Samaritanism

Overview

Samaritans are a small Israelite religious community centered on Mount Gerizim, near Nablus in the West Bank. They call themselves Bene Yisrael, "Children of Israel," and trace their descent to Israelite tribes of ancient Samaria; ancient Jewish sources instead held that they descended from foreign populations resettled in the region. Samaritans accept only the Torah, in their own version, and hold that God chose Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem's Mount Zion, as his true sanctuary. A Samaritan temple stood there from the Persian period until its destruction in the late 2nd century BCE, and the mountain remained contested ground for centuries afterward. Reduced to a few hundred people by the early twentieth century, the community has since grown to roughly 800 to 900, divided between a village on Mount Gerizim and the city of Holon, where Samaritans resettled from 1954 onward.^{[1–4, 6, 8]}

History

A rival sanctuary Persian period–2nd century BCE

Samaritans hold that they descend from the Israelites of Samaria left behind after the Assyrian conquest of 722 BCE; ancient Jewish sources, including Josephus, instead held that Samaritans descended from foreign populations the Assyrians resettled there. Whatever their origin, Samaritans built a shrine on Mount Gerizim during the early Second Temple period, directing their prayers and sacrifices there instead of to Jerusalem. The sanctuary grew into a substantial temple complex, with a fortified precinct and monumental gates, before the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus destroyed it in about 128 BCE.^{[1, 3–4]}

A Byzantine church on the summit 484–529 CE

The temple ruins John Hyrcanus had left on Mount Gerizim's summit remained contested ground for centuries; in 484 CE the Byzantine emperor Zeno had a large octagonal church built there, dedicated to Mary Theotokos. Samaritans continued to regard the mountain as their own, and after a Samaritan revolt in 529 CE the church was turned into a fortress and strengthened under the emperor Justinian, keeping the summit under Christian control into the early Islamic period and cutting Samaritans off from the mountaintop their ancestors had once held sacred.^{[4, 9]}

A small community endures 20th–21st centuries

Samaritan numbers fell to fewer than 200 people by the early twentieth century, decimated by disease, emigration and centuries of minority status under successive empires. Traditional law had confined marriage to the community itself or to Jewish converts vetted by the high priest, but in 1923 the Samaritans, for lack of a viable alternative, dropped their prohibition on men marrying women from outside the community entirely. Beginning in 1954, Samaritans scattered across the new State of Israel resettled together in Holon, near Tel Aviv, creating a second center alongside Mount Gerizim; the community has since grown steadily, reaching about 800 by the 2010s, and Samaritans today still perform a Passover sacrifice of a lamb on the slopes of Mount Gerizim each spring, a practice that continues to draw visitors.^{[5–6, 8, 10]}

Beliefs

Bene Yisrael · בני ישראל

Children of Israel

Samaritans regard themselves as the true continuation of the ancient Israelite religion, descended from Israelite tribes of Samaria not deported by Assyria. Ancient Jewish tradition disputed this, holding instead that Samaritans descended from populations the Assyrians resettled in the land.^[1]

Torah alone

Samaritans accept only the five books of Moses as scripture, in their own text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, which is nearly identical to the Jewish Torah but differs at a number of points, most importantly in its instructions pointing to Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem.^[2]

Mount Gerizim

Where Jewish tradition holds that God chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Samaritans hold that God chose Mount Gerizim, overlooking Nablus, as his one true sanctuary, the site of a Samaritan temple for several centuries in antiquity.^[3]

Practice

The Passover sacrifice

Each spring Samaritans gather on the slopes of Mount Gerizim to sacrifice lambs for Passover, following the instructions of Exodus literally; the rite is now held partway up the mountain rather than at the summit, where an old Muslim cemetery now stands.^[5]

Marriage and language

Marriage was traditionally confined within the small community, with outside partners accepted only as converts vetted by the high priest; since 1923 men have also been permitted to marry women from outside the community entirely, though a woman who marries out remains ostracized. Samaritans pray in a liturgical form of Hebrew but speak Arabic as their everyday language on Mount Gerizim, while those in Holon also speak modern Israeli Hebrew.^{[7, 10]}

People

Scripture

Samaritan Pentateuch

pre-Common Era textual tradition

The Samaritan version of the Torah, nearly identical to the Jewish text but differing at key points, including passages read as commanding worship at Mount Gerizim; it remains the Samaritans' sole scripture.^[2]

Places

Mount Gerizim (Kiryat Luza)

PSE

The Samaritans' holy mountain, overlooking Nablus, where a Samaritan temple stood for several centuries in antiquity before its destruction; today the village of Kiryat Luza on its slopes is home to roughly half the world's Samaritans.^{[3–4, 8]}

Holon

ISR

A city just south of Tel Aviv where Samaritans scattered across Israel resettled together from 1954 onward; it is now home to roughly half the community and has had its own synagogue since 1963.^[8]

Numbers

Followers

c. 800 (2010s)^[6]

Britannica: population fell below 200 by the early 20th century and grew steadily to about 800 in the 2010s; the Gale Encyclopedia of Religion gives a similar trajectory (146 in the 1920s, around 500 from the 1970s).

Common misconceptions

Glossary

Bene Yisrael · בני ישראל

"Children of Israel": the name Samaritans use for themselves, asserting descent from the ancient Israelites.^[1]

Samaritan Pentateuch

The Samaritans' own version of the Torah, their sole scripture, differing from the Jewish text chiefly in passages pointing to Mount Gerizim.^[2]

Mount Gerizim

The mountain near Nablus that Samaritans hold to be God's chosen sanctuary, site of their ancient temple and of the modern Passover sacrifice.^[3]

Kutim

A name used in the Talmud for Samaritans, reflecting the ancient Jewish view that they descended from foreign settlers rather than from Israel.^[1]

Mount Zion

The Jerusalem hill Jewish tradition holds God chose as his sanctuary; Samaritans instead point to Mount Gerizim.^[3]

John Hyrcanus

The Hasmonean ruler who destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, in about 128 BCE.^[4]