“Mount Gerizim,
All the Days of Our Lives”
May/June
2016
Vol. XV - No 5
In This Issue ·
Samaritan fragment ·
Samaritan Fatwas ·
Workshops ·
Samaritan in Vienna ·
Tsedaka Tour ·
Samaritan Visit ·
Samaritan Donation ·
1963 photos ·
Digitized Torah ·
From the Editor ·
Samaritan Photos ·
Articles ·
Publications ·
Events ·
Recent articles ·
Old News ·
Links ·
Biblio
On January 1, 2015, the Samaritan Community numbered 777.
Future Events
It has been 3654 years since the entrance into
the Holy Land
(Samaritan’s typical calendar)
2016
Festival of Weeks- Second Pilgrimage- Sunday, June 12, 2016
Festival of the Seventh Month- Saturday Oct. 1, 2016
Day of Atonement- Monday, Oct. 10, 2016
Festival of Sukkot, Third Pilgrimage- Saturday Oct. 15, 2016
Festival of the Eight Day- Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016
[Calculated by: Priest
Yakkiir ['Aziz] b. High Priest Jacob b. 'Azzi – Kiriat Luza, Mount Gerizim]
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas
Milner’s post on a Samaritan Fragment on his blog in January 2012.
Among these
is a story of a fragment of a Samaritan Targum. He says that it belonged to his
grandfather, Rev. Gamaliel Milner (1852- 1928) (photo right) rector
of St.
Mary de Crypt.
Thomas says
in his blog; ‘He set out to identify the parchment. He concluded that it was
part of ancient Samaritan manuscript of the Pentateuch – Genesis 36.’
‘(Of course it was, how silly of me, it was
on the tip of my tongue – you probably know the verse; it’s that rib-tickling
one which enumerates all the sons and grandsons of Esau. His brother Jacob may
have been the favourite but Esau’s family seem to have done alright for
themselves).’
‘Finally
just to conclude, also pasted at the back there’s an intriguing envelope
addressed to Rev. Selwyn & wife and a letter from ‘The Chief of the Samaritans’
dated 1877.’
Source: https://notes-from-the-waitingroom.com/2012/01/15/the-fragment-of-parchment-2/
Haseeb Shehadah comments on the fragment; ‘This page is taken from Genesis end of 35 and
beginning of 36 and it is in Samaritan Targum (Aramaic). It seems rather
old?’
Benyamim Tsedaka says; ‘No
doubt the fragments is old as early as the 13Th-14Th century. This is an Aramaic
translation in ancient Hebrew. Side one - down: Genesis, 36:14b-30a, Side two -
up: Genesis: 36: 30b-37:
The letter:
10 Tavistoch
Street- Bedford Square dictated by Jacob esh Shellaby
My dear Mr.
Selwyn,
I wish to
thank you how much pleased I was at your house and to thank you for your
kindness- I send you a little piece now of a Samaritan writing- it is from the
second book of Moses.
When I came
home Saturday night and found a letter from Rev. Murray, inviting me to his
house for one day last week and ?????? ????? had left cards for me- I hope you
are all well. Give my love to Mrs. Selwyn & to your daughter & to her
friend- and believe me yours sincerity
Yakub esh
Shellaby
Chief of the
Samaritans
Tonight I am
going to discourse at Miss Place’s house.
Nov. 13,
1877
The letter
was mailed from London to Rev. E.J. Selwyn (Edward John Selwyn) Pluckley
Rectory, near Ashford, Kent. Pluckley is a village and a parish in the West
Ashford district of Kent.
One can
still see the fold marks on the fragment where it was inserted in the letter.
The Samaritan fragment appears to have been taped to a book called ‘The Bible for Every Land’ 1860
edition many years ago since there is seen a shadow of dirt on pages 34 and 35
around the parchment was press when the book was closed.
The letter
and fragment was not addressed to the Rev. G. Milner, but to Rev. E.J. Selwyn.
But G. Milner appears to have known 26 languages, according to his grandson,
Thomas. Thomas says, ‘It came me from my Father who got from
his Father who got from his Father, Rev. Gamaliel Milner who pasted the fragment of Samaritan
and the letter addressed to the Bishop Selwyn from CHIEF OF THE SAMARITANS. His
widow then offered it my great grandfather, in whose parish she lived.’
Rev. Edward John
Selwyn (1822-1893) more on page 99 here. Edward was a member of the Society of Biblical Archaeology and the Palestine Exploration Fund.
It appears
that Jacob stayed at 10 Tavistock Street, the location of the Travistock
Bedford Hotel (see image). The hotel is still there today see their website at https://www.bedford-hotel.co.uk/history/
Miss Place
is hard to identify. There is a Miss Place mentioned in Whitechapel around this
time. I believe it is possible that she was one of the two unmarried daughters
of Francis Place, in Hammersmith, a west London district. Place does not
appear to be a common name in London at the time.
Jacob esh
Shellaby visited England in 1877, his second visit of three (1855 and 1888) to
London to sell Samaritan manuscripts.
Photos by Thomas
E. Milner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read the full article at: https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/onsamaritanfatwas.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Spanish
Islam in Arabic Characters." In "Allographic Traditions" among
Arabic-Speaking Christians, Jews and Samaritans: Workshop on the Writing
Systems of Garshuni, Judeo-Arabic and Samaritan-Arabic." Institute for
Advances Studies, Princeton University, 9-10 June, 2016
https://www.ias.edu/events/allographic-traditions
The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ, will be holding a two-day
workshop, June 9-10, 2016, to bring together scholars specializing in Eastern
Christianity, Judeo-Arabic and Samaritan studies to discuss the writing systems
behind Garshuni (Syro-Arabic), Judeo-Arabic, and Samaritan-Arabic (as well as
other related languages). It is well established that the Christian, Jewish and
Samaritan communities of the Middle East have long employed, though
nonexclusively, their own scripts—Syriac, Hebrew and Samaritan,
respectively—when writing Arabic. Writing in these scripts occur in both
documentary (letters, contracts, etc.) and literary productions, including Islamic
literary texts. The objective of this workshop is to gather experts to discuss
the cultural-religious and sociolinguistic background behind and the formal
properties of these three writing systems and to establish, by way of
comparison, similarities and differences among the representatives of the
respective communities that use them.
There will be ca. five speakers per day. Each speakers will be allotted 45
minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion. In addition, there will be three
round table discussion each focusing on one of the three writing systems and
how it may relate to the others. Talks are expected to concentrate on the
scripts and their relevant religious-cultural and sociolinguistic aspects.
Scholars interested in participating are encouraged to contact the conveners.
Conveners: George A. Kiraz (Princeton University) (gkiraz@princeton.edu)
Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) (scs@ias.edu)
~~~~~~~~~~
John Rylands Research Institute
Conference 2016
“The Other Within - The Hebrew
and Jewish Collections of the John Rylands Library”
Date: Monday, 27 June to Wednesday, 29 June 2016
Location: The John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH
The Conference
The John Rylands Library preserves one of the world’s valuable collections of Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts, archives and printed books.
The holdings span Septuagint fragments to the papers of Moses Gaster and Samuel Alexander. The Rylands Genizah and rich collections of medieval manuscript codices and early printed books are among the strengths of the collection, making The John Rylands Library an important centre for the study of Judaism from the ancient world to the twentieth century.
The aim of this conference is to convene scholars, curators and students researching areas represented in the Library’s Hebrew and Jewish collections, including (but not limited to):
· the Cairo Genizah;
· medieval Hebrew manuscript codices;
· early printed Hebrew books;
· Samaritan manuscripts;
· the collections of Moses Gaster.
It will take place as part of a programme of activities at The John Rylands Research Institute that aim to facilitate the study of the Library’s Hebrew and Jewish holdings. This includes the 2015-2018 externally-funded project to catalogue the Hebrew manuscripts and two ongoing projects on the Gaster collections.
Programme
See a provisional copy of the conference programme
Reinhard Pummer (University of Ottawa) “Moses Gaster and Samaritan Studies”
Public Lecture
A Public Lecture will take place as part of the conference programme on the evening of Tuesday 28 June 2016. The lecture will be given by Dr Sarit Shalev-Eyni (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) on, “New Light from Manchester on Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts: The John Rylands Collection and its Significance”. This lecture is open to all, and members of the public are warmly invited to attend.
Conference delegates will be automatically registered to attend the public lecture. Members of the public are invited to register for the event through Eventbrite. Places are limited, and registration will be on a first-come-first-served basis via the Eventbrite system.
Registration
Registration for the Conference is now closed. Spaces are still available for the Public Lecture and can be booked via Eventbrite at the link above.
Enquiries should be directed to: jrri.conference2016@manchester.ac.uk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Letter of Love Coexistence and
peace From the Samaritans
Published on May 29, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFh-8X_GJ9E&feature=youtu.be
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samaritans travel to Vienna
A trip
designed by 16 Samaritan members of the Samaritan
Legend Association visited Vienna in May 22-27, 2016.
The Samaritans attended an important
meeting with the world’s largest institutions for interfaith dialogue at the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID).
KAICIID is an intergovernmental
organization whose mandate is to promote the use of dialogue globally to
prevent and resolve conflict, to enhance understanding and cooperation. Over a
seven-year-long negotiation and development process, KAICIID’s mandate and
structure were designed to foster dialogue among people of different faiths and
cultures that bridges animosities, reduces fear and instills mutual respect.
See their website at kaiciid.org.
The trip was sponsored by the Bank of Palestine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Benyamim
Tsedaka’s Samaritan Yearly Tour
So far, I have 61 welcome invitations to lecture during my three week tour in summer 2016, and I have some dates confirmed for my World Tour later in the year. Here is the updated provisional tour timetable:
EUROPE
31 July - 4 August 2016- Prague, The 9th International Congress of Samaritan Studies
7 August - 11 August 2016- Paris, the National Library
11 August - 18 August 2016- London
23 October - 29 October 2016- Italy
30 October - 5 November 2016- England
SOUTH AMERICA
6 November - 12 November 2016- Rio de Janeiro
13 November - 19 November- Sao Paulo
NORTH AMERICA
20 November - 26 November 2016- New York City
27 November - 3 December 2016- Washington DC
4 December - 10 December 2016- North Carolina
11 December - 17 December- Cincinnati
18 December - 24 December 2016- Seattle and Toronto
25 December 2016- Home
The website shows
the latest updates in the itinerary.
Lecture subjects are as
listed on our website, with the addition of my new book mentioned above, The
History of the Israelite Keepers Based on Their Own Sources
Visiting the Samaritan Synagogue
Mr. Gustavo
Arambarri, the consul
general of Argentina in Israel and Mr.
Eduardo Demayo, the Ambassador of Argentina in Palestine visited the
Samaritan Museum, meeting priest Hosni
Wassef on June 20, 2016. (Photo by the Samaritan Museum Facebook post.)
~~~~~~~
‘A Donation of a father and father, one for each of the synagogue.’ A Facebook Post of Itamar Cohen on June 9, 2016
~~~~~~~~~
Holy Land 1963
Photographs
taken during a tour of the Holy Land in the summer of 1963. Photo by Bishop Maurice Taylor. http://www.bishopmauricetaylor.org.uk/#/holy-land-1963/4554264755
The
Samaritan Synagogue in 1963 (Photo above by Maurice Taylor)
Samaritan
Torah in 1963
(Photo left
by Maurice Taylor)
A Digitized Samaritan Torah
Thanks to the company of Eyal
Cohen, a very active member of the committee of the Israeli Community
Samaritan in Israel from now on a digital version Torah in the hands of the
Samaritans Israelis written in computerized edition is now available to all
over the internet, by daily reading and the portions of Saturday. Here is the
link:
catalogue.com/shomronimb/
Torah Digital - The Samaritan community
Animated publication
digi-catalogue.com
Or: http://www.digi-catalogue.com/shomronimb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From
the Editor
Recently, I was lucky to find a book by Dwight L. Elmendorf, A Camera Crusade through the Holy Land, With One Hundred Photographic
Illustrations. The book has the
photograph of a well-known photo of the High Priest with a Torah scroll. I have
always wondered who took the photograph, now I know, it was Dwight L. Elmendorf
(1859-1929) of New York.
We can confirm the year
as 1901 from Elmendorf’s fellow travelers from the book by Maltbie Davenport
Babcock, Letters From Egypt and Palestine, Illustrated, New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1902. Photos by Elmendorf can be seen in this book.
According to Babcock’s
book, they visited the Samaritans on April 8, 1901. So this appears to be the
date of the photo shown left.
Elmendorf was also
well-known for his book on Lantern Slides, how to make and color
them.
(Photo left: High Priest
Jacob with Samaritan Torah, by Dwight L. Elmendorf, April 8, 1901)
~~~
I was thinking about the
Samaritan Pentateuch and the Samaritans that copied their manuscripts, inscribing
their name in them and also their source or origin of the original manuscript
that they copied from. And I was thinking that Samaritan High Priests that made
copies would of course, that is most, could trace their lineage to the sons of
Eleazar, that were written before 1624. Since then after the last son of
Eleazar has since past, these priests have been the sons of Ithamar among the
remnants of the Samaritans. But these priests did and still use manuscripts
that were copied by the sons of Eleazar.
By question is do the
Jews have any references from sources of the sons of Eleazar in any of their
manuscripts that they have copied like the Samaritans? Or do were they strictly
from Rabbis? This is out of my field but I am still wondering.
~~~
I just received an email
from Tomas Milner, he is looking at his options for selling his Samaritan
fragment at an auction house. We shall keep you informed in the future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samaritan Photos
Jaafar Ashtiyeh at Gettyimages.co.uk
Corinna Kern at http://corinnakern.com/-israel-samaritans
Ori Orhof at https://www.flickr.com/photos/oriorhof/ HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Winner of the 2016 Computers and Composition
Distinguished Book Award.
Congratulations
to Jim Ridolfo and William
Hart-Davidson (eds). Rhetoric and the
Digital Humanities. University of Chicago Press, 2015. Print. 320 pgs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Articles
What The End of the
World’s Conflict Could Mean For the 2016 Presidential Election by Ralph
Benko in Forbes Jun 18, 2016
'I hope there are still
Samaritans in the future' ‘The tiny ethno-religious community in the occupied
West Bank is fighting to keep its traditions alive,’ by Matthew Vickery
in Aljazaara.com 20 May, 2016
What Do we not know about
The Samaritan by Mary Shawahneh at tulab.ps in Arabic
Publications
The Israelite Journey through the Wilderness in the Sinai Peninsula by Priest Hosni Wassef, The Samaritan, Centre of the Good Samaritan, Mount Gerizim, Nablus Palestine, English. Contact Hosni for more information at Samaritans-mu@hotmail.com (image left)
Yahweh
Conspiracy: Deception of the Ages Unveiled by John Vujicic Lulu
Publishing Services (March 11, 2016)
‘Did Yaweh choose Jerusalem and the temple
Solomon built to be the only authentic and legitimate place where all
sacrificial rites should take place and where all the pilgrims should go to
observe the annual festivals? Could it be that the Samaritan view is correct
and that Shechem, not Jerusalem, was actually the chosen city?’
~~~~~~~
Forth Coming
‘The Emergence of the
Samaritan Pentateuch’ in a Festschrift
~~~~~~~~~~~
Older Publication
Livro OS BONS SAMARITANOS E OUTROS
FILHOS DE ISRAEL
Sucá samaritana na Festa
das Cabanas: as cores de Canaã nos frutos da terra. Remanescentes das antigas
tribos israelitas, os samaritanos hoje são cerca de 600 indivíduos.
Parte deles vive em
Holon, Israel, a outra parte vive e\'m Shechem (Náblus), onde veneram o Monte
Guerizim abençoado por Moisés.
E participam, de modo
particular, no drama do Oriente Médio com árabes e irmãos judeus. Neste livro,
o jornalista Moacir Amâncio mostra aspectos do dia-a-dia da Cisjordânia e de
Israel.
Autor: Moacir Amâncio
Editora: Musa
ISBN: 8585653264
EAN: 9788585653262
Número de edição: 1
Páginas: 198
Acabamento: Brochura com
capa dura
Tamanho (cm): 15x23
[Portuguese Brazilian 2000]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Videos
At the museum of the SAMARITANS on MT GERIZIM.
~~~~~~~~~
Youtube Videos of the Samaritans from
Abraham Weizfeld Ph D
Popular Videos - Mount Gerizim
& Samaritans
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philologers who thought that the
Samaritan was the old Hebrew alphabet.
Eusebius
Bonfrerius.
Walton
St. Jerom. Preface to
Daniel
Casaubon.
Archbishop Usher.
Montifaucon.
Capellus.
Erpenius.
J. Baptist. Vailal pandus. Bellarmine.
Fabricus. Bochart.
John Morin.
John D’Espieres.
Drusius.
Genebrard.
Serrarius. Waser.
Grotius on Daniel.
Mayer.
Ererwood.
Joseph Scaliger.
Philologers who thought otherwise.
Loescher.
Broughton.
Baronius.
Fuller.
Buxtorf. Stephen
Morin.
Sckichard.
Leusden.
All the Jewish Rabbins.
Happer. Picus of Mirandula.
‘An Antiquarian
Dissertation on the Study of Philology’ in Antiquarian Speculations, Consisting of Essays and Dissertations, on Various
Subjects. By Rev. T. Castley Rector of Cavendish, in Suffok. Sudbury: Printed by
John Burkitt, 1817. Page 410.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
National Library of Israel
The Rare Books Department keeps all of the Library's manuscripts, antique prints from the fifteenth–seventeenth century, special publications of which only limited examples remain, editions that were published in small quantities, and so forth. There are thousands of periodicals in Hebrew and Arabic, a more modest collection of Latin writings, and a few, albeit very important, other writings including Samaritan, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Cyrillic and more.
The process of scanning and making rare books accessible online is already under way today. The challenge is to have the entire collection scanned and accessible in a few years, in keeping with copyright limitations.
http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/israel-collection/Pages/rare-books.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerusalem
1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven
September 26, 2016–January 8,
2017
Exhibition Location: The Tisch
Galleries, Gallery 899
Press Preview: Monday, September
19, 10:00 am–noon
Exhibition Overview
The Diversity of Peoples: Dozens of
denominations and communities contributed to the artistic and spiritual
richness of the city. The historical record surrounding medieval Jerusalem—a
“city of foreigners”— includes both harmonious and dissonant voices from many
lands: Persians, Turks, Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Georgians, Ethiopians,
Indians, and Europeans from each of the Abrahamic faith traditions passed in
the narrow streets of the city—not much larger than midtown Manhattan. Visitors
will be astonished, for example, by the numerous distinct alphabets and
different languages of prayer. Exemplifying this will be a Christian Gospel
book in Arabic and another in Georgian script, the Samaritan Translation of the Torah into Arabic, and the
biblical book of Kings in Ge’ez, the language of Ethiopia, given by that land’s
king to his community in Jerusalem.
See full information: http://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2016/jerusalem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recent articles
Jews and Samaritans: The Origins and
History of Their Early Relations by Gary N. Knoppers
Review
by: Christian Stadel
Journal
of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 136, No. 1 (January–March 2016), pp.
185-187
Review
by: Christian Stadel
Journal
of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 136, No. 1 (January–March 2016), pp.
183-185
Older article
The Story of the Tower of Babel in the Samaritan Book
Asatir as a Historical Midrash on the Samaritan Revolts of the Sixth Century
c.e. by Christian Stadel
Journal of the American Oriental Society,
Vol. 135, No. 2 (April–June 2015), pp. 189-207
~~~~~~~
Old News
“Last of the Samaritans:
Members of Oldest Jewish Sect in London, England.” In The Moyie Leader, Moyie, B.C. December 1, 1906, Vol. 9, No. 34, page 2.
“More Bible History: Hebrew Scholar Finds Samaritan
Version of the Book of Joshua.” District
Ledger, Fernie, B.C. June 27, 1908, Vol. III, No. 44, page 6.
“The Samaritan Passover- Great Religious Festival” by Rev. Charles E.
Cooper, in Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, B.C., Sunday, May 31, 1908 Vo.
XCIX- No. 142, page 16
The Samaritan Community
is one of the oldest and most interesting religious bodies in the world. Once
spread over the whole of central Palestine, the Samaritans are now confined to
the town of Nablus, the ancient Shechem, which lies in the valley between the
two mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, and have been so greatly reduced by wars, persecutions,
defections and other causes that they now barely number two hundred souls. They
are the direct descendants of the Samaritans mentioned in the New Testament
with a woman of those number Our Lord talked at Jacob’s well and among whom
Philip the Evangelist made many disciples. The commonly received account of
their origin is that they descended from the Chaldean colonists whom
Shalmanezer, King of Assyria, brought into people the land after he had carried
the Israelites of the northern tribes into captivity, and from the priest of
Bethel whom the king sent back to teach these colonists “the manner of the God
of the land.” (2 Kings XVII). They claim, however, to be of far greater
antiquity and to be the true representatives of the Israelites of the northern
tribes, and they say that the tabernacle of the wilderness was set upon Mount
Gerizim by Joshua himself, and that the tabernacle at Shiloh and Soloman’s
temple at Jerusalem were alike Schismatical. They also asset that their High Priests are of
the family of Aaron. It is probable that the Israelites were not all carried
into captivity and that these Samaritans are of a mixed race partly Israelite
and partly Chaldean, for there can be no question that the physiognomy of the
present generation of Samaritans is of an unmistakably Jewish caste. The
Samaritans have in their possession a very ancient copy of the law which
contains the five books of Moses and the book of Joshua. This copy is written
in the old Hebrew square script which has not been in use among the Jews since
their return from captivity in Babylon, where they learned the Chaldean
characters which they have used ever since, and it bears an inscription to the
effect that it was written by Abishua the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleagen,
the son of Aaron. Experts, however, who have subjected the M.S. to a minute
examination refuse to allow it an earlier date than the Fourth Century after
Christ, though no doubt it is a copy of one still older.
The chief peculiarity of
the Samaritans, however, is that they are the only religious body which still
practices the sacrifice of animals as a part of their regular worship. This is
done every year at the Feast of Passover, and as this year we were present at
the ceremony I thought an account of what we saw might be of interest. The
Passover is held on the top of Mount Gerizim and thither the entire Samaritan
community migrate some time before the appointed day and live in tents. At this
camp we arrived after terribly steep and rocky climbs, and ere received by the
son of the High Priest, a young man of about two and twenty years of age, who
offered himself as our guide. He conducted us at once into his father’s tent
where he set us down and made us welcome, bringing us coffee. Before long the
High Priest, Jacob, son of Aaron himself appeared, he looked worn and aged
since I saw him fifteen years ago, as if the trouble of his flock and
persecutions of the fanatical Moslems around him had told on him, and after
mutual salutations and polite enquires he produces a key and with it unlocked a
cupboard and brought forth the celebrated Roll of the Law and placed it on a
chair for our inspection. There are two other rolls with which visitors are
often put off: but form the inspection given me by Dr. Wright, of C.M.S.
hospital who is a personal friend of the High Priest and has treated him
professionally, and helped him in various ways. I have no doubt it was the
original. It has a cylindrical case which opens with a hinge and displays the
parchments inside. It has also three handles by which the roll is wound or
unwound according to the part of it that is wanted for reading. The case is
made of copper or some dull metal, and is inlaid in silver with representations
of the sacred furniture of the temple- the ark, altar, candlestick, etc., and
it is wrapped in a rich robe of deep blue velvet. After we had duly examined
the roll of the law and bid adieu to the High Priest our guide led us out to
the top of the mountain to see the remains of the temple: he also showed us
stones which he maintained to be those which Joshua commanded to be taken out
of Jordan when the Israelites passed over it: also the place to which Abraham
brought Isaac to be sacrificed and where the ram was caught by his horns, also
the place of Adam’s and Noah’s sacrifice and of Jacob’s dream; all these events
according to the Samaritan tradition took place on Mount Gerizim. We saw also
the ashes and other remains of a crusader’s church, and the magnificent view
over the whole of central Palestine which we shall long remember.
Our guide then brought us
back to the camp from which we saw the smoke of fires already ascending. The
place of sacrifice is an oblong enclosure having in the centre of one end a
long, narrow pit, and near the other end, a section of a fallen column like a
drum, and a little to the south of the enclosure was a deep well-like pit, in
both pits fires of wood were lighted and over the one within the enclosure were
two cauldrons of water being boiled.
We were given good places
at the wall opposite this pit, but even so the number of ministrants was so
great and one event followed the other with such rapidity that it was
impossible to see clearly everything that took place. The crowd of Mohammedan
lads and others were kept in order by a file of Turkish soldiers armed with
rifles and bandoliers full of shotted cartridges, otherwise we should have seen
nothing.
The enclosure now began
to fill with men in white, some with long robes of brocaded silk and others in
linen coats and full Turkish trousers gathered in tight just above the angles.
The seven yearling sheep were driven in and munched away unconcernedly at the
grass that was placed for them. At length the High Priest arrived, he wore a
long vestment, sage green in color and a white turban, neither breast plate nor
mitre like the High Priests of old. He took up a position in front of the
column facing the ruined Temple and behind him in the arc of a circle were
ranged the male members of his family known by their long hair neatly platted
at the back and the seniors of the tribe while the younger men stood round the
oblong pit. The High Priest and his company first knelt each one on his carpet,
and then commenced a chant like Gregorian tones, beginning very soft and low,
and gradually increasing in loudness when it was taken up by the young men
round the pit. There all stood in prayer holding out their hands with palms
upward and made answers antiphonally to the High Priests petitions. The High
Priest put the prayer-shawl over his head and stood on the column, the better
to watch the setting sun, and turning himself round so as to face the rest, he
read or rather recited the account of the first Passover from Exodus XII. Then
came more chanting, ever growing louder and louder and being taken up by the
whole community and continuing during the next event which was the seizing of
the sheep by the ministrants, who took them, threw them down and laid them on
their sides around the pit. Then as the sun began to set, their heads were
stretched back, leaving their necks exposed, and one of the priests came round,
and with a sharp knife despatched one after the other by cutting his throat.
The blood was then caught in vessels and the High Priest’s youngest child was
handed into the circle and sprinkled on the face, and I understand that the
rest of the blood was taken and sprinkled over the doors of the tents. Then
boiling water from the cauldrons were poured over the bodies of the sheep and
the wool was plucked off; the entrails were removed for the High Priest’s
inspection and then burnt. The bodies next were dressed and slashed after a
peculiar method and suspended by the hind legs on a wooden bar and held up to
the scrutiny of the Priest. If the lamb was approved by him as being sound and
ceremonially pure it was spitted on a long pole and wrapped in matting ready
for the roasting, if it was pronounced faulty and rejected it was burnt
altogether in a separate fire. At nine o’clock, the bodies that had been
approved were placed in the circular pit which by this time was heated like an
oven and its mouth closed with stones and mud, and there they remained till
nearly midnight when the covering of the pit was torn off and the roasted lambs
dragged out black and charred; these were then eaten by the whole community
with the accompaniments of unleavened bread and bitter herbs; and the ate it as
st forth in Exodus, standing with their shoes on their feet, their staves in
their hand and in haste, for it is said, that in ten minutes time nothing was
left but the bones and a few remnants; these were searched for and collected
and thrown into the fire so that nothing remained until morning. We were not
able to stay to witness these latter developments as we had to make an early
start as the following morning, but I am glad to have been present at an
interesting ceremony which can be seen only at this place and time, and is
unique among the religious observances of the world.
“The Critics and Their
Tangled Webs” by Rev. Thomas James McCrossan, (Pastor of Oliver
Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, Minn.) in The Western Call, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 27, 1914, Vol. V, No. 42, page 4.
(5) But there is other
evidence in the favor of the Mosiac authorship of the Pentateuch worth noting,
viz., the Samaritan Bible which contains the whole Pentateuch and the
Pentateuch only. Mr. Isaacs, the son of the Samaritan High Priest of Shechem,
visited this country only a year or two ago and had a copy of this Bible with
him. They tell us that it was written by Abishua, a great grandson of Aaron,
and is over thirty-five hundred years old. The critics try to make out that the
Samaritans got their Bible about Ezra or Nehemiah’s time. But this is absurd,
for at that time the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other worse than the
Catholics and the Orangemen of Ireland hate each other today. Then before the
critics can prove their theory re. the Pentateuch they must disprove the
contention of these honest Samaritans; that they had their own Pentateuch
intact for over 3,500 years.”
[From the Editor of this Update: I know of no Samaritan that entered
the North America at this time.]
“Most Ancient Sect Worships
Jehovah by Blood Sacrifice,” The Daily Colonist, Victoria B.C. Sunday, April 13, 1930
Remnant of Samaritan Race Gather on Side of Mt. Gerizim for Yearly
Observance of Passover With Ritual and Dress Suggestive of Days of Patriarchal
Ancestors: Tourists Visit Colorful Spectacle in Palestine.
A Unique and colorful spectacle and one whose origins reach back over
three thousand years of religious history is witnessed annually at this period
of the year by an increasing stream of tourists who make their way up the rocky
mountain side of Mt Gerizim that overlooks the ancient town of Nablus in
central Palestine. Here they see what has been described as “the only remaining
animal sacrifice offered to Jehovah in all the world,”
And which is offered by the
few score that are all that is left of the oldest and smallest sect in the
world.
It is a picturesque occasion and the climactic day of a
picturesque people. The people are the Samaritans and they live in the poorest
and remotest quarters of the town of Nablus. Here, in a few houses huddled
around a plain synagogue, 132 members of this once numerous and powerful race
preserve a flicker of life and carry on the distinctive traditions which go
back to the Babylonian captivity. The Samaritans hold to the Pentateuch, or
five books of Moses, as their only scriptures, and when banned by the Jews,
after the return from captivity, from a share in building the temple at
Jerusalem, erected their Holy of Holies on the summit of Mount Gerizim. More
ancient than the annual rite is the city from which they make the yearly
pilgrimage. Nablus is an Arabic corruption of Neapolis, or “new city,” the
Romans title given nineteen centuries ago to ancient Shechem, to which Abraham
journeyed two millenniums earlier and where the bones of Joseph were interred.
Every year at the time of the Passover this remnant of a race, its
entire community of men, women and children, sound and sick, walk, ride or are
carried to their camping place on a ridge below the summit of Mount Gerizim.
Here for a week they take up an encampment that suggests those of the Exodus or
the Book of Numbers, and are dressed in garments not dissimilar to those worn
by the Israelites in the days of the patriarchs. Here the make ready for the
solemn occasion. By sunset of the eve of the Passover preparations for the
sacrifice are complete. The animals, each one “a lamb without blemish, a male
of the first year,” are brought by young men to the altar at the head of a
trench. Clothed in robes of white linen they face the rock on the summit of
Gerizim, which marks the site of the Holy of Holies of the Samaritan temple.
As the sun drops to the horizon the High Priest reads the twelfth
chapter of Exodus, so timing himself that the passage, “and the whole
congregation of Israel shall kill it,” is reached as the sun disappears. At the
word “kill” the young men slaughter the lambs. “To the spectator,” writes an
observer, “unaccustomed to such sights, this process and the animals” ensuing
death-struggles, can hardly be said to afford a pretty spectacle, but to the
assembled Samaritans the cutting of each throat is a signal for an outburst of
joy, the people shouting, singing and clapping their hands. A young priest
collects some of the paschal blood in a basin, stirs it with a bunch of wild
thyme, and daubs with it the lintel of every tents, in accordance with the
injunction of Exodus xii, 22. The entrails of the animals are collected and
placed upon the altar and here the burnt offering remains until it is consumed.
Following Injunction
Meanwhile the carcasses have been prepared for the pit which has
been heated as an oven. From the hind quarters one particular sinew has been removed,
in accordance with Genesis xxxii, 32 (for the Samaritans claim to know the very
tendon which was touched by the angel in the hollow of Jacob’s thigh), and much
salt is rubbed into the flesh in obedience to Leviticus ii, 13. The animals are
then spitted and lowered into the kiln for roasting. Prayers and reading are
carried on in the twilight and the flare of the altar fire, in the course of
which the High Priest raises aloft before the people their scrolls of the
Pentateuch, all the Scriptures, as has been mentioned, that the Samaritans
accept. Then when the lambs have been sufficiently roasted, the oven is opened,
the meat is distributed and eaten “in haste… with unleavened bread and with
bitter herbs”; and in the darkness, long after the glow has faded from the
Western April sky, the ancient rite is brought to a close.
‘Few Survivors of Great
Race: Samaritan Colony in Palestine Still Observes Rites of Centuries Ago,’ The Daily Colonist, Victoria, B.C. Wednesday, December 13, 1936, No. 11- Seventh-ninth
year, page 6.
NimekkeetFacklan : tidskrift för kristlig tro och forskning 190501.01.1905
Facklan : tidskrift för kristlig tro och forskning no 1 http://tethys.lib.helsinki.fi/aikakausi/binding/995520?page=7
NimekkeetFacklan : tidskrift för kristlig tro och
forskning190501.05.1905 Facklan : tidskrift för kristlig tro och forskning no 5 -213 http://tethys.lib.helsinki.fi/aikakausi/binding/995524?page=1
http://tethys.lib.helsinki.fi/aikakausi/binding/995524?page=19
~~~~~~~~~~
Links
Jacob
ben Aaron—A Samaritan High Priest
http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/15601/#note-15601-11
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biblio
Anonymous
“Archaeology and Biblical
Research: The Samaritans” in Methodist Review, Volume 102 July, 1919, pp. 630- 636 [Review of Montgomery’s The Samaritans.]
“Archaeology and Biblical
Research: The Samaritan Passover” in Methodist Review, Volume 102 September, 1919, pp. 796- 801
Avital, Yuval
‘From Religious Rite to
Multimedia Theatre: Samaritans,’ in Musical Listening in the Age of Technological Reproduction Edited by Gianmario
Borio Routledge, Taylor &
Francis Group, London and New York: 2016,
pp. 308- 386, 392 (first published in 2015)
Samaritans icon/sonic
opera (documentary)
Babcock, Maltbie Davenport
Letters From Egypt and Palestine, Illustrated, New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1902, pp. 95-97
“After lunch we climbed
Mount Gerizim, where the ruins of the Samaritan Temple are, and the altar which
they use now, killing seven lambs, according to the ancient rites. Heaps of
brushwood are by the altar for the celebration three days from to-day. It is
the sole survival of the Mosaic ritual, the narrow thread of that great stream
of sacrifice which came down through the old dispensation. The Samaritans
number but a hundred or so. In their synagogue Nabulus (Shechem), the oldest in
the world, they worship, a few tatters of the Samaritan nation. We saw their
new Pentateuch, which dates from the Maccabees more than a century B.C., and a
still older one, no one knows how old. We had to have a good protection through
the streets of this city, for it is thoroughly Moslem and fanatical, and as it
was we had curses hurled at us, and occasional stones. The filth and
degradation of their streets passes belief, but never gets past the senses. The
face of the Samaritan High Priest was beautiful, thoughtful, and refined, and
sent my thoughts swiftly to the Good Samaritan. I wish Tissot could had had
this face in his pictures of the Savior. The priest’s name was Jacob Aaron. He
is of the Tribe of Levi, and lives on the tithes of his people. He trains the
few Samaritan children in his care in the Law of Moses.”
Bernasconi, Rocco
Tannaitic Israel and the
Kutim 2009
Blanchetière, François
E. Nodet, Essai sur les
origines du judaïsme, de Josué aux Pharisiens, 1992 [Review] Revue des Sciences Religieuses
1994 Volume 68 Issue 3 pp. 346-350 Part of a thematic issue: Produire
Bruneau, Philippe
Actes De L’association:
Communications: I.M. Philippe Bruneau, Du nouveau sur les juifs de Delos (avee projections). Revue des Études Grecques 1982 Volume 95
Issue 452 p. XIII
Bruneau, Philippe and Pierre Bordreuil
Les Israélites de Délos
et la juiverie délienne. [Article] Bulletin de
correspondance hellénique 1982 Volume 106 Issue 1 pp. 465-504
Caquot, André
John Macdonald. The
Samaritan Chronicle n° II [Review] Syria 1970 Volume 47
Issue 3 pp. 410-412
Castley, Thomas [Rector of Cavendish, in Suffok]
‘An Antiquarian
Dissertation on the Study of Philology’ in Antiquarian Speculations, Consisting of Essays and Dissertations, on
Various Subjects. Sudbury: Printed by John Burkitt, 1817.
Crawford, Sidnie
The “Rewritten” Bible at
Qumran: A Look at Three Texts, 1-1-1999
Di Segni, Leah
‘The Church of Mary
Theotokos on Mount Gerizim: The Inscriptions’ Christian
Archaeology in the Holy Land. New… Jan. 1, 1990 pp. 343-350
Dubois Jean-Danielsem
Crown (Alan D.) éd The Samaritans [Review] Archives de sciences sociales des religions 1993
Volume 82 Issue 1 pp. 265-266
Pummer (Reinhard) The
Samaritans [Review] Archives de sciences sociales des religions 1990 Volume 70
Issue 1 p. 305
Dulière, Walter Louis
La seconde circoncision
pratiquée entre Juifs et Samaritains [Article] L'antiquité classique 1967 Volume
36 Issue 2 pp. 553-565
Dusek, Jan
La mission d'Esdras à
Jérusalem et deux inscriptions hébraïques du Mt. Garizim 2014
Mt. Gerizim Sanctuary,
Its History and Enigma of Origin (HeBAI 3/1, 2014, p. 111-133) Abstract: The
remains of the sanctuary of Yahweh, which probably existed in the Persian and
Hellenistic periods, have been discovered on Mt. Gerizim and are already well
known among historians of antiquity. In the first and second parts of the
article, we summarize the history of the sanctuary from the 5th to the 2nd
centuries b.c.e. In the third part, we evoke some questions related to the
origin of the sanctuary that emerge when we confront the archaeological
evidence with some biblical texts.
Dussaud, René
Johs. Pedersen. — Inscriptiones semiticae
collectionis Ustinowianae (Symbolic Osloenses, fasc. supplet. II). [Review] Syria 1929 Volume 10 Issue
1 pp. 70-71
Duyrat, Frédérique
Ya'akov Meshorer, Shraga
Qedar Samarian Coinage The Israel Numismatic Society,
Numismatic Studies and Researches, volume IX [Review] Syria 2004 Volume 81
Issue 1 pp. 312-314
Elmendorf, Dwight Lathrop
A Camera Crusade through the Holy Land, With One Hundred Photographic
Illustrations, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912
Feissel, Denis
Appendice II:
Inscriptions juives de Macédoine du IVe au VIe s. Bulletin de
correspondance hellénique. Supplément 1983 Volume 8 Issue 1 pp. 240-245 Part of
a thematic issue: Recueil des inscriptions chrétiennes de Macédoine du IIIe au
VIe s.
Giles, Terry
Origin of the Samaritan
Pentateuch May 2016
Hjelm, Ingrid
‘Lost and Found? A
Non-Jewish Israel from the Merneptah Stele to the Byzantine,’ From a new publication:
History, Archaeology and The Bible Forty Years After
"Historicity" (Routledge, 2016).
"Samaritan," The Oxford Handbook of the Literatures of
the Roman Empire
Edited by Daniel L.
Selden and Phiroze Vasunia Online
Abstract: This chapter
offers an introduction to the history of the Samaritans from their origin until
the seventh century CE and gives detailed information on the Samaritan
Literature in the Roman Period. The Samaritans formed the backbone of central
and northern Palestine’s population and shared beliefs and traditions with
southern Palestine’s Jewish population. However, their traditions developed
differently in Samaritanism’s strong emphasis on a purely Mosaic Yahwism (as in
the Five Books of Moses), which did not adopt the teachings of the larger
Jewish canon (i.e. the Old Testament). Compared with Jewish and Christian
literature, Samaritan literature is quite limited. It consists of the Samaritan
Pentateuch, the SamaritanTargum of the Pentateuch in Aramaic, a midrashic
compilation called Tibat or Memar Marqe, and the earliest prayer book called
the Defter, which contains hymns from the third to fourth century CE. An
additional paragraph deals with Samaritan use of biblical literature in inscriptions
and artefacts.
Textual
Transmission and Scribal Interpretation in the Song of Moses: An Analysis of
the Text of Deuteronomy 32:1-43 According to the Masoretic Text, Samaritan
Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Dead Sea Scrolls. Thesis
Lehnardt, Andreas
Lehnardt_2016_Review of
Gary N. Knoppers Jews and Samaritans, in_ ThLZ (2016)
Margain, Jean
M. Haran. The Song of the
Precepts of Aaron ben Manir [Review] Revue
de l'histoire des religions Year
1976 Volume 190 Issue 2
pp. 203-204
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret 1982 Volume 111, Issue 1,
pp. 42-43
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, Sciences historiques et philologiques 1982 Volume 111 Issue 1 pp.
165-174 Part of a thematic issue: Annuaire 1978-1979
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret 1985 Volume 114 Issue 2
pp. 48-49
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret 1987 Volume 116 Issue 3
p. 24
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret 1994 Volume 118 Issue 4
p. 25
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique des hautes études. 4e
section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret 1994 Volume 120 Issue
5 p. 16
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique
des hautes études. 4e section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret
1996 Volume 122 Issue 6 p. 22
Philologie samaritaine [Other] École pratique
des hautes études. 4e section, sciences historiques et philologiques. Livret
1995 Volume 123 Issue 7 pp. 28-29
Samaritan Documents
Relating to Their History, Religion and Life, translated and edited by J.
Bowman [Review] Revue de l'histoire des religions
1984 Volume 201 Issue 1
pp. 76-77
Une nouvelle amulette
samaritaine portant le texte d'Exode 38.8 Syria
1982 Volume 59 Issue 1 pp. 117-120
Un anneau samaritain
provenant de Naplouse Syria 1984 Volume 61 Issue 1
pp. 45-47
Raviv, Dvir
Numerous articles of caves in Samaria
Richards, E. Randolph
Reinhard Pummer. The
Samaritans in Flavius Josephus. (Text and Studies in Ancient Judaism, 92. Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck) (Review) Bulletin for Biblical Research 23.1, pp. 118-120
Rothschild, Jean-Pierre
‘Manuscrits Samaritans’ Revue d’histoire des texts 1983 Volume 11, issue 1981 p. 419-429
Alan David Crown. A
Bibliography of the Samaritans [Review] Revue de l'histoire des religions
1986 Volume 203 Issue 2 pp. 206-207
Iain Ruairdh Mac Mhanainn
Boid, Principles of Samaritan halachah, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1989, xiv-362 p.,
bibliographie, index (“Studies in Judaism in late Antiquity”, 38), $77.50. (Review) Revue de
l’histoire des religions 1992, Vol. 209 Issue 1, pp. 74-75
Reinhard Pummer. The
Samaritans [Review] Revue de l'histoire des
religions 1989 Volume 206 Issue 1 p. 84
Séd, N.
Le Mēmar samaritain,
le Sēfer Yesīrā et les trente-deux sentiers de la Sagesse [Article] Revue de
l'histoire des religions 1966 Volume
170 Issue 2 pp. 159-184
Séjourné, Paul-Marie
Inscription samaritaine
découverte à Gaza par le R. P. Abel et inscriptions grecques provenant de
Bersabée Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et
Belles-Lettres 1905 Volume 49 Issue 5 pp. 538-542
Schamp, Jacques
Macchi (Jean-Daniel). Les Samaritains: Histoire
d'une légende. Israël et la province de Samarie. [Review] Revue belge de philologie
et d'histoire 1995 Volume 73 Issue 1 pp. 225-226 Part of a thematic issue:
Antiquité - Oudheid
Stewart, Joseph Kyle
Stockton, E.D.
‘The Fortress Temple of Shechem
and Joshua’s Covenant’ in Australian Journal of Biblical
Archaeology. 1.1 (1968): 24-28.
Vogüé, Melchior de
Lettre du R. P. Lagrange
sur une inscription samaritaine trouvée à Anmiwãs Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1896 Volume 40
Issue 3 pp. 213-214. Part of a
thematic issue : Mai - Juin
Wells, Edward
An Historical Geography of the Old and New Testament: In Two Volumes. Oxford: Clarendon Press
1809 Vol. 1
West, Jim
The Samaritans: a Profile
by Reinhard Pummer [review] 2016
Whaley, Ernest Boyd
Samaria and the Samaritans
in the Josephus Corpus, Emory, PhD., 20-12-88, Hayes J.H. 1989
4/1986, Expedition in eine vergessene Welt, GEO- DAS NEUE BILD DER ERDE
Seite 72 SAMARITANER Sie glauben, daß nur sie Moses wahre Erben sind
Nicht Jerusalem, sondern der Berg Garizim, auf dem der Priester zum Passah-Fest
die Thora-Rolle ins Licht hebt, ist ihr heiliges Zentrum. Juden sind für sie
Irrgläubige. Günter C. Vieten berichtet über das Volk, dem der barmherzige Samariter
entstammt.
~~~~~~~~~~
c1920s SYCHAR
(Aschar) Mt GERIZIM Magic Lantern Photo Slide for
sale on Ebay
~~~~~~~~~
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