Knowra Samaritanism Samaritanism Samaritanism is the monotheistic religion of the Samaritans, centered on the Samaritan Torah and worship at Mount Gerizim. It preserves a distinct Israelite tradition alongside Judaism.
Samaritan Torah : The Samaritan community’s authoritative version of the Five Books of Moses, preserved in a distinct textual tradition. It is Samaritanism’s central scripture and grounds its religious law and claims about sacred history.
Kingdom of Israel : The ancient Israelite kingdom in the northern Levant, distinct from the southern kingdom of Judah. Samaritan tradition locates its religious ancestry in the northern Israelite community.
Samaritan Passover : The Samaritan observance of Passover, including a communal sacrifice of lambs on Mount Gerizim. Its continuing sacrifice makes Samaritan ritual practice visibly distinct from Jewish Passover.
Rabbinic Judaism : The form of Judaism shaped by rabbinic interpretation of the Torah and the Talmud. It recognizes Jerusalem, rather than Mount Gerizim, as the central sacred site.
Mount Gerizim : A mountain near Nablus revered by Samaritans as the chosen place of Israelite worship. Samaritan worship and sacred history center on this mountain rather than Jerusalem.
Samaritan–Jewish schism : The historical separation between Samaritan and Jewish communities, involving disputes over ancestry, scripture, and sacred worship. It explains why the two traditions recognize overlapping scripture but different holy centers.
Samaritan high priest : The hereditary religious leader of the Samaritan community, traditionally tracing succession to Aaron. The high priest leads worship and preserves communal religious authority.
Masoretic Text : The authoritative medieval Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible, transmitted with vowel signs and reading notes. Its readings differ from the Samaritan Pentateuch, especially in passages about Mount Gerizim.
Samaritans : An ethnoreligious community that preserves an Israelite tradition and practices Samaritanism. The community’s identity and continuity are inseparable from the religion’s history.
Assyrian captivity : The deportation of populations from the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the eighth century BCE. Jewish accounts used these deportations to explain Samaritan origins, while Samaritans contest that account.
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