidly drawn across their
throats. Then a few convulsive but silent struggles, and the blood streaming
from them; the one only Hebraic sacrifice lingering in the world. In the blood
the young men dip their fingers, and a small spot is marked on the foreheads
and noses of the children. The sheep are then fleeced and roasted in an oven, a
deep circular pit sunk in the earth, with a fire kindled at the bottom. It is
now midnight. The paschal moon is still bright and high in the heavens. The
whole male community are gathered around the mouth of the oven. Suddenly the
covering of the hole is torn off and up rises into the still moonlight sky a
vast column of smoke and steam. Out of the pit are dragged the six sheep, black
from the oven. They are hoisted aloft and then thrown on large brown mats. The
bodies thus wrapped in the mats are hurried down to the trenches where the
sacrifice has taken place and laid out upon them in a line between two piles of
the Samaritans. In addition now to the white robes shoes are on the feet of the
men and staves in their hands and ropes around their waists. This is to
represent the preparation of the Israelites on the night of the exodus. The
meal is eaten with merriment. In ten minutes all is gone but a few remnants.
These are gathered and thrown on the fires, which again blaze on high, and then
sinking away the dying embers proclaim the end of the ceremony. Quietly each
turns and seek him home in the town at the foot of the mountain.
MODERN
SAMARITANS. At the Congregational Church yesterday
Rev. H. E. Jewitt, of Redwood City, officiated in the absence of Rev. Dr.
Dwinell, the pastor. In the evening a missionary conceit was held, the evening
a missionary concert was held, and on that occasion Mr. Jewitt, who has the
advantage of extended personal observation in Palestine, spoke of "The
Modern Samaritans, as Seen by an Eye-witness." He said that Shechem is the
only place in the world where the sect known as Samaritans is to be found.
Politically, they became independent of Judea when the ten tribes revolted,
under Jeroboam. Ecclesiastically, they are found claiming substantial agreement
with the Jews as late as the return from the captivity. But from that time onward
their hostility to the Jews increased rapidly. In the fourth century, B. C,
they obtained permission from the Pep King to build a temple on Mt. Gerizim,
which should hi to them what the temple at Jerusalem was to the Jews. This
temple was destroyed in the year (IS. C.) 129. Its ruins now constitute one of
the attractions of a visit to the mountain. This Samaritan race was so powerful
that even in the fourth century of the Christian era they were regarded as the
"chief and most dangerous adversaries of Christianity." In the fifth
century they began to sink rapidly into obscurity. At the present day there is
a mere remnant of the race extant. Less than 140 men, women and children
comprise all that remnant of this once strong nation, and these few are gathered
together in Shechem, where they have a synagogue. Soon after our arrival in the
city we were met by Youhannah El Karey, an Arab missionary educated in England
and laboring in Shechem. He took us to the Samaritan quarters. Arriving at the
house of the high priest, we were conducted to the flat roof, where half a
dozen prominent Samaritans were assembled. < As the sun was setting we all
descended to the little synagogue, where about fifty men and boys were gathered
for worship. The floor was covered with mats, upon which no shoes or boots may
be worn, according to Oriental custom. The side of the room toward Mt. Gerizim
was hung with satin drapery. Here, in a recess, the high priest took his
position; both he and the people kneeling with faces toward the holy mountain.
The service lasted half an hour, and consisted of the chanting of prayers.
Sitting upon the flat roof outside, looking through the grated windows of a
small dome into the room below, were a number of vailed women, who, like all
oriental women, were denied entrance into the assembly of mem. This Samaritan
place of worship is famous, not only as the last remaining synagogue of the
sect to be found in the world, but also as the depository of the famous copy of
the books of Moses known as the Samaritan Pentateuch. This parchment is guarded
by the high priest with jealous care. On the day following the service,
accompanied by an interpreter, we followed the priest into the synagogue, and
saw the precious parchment. The roll is about fifteen inches wide, and is said
to be nearly sixty feet long. It contains the five books of Moses, written in
the Samaritan text. This comprises the whole of the Samaritan Bible, and only
about sixteen copies of this, is whole or in part, exist at the present time.
The Samaritans claim that this version is about thirty-five hundred years old,
and that this copy is older than the Christian era by twenty years. The version
is traced by critical investigators, however, no farther back than the time of
the second temple, and this copy to the sixth or seventh century of the
Christian era. But even this makes this manuscript over twelve hundred years
old— a rare old document. In the Samaritan language there are but three or four
works written in the Samaritan text.
Shechem
lies at the base of Mount Gerizim. We made the ascent of the mountain, along a
narrow trail. A little to the east of the summit, we came upon a small
inclosure, within which was a trench. In this we found ashes and the charred
bones of lambs. Not far away was another pit, in which the Passover lambs had
been roasted a week before our arrival. The Jews at Jerusalem and elsewhere no
longer sacrifice a lamb at the Passover, the reason assigned being that | the
temple site is in the hands of the Moslems. We attended a Passover service in
Jerusalem where, in place of the limb, there was the shank bone of a lamb. The
Samaritans, however, retain possession of their sacred mountain, and so
assemble annually near the ruin of their old temple. After a religious service
— which lasts till nearly sunset—several young men lead in five or six lambs;
just as the sun goes down the high priest recites rapidly Exodus xii., 6. While
he is speaking the lambs are seized and their throats are cut, the young men
strip off the skins of the animals and thrust wooden spits through the
carcasses, and hang them in one of the trenches, which has been heated
sufficiently to roast them. About midnight, in the clear light of the full
moon, the lambs are removed from the pit ; the meat is eaten in haste and the
ground is searched for mislaid pieces, and the bones and all remnants of flesh
are thrown into the shallow trench and burnt d, according to the Mosaic
command.
The
little remnant of the once powerful Samaritan nation is fast dying out. Their
customs, their worship and their sacred book are, therefore, of striking
interest. Apparently not many years will pass before it will be written of
them, as a race, that they are extinct.
~~~~~~~
Legal
Bibliography No. 6,
Vol. 3, April, 1908, Boston, Mass. p. 6.
The Mosiac Law.
Here is a clipping from a recent
newspaper:-
“London, Nov. 17.- A deputation of four
Samaritans, headed by Isaac, son of Amram, second high priest at Nablus, the
Shochem of the Bible, is now in London trying to sell a manuscript of the
Pentateuch dating from 1050 A.D. It is said that dire poverty alone induced the
Samaritan community to dispose of the treasured manuscript, for which $25,000
is asked. It is a long roll pf parchment, mounted on stout paper. It is written
in a small, but clear Samaritan hand. The lower part has been damaged by water,
but the rest of it is perfect. It has been offered unsuccessfully to the
British Museum and will be offered to Oxford University.”
We have in our safe, and could be
persuaded to sell for less than $25,000, a similar parchment manuscript of the
Pentateuch, written in Hebrew, rolled on an olive-wood rod, and wrapped in
silk. We can trace this legal and ecclesiastical treasure back to Russia, but
cannot prove its age or scholarly authority.
~~~~~
A
search indicated the following reference, which I do not know if it is
concerning the Samaritans or not, since I cannot locate it at this time.
‘Poor
Jews Passover’ in the Morning Leader
[British Newspaper (London)] April 7, 1898 [1892 - May 23: Morning Leader founded:
later amalgamated with Daily News.]
~~~~~~~~
For Sale on
Ebay
Zur Sprache, Literatur und Dogmatik der Samaritaner.
Drei Abhandlungen, nebst zwei bisher unedirten samaritanischen Texten, by
Samuel Kohn
Der hebräische Pentateuch der Samaritaner by
August von Gall
~~~~~~
Biblio
Abel, Felix-
Marie
“Quelques Monuments Megalithiques de Palestine.” Revue Biblique Vol. 31, 1922, pp. 590-602
A., J.
Nabulus, the Ancient Shechem” The Cottager’s Monthly Visitor.
Vol. 22, Dec.1842. London pp. 421-426
Assis,
Moshe (Tel-Aviv
University)
Samaritan,
Hebrew and Aramaic Studies: Presented to Professor Abraham Tal, Lešonénu 68
(2006), pp. 353-363
Basileiades,
L.
‘The Differences of Jews and Samaritans as to “the clean” and “the
unclean” in the Pentateuchal Regulations.’ Nea
Sion, April 1921. Jerusalem: Patriarchal Press
Borisov, A. Ya.
“Sobranie
samaritanskikh rukopisey A. Firkovicha,'' Palestinsky
sbornik 15 (78) (1966), 60-73
Bowman,
John
#691 “An Arabic Hijab
manuscript and Jewish and Samaritan phylacteries” Abr-Nahrain Vol. 32, 1994 Louvain:
Peeters Press 1995 pp. 47-58
Braun,
Stephan
Das Heilige Land nach natur und Geschichte Freiburg im Breisgau: J. Dilger, 1867.
Cameron,
George G.
‘Requests and Replies’ The Expository Times, Vol. 5, No. 12,
September 1894 p. 539
Créten, J.
Da Sylveira, João
Joannis
da Sylveira ... Opuscula varia. Lugduni: Anisson & Posuel,
1725
Derenboug,
J.
Reviewer. J. Bargés “Les Samaritans de Naplouse” Archives
Israélites, Vol. 16 pp.
531-535
Ewing,
William
“The Samaritans and Their Sacred Law, the Antiquity of the Five Books of
Moses.” Bibliotheca Sacra,
Vol. 79, No. 316, October, 1922, pp. 418- 451
Felix R, Amit M, Bar-Yoseph H, Wintner I.
‘A
psychological comparative study of the Samaritan community: Schem (Nablus) and
Holon. II. Population, living and social organisation.’ Isr Ann Psychiatr Relat
Discip. 1971 Aug; 9 (2):117-31.
PMID: 5291473
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5291473
Gallagher,
Edmon L.
“Cult Centralization in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origins of
Deuteronomy.” Vetus Testamentum, v64
n4 (20140822): 561-572 (Brill Journals)
Garbini,
Giovanni
“I luoghi di culto: Har-garin E Sion” in Dio della Terra, Dio del cielo: dalle religioni semitiche al giudaismo
e al cristianesimo. Brescia: Paideia, 2011, pp 180- 203
G.W.G. (Reviewer)
Review of J.E.H. Thomson: ‘The Samaritans: Their Testimony to the
Religion of Israel’ The Homiletic Review, vol. 80, No. 6,
December, 1920 pp.472-474
Hensel,
Benedikt
“Von »Israeliten« zu »Ausländern«: Zur
Entwicklung anti-samaritanischer Polemik ab der hasmonäischen Zeit.”
Zeitschrift
für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Volume
126, Issue 4, Pages 475–493, ISSN (Online) 1613-0103, ISSN (Print) 0044-2526, DOI: 10.1515/zaw-2014-0029, December
2014
Joosten,
Jan
The Samaritikon and the Samaritan Tradition
Kartveit,
Magnar
Summary: Samandrag; Opphavet til samaritanane er omdiskutert. Denne
artikkelen gir eit oversyn over nyare forsking, og lanserer ein teori.
Tidlegare rekna ein med at samaritanane var eit blandingsfolk med ein
blandingsreligion. Nyare forsking reknar dei for ei jødisk gruppe som oppstod i
perioden 112-63 f.Kr. Samaritanane visste at dei var eit eige «Israel» lenge
før det. Det er ikkje urimeleg å rekna sjølve bygginga av altar og tempel på Garisim som eit
viktig punkt i utviklinga. Josefus tidfestar denne bygginga til omlag 330
f.Kr.; arkeologane viser til persisk tid, tidleg 400-tal, og frå då
av kan ein rekna med -sama-ritanar. Innskriftene frå Garisim og Delos
viser ein samaritansk identitet i første halvdel av det andre hundreåret
f.Kr. Då stod det ein stor by på Garisim, med ein felles kultstad,
æra av folk i lokalområdet og så langt borte som på ei øy i
Egearhavet, Delos.Nøkkelord: samaritanar, Garisim, innskrifter, identitet
Abstract:
For many, the Samaritans are a mixed race with syncretism. Half a century ago,
a new theory emerged, launched by Frank Moore Cross Jr.: that the Samaritans
became a distinct group in the period 112-63 B.C. His theory is the subject of
this article. By studying the Samaritan inscriptions from Mount Gerizim and
Delos, one finds a common identity in the first half of the second century B.C.
In that period, there was a large city on Mount Gerizim, with a common place of
worship, honoured by people living in the area and as far as on an island in
the Aegean Sea, Delos. An important point in the development of the Samaritans
as a distinct group was the erection of an altar and a temple on Mount Gerizim,
dated by Josephus to around 330 B.C., but by modern archaeologists to the early
400s. From then on we may count the history of the Samaritans.
Kennedy,
A.R.S. Reviewer
‘The Samaritans’ [Thomson] The Expository Times, Vol. 31, No. 8, May
1920 pp. 374-375
Levin,
Yigal
Mafeesh, or, Nothing New; The Journal of a Tour in
Greece, Turkey, Egypt, the Sinai-Desert, Petra, Palestine, Syria, and Russia.
Vol. 1, London: William Clowes and sons 1870
Lortet, Louis-Charles
La
Syrie d'aujourd'hui: voyages dans la Phénicie, le Liban et la
Judée: 1875 – 1880.
Paris: Libr. Hachetter, 1884
מצליעה
פתיל (Pettel, Matsliah)
Motsaʼam shel ha-Shomronim:
ʻal-pi ha-meḳorot ha-Yehudiyim, ha-nokhriyim ṿeha-Shomroniyim. Thesis
(M.A.) --Universiṭat Tel-Aviv, 1972. 182 pages
Mawer, John
Roma
meretrix: or, an enquiry whether the predicted apostacy of the Roman Church
have not the nature of a divorce from Christ; and Whether, upon its Final
Excision, we may not expect the Restoration of the Jews with the Fulness of the
Gentiles. With a prefatory discourse, address'd to His Grace, the Lord
Archbishop of Canterbury, Wherein is occasionally asserted The Usefulness and Antiquity
of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which with the Samaritan Version is intended to
accompany the Hebrew Text, with the Greek and Ethiopic Versions, &c. in a
New Edition of the Original Scriptures, whereof a large Specimen is prepared
for the Press. Newcastle upon Tyne: printed by John
White; and sold by Mess. Innys and Manby in London; Mr. Bryson in Newcastle;
and Mr. Hildyard and Mr. Staples in York, M.DCC.XXXVII. [1737]
Metsma, Kadri.
(University of Tartu, Faculty of Theology)
Kalle Kasemaa, Samaarlased. Rühmituse tekkimise ajaloolised põhjused.
Samaarlaste religioon (The Samaritans. Historical context to the establishing
of the group. Samaritan religion), Master's Degree, 2002, (sup)
“Samaritans” Akadeemia No. 6- 2003 pp. 1209-1228
Peritz, Ismar J.
“How Samaria
Keeps the Passover Today” The
Christian Advocate
Vol. 89, No. 14, April 2, 1914. New York pp. 465- 466. Below is a photo from
the article:
Rosen, Gladys Levine
The
Joseph Cycle (Genesis 37-45) in the Samaritan-Arabic Commentary of Meshalma ibn
Murjan [Ph.D. dissertation,
Columbia University, 1951]
Schattner-Rieser,
Ursula
Jesus in den Samaritanischen
Chroniken [2012]
Schorch,
Stefan
Euphemismen in der Hebräischen Bibel.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000
Shehadeh,
Haseeb
On a manuscript
of ‘Kirāb al-Ḫulf’ by Ḫaḍr (Finḥāas) b. Isḥāq
al-Ḥiftāwī 2011
Stadel, Christian שטאדל, כריסטיאן. כריסטיאן שטאדל. ;
Strelcyna, Stefana
Catalogue des manuscrits
orientaux des collections polonaises.
8 volumes are intended, of which in 1971. 5 had appeared. The 6th is to cover
the Hebrew, Aramaic and Samaritan MSS. This volume might have been published
now!
Tal,
Abraham
Samaritan
Aramaic. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag,
2013. Lehrbücher orientalischer Sprachen.,
Section III,, Aramaic; v. 2
Tal, Oren with Itmar Taxel and Ruth E. Jackson-Tal
“Khirbet
al-Hadra: More on Refuse Disposal Practices in Early Islamic Palestine and Their
Socio-Economic Implications” Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 31: 117-148
Tisserant, Eugene (reviewer)
“Der Hebräische Pentateuch der Samaritaner… von Gall..” Revue Biblique Vol. 30, 1921, p. 616-617
“The Aramaic
Component and Aramaisms in the Arabic Column of Ms. BL OR7562” Aramaic
Studies, Vol. 12,
Is 2, Brill, 2014
The article analyzes the Aramaic component and Aramaisms embedded
in the first hand’s stage of the Arabic column of Ms. BL OR7562
(c. 1300),1 which mainly conveys a Samaritan version of Saadya Gaon’s
translation of the Pentateuch. While Aramaic words are known to feature in all
versions of Saadya’s Tafsīr, Ms. BL OR7562 evinces examples of Aramaic
loan words and various kinds of Aramaisms that are found neither in other
versions of Saadya’s Tafsīr, nor in the other two main Samaritan Arabic
versions, namely the early Samaritan Arabic translation and its later revision.
Robert Lachmann; Ruth Frances Davis; Nimr Ibn
ʻAdwān; Judah, ha-Levi; Shalem Shabazi; Tanbûrı̂
Cemil Bey
Middleton, Wisconsin: A-R Editions, [2013]
Contents: "On first hearing a genuine piece of Oriental
music" (18 November 1936) --
Liturgical songs of the Yemenite Jews (2
December 1936) --
Coptic liturgical chant and hymns (16 December
1936) --
Liturgical songs of the Kurdish Jews (6 January
1937) --
Bedouin sung poetry accompanied by rabāba
(20 January 1937) --
Liturgical
cantillation and songs of the Samaritans (3 February 1937) --
Men's songs for a Yemenite Jewish wedding (17
February 1937) --
Women's songs for a Yemenite Jewish wedding (3
march 1937) --
Arab urban music : Maqām (16 March 1937)
--
Music from the western Arab world (31 March
1937) --
Music from the eastern Arab world (14 April 1937)
--
Men's songs for an Arab village wedding in
central Palestine (28 April 1937). CD contents, disc one. Shirat ha-yam = Songs
of the sea : excerpt, Exod. 15:1-4 (Sa'adiya Nahum) (1:46 ; 1:48) --
Proverbs 1:1-7 (Sa'adiya Nahum) (1:03 ; 1:07) --
Laḥn (hymn) : from the Liturgy of St.
Cyril (3:00 ; 3:22) --
Peklaos gar : from the Liturgy of St. Gregory
(1:39 ; 1:57) --
Aseret ha-dibberot = Ten Commandments : excerpt,
Exod. 20:2-7) (Eliahu Yahye Mizrahi) (1:39 ; 1:47) --
Aw lamīn / Qaṣīdit Nimr Ibn
'Adwān (Bājis Afandī Imʹaddī, voice and
rabāba) (3:10 ; 3:40) --
Shirat ha-yam = Song of the sea : excerpt, Exod.
15:1 (Ibrahim Kohen) (2:42 ; 2:55)
--
Sukkāni dhāk al-wādī (Ibrahim Kohen) (2:48 ; 2:49) --
'At ben 'aṣe 'eden / Judah Halevi
(Sa'adiya Nahum, solo voice ; Yahya Nahari, Hayyim Mahbub, chorus) (2:08 ;
2:09) --
'Ayelet ḥen / Shalem Shabazi (Sa'adiya
Nahum, solo voice ; Yahya Nahari, Hayyim Mahbub, chorus) (1:33 ; 1:34) --
Sā'at r-raḥmān
dalḥīn (1:37 ; 1:37) --
Allāh yā Allāh, yā 'ālen
bi-ḥālī (1:14 ; 1:14) --
Yā Allāh hal-yōm (2:05 ; 2:08)
--
Yā-llāh 'na salak (1:33 ; 1:39). CD
contents, disc two. Taqsīm ḥijāz (Ezra Aharon,
ʻūd) (3:15 ; 3:18) --
Taqsīm ṣabā (Ezra Aharon,
ʻūd) (2:01 ; 2:51) --
Moroccan song : Ṣaḥbi l-awwal
(Al-Touhami bin Omar) (3:05 ; 3:07) --
Egyptian song : Qad ḥarrakat aydī
n-nasīmi (Shaykh Sayyid al-Ṣafṭī) (3:30 ; 3:33) --
Shet araban saz semaisi / Tanburî Cemil
Bey (Tanburî Cemil Bey, tanbur) (3:23 ; 3:28) --
Zaffa hamasiyya (Mḥammed 'Abd
ar-Raḥūn Abu Msellem and group) (3:10 ; 3:10) --
'Ala dal'ūnā dabke ('Abd
al-Fattaḥ as-Sahāda, voice ; Aḥmed Smīr,
shabbāba) (2:45 ; 2:44)--
'A-l-hāma, 'a-l-hāma ('Abd
al-Fattaḥ as-Sahāda, voice ; Aḥmed Smīr,
shabbāba, zaghrūda ululation)) (1:23 ; 1:23).
~~~~~~~~~
Barberini Library Manuscript
Plate V:
Samaritan Pentateuch- A.D. 1227. (Original size of paper, 13 1/2"
in. x 10 ½ in; of part reproduced, 6 ½ in. x 9 in.) From Our
Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts: Being a History of the Text and its Translations By Sir Frederic George Kenyon.
“The MS.
of which we give a reproduction in Plate V. is at Rome, and is said to have
been written in the year 1227. It will be seen that the three columns are
all in the same style of writing, but each contains a different dialect. The
right-hand column contains the Hebrew text of Gen. 47. 1-6, as preserved among
the Samaritans; it is, in fact, what is commonly called the Samaritan Version,
and what we have been describing above. The left-hand column contains a Samaritan
Targum, or paraphrase of the text in the current Samaritan dialect; and in the
centre is an Arabic translation of the Samaritan version, originally made
in the year 1070. All three columns are written in the Samaritan or old
Hebrew characters, and represent the form of writing in which the books of the
Old Testament were originally written down. All the existing manuscripts of
the Samaritan version are written on either vellum or paper (in this
instance vellum is used), in the shape of books (not rolls, with the exception
of three rolls at Nablous), without any vowel points or accents, but with
punctuation to divide words and sentences. The whole of the Pentateuch is
divided into 964 paragraphs.” pp. 47-8.
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