The Samaritan schism.

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Ben C. Smith
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The Samaritan schism.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

What is our earliest hard evidence for the (approximate) date of the Samaritan schism (that is, the definitive divide between Samarians/Samaritans and Judeans/Jews)? Are there any indications in the Wadi Daliyeh papyri or the Elephantine papyri? Anything epigraphic? ...?

Relatedly, are we certain there actually should be a single, solid date for the schism? Is it possible the separation was gradual, over the course of generations of incrementally diverging praxis and culture?

Ben.
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andrewcriddle
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

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Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sira) chapter 50 says
25 There are two nations that my soul detests, the third is not a nation at all:

26 the inhabitants of Mount Seir, the Philistines, and the stupid people living at Shechem.
This probably dates from a little before 150 BCE

The stupid people living at Shechem are generally regarded as the Samaritans.

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Re: The Samaritan schism.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

Thanks, Andrew. Is that the earliest?
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

Post by andrewcriddle »

Ben C. Smith wrote:Thanks, Andrew. Is that the earliest?
It is probably the earliest surviving reference.

There are 2nd century BCE Samaritan inscriptions from Delos
The Samaritans

Andrew Criddle

Edited to Add

c 100 BCE 2 Maccabees 6:2 says concerning the persecution by Antiochus
The temple on Mount Gerizim was to be officially named

Temple of Zeus the God of Hospitality, as the people who lived there had requested.
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

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sedakab at yahoo.com

one stop shopping

http://www.israelite-samaritans.com/benyamim-tsedaka/
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

andrewcriddle wrote:
Ben C. Smith wrote:Thanks, Andrew. Is that the earliest?
It is probably the earliest surviving reference.

There are 2nd century BCE Samaritan inscriptions from Delos
The Samaritans
Thanks.
Edited to Add

c 100 BCE 2 Maccabees 6:2 says concerning the persecution by Antiochus
The temple on Mount Gerizim was to be officially named

Temple of Zeus the God of Hospitality, as the people who lived there had requested.
Zeus Xenios, yes, while the Jerusalem Temple was dedicated to Zeus Olympus, I think.
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

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Is there any archaeological evidence for a temple on Mount Gerizim?
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

Post by Ben C. Smith »

lsayre wrote:Is there any archaeological evidence for a temple on Mount Gerizim?
Mount Gerizim:

As a result of the fortified church and previous Samaritan temple, extensive ruins still exist at the somewhat plateau-like top of Gerizim. The line of the wall around the church can easily be seen, as can portions of the former castle, and initial archaeological study of the site postulated that the castle built by Justinian had utilised stones from an earlier structure on the site (probably the Samaritan temple). In the centre of the plateau is a smooth surface, containing a hollow, which archaeologists consider to be reminiscent of dolmens found in southwestern Syria, and which Samaritans consider to be a portion of their former temple.

A more substantial archaeological survey was undertaken in the middle of the 20th century, while the site was in the possession of Jordan, in the region of the mountain known as Tel el-Ras, situated on the northernmost peak at the end of the northern ridge. This excavation, which continued under Israel's jurisdiction, uncovered Corinthian columns, a large rectangular platform (65m by 44m) surrounded by 2m thick and 9m high walls, and an 8m wide staircase leading down from the platform to a marbled esplanade. The complex also has a series of cisterns in which Late Roman ceramics were found. These discoveries, now named "Structure A", have been dated to the time of Hadrian, due to numismatics and external literary evidence, and are believed to be a temple dedicated to Zeus.

Underneath these remains were found a large stone structure built on top of the bedrock. This structure, now known as "Structure B", nearly half cubic (21m by 20m in width and length, and 8.5m high), consists almost entirely of unhewn limestone slabs, fitted together without any binding material, and has no internal rooms or dividing walls. The structure was surrounded by a courtyard similar to the platform above it (being 60m by 40m in size with 1.5m thick walls), and was dated to during or before the Hellenic era by ceramics found in a cistern cut into the bedrock at the northern side. The excavating archaeologist considered "Structure B" to be the altar built by the Samaritans in the 5th or 6th century BCE.

Timothy Scott Wardle, Continuity and Discontinuity: The Temple and Early Christian Identity, pages 163-164:

In addition, two inscriptions from Delos reveal that it was the custom of the Samaritans residing there to send offerings to Mount Gerizim. While the dating of these inscriptions is not very precise, with one dating from 150-50 B.C.E. and the other from 250-175 B.C.E, these inscriptions at least confirm the evidence of a temple on Mount Gerizim in the early to mid-second century.

There follows a discussion of the archaeological evidence for the Gerizim Temple.

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Re: The Samaritan schism.

Post by Secret Alias »

It was a Jewish schism from Gerizim hence the sanctity of Gerizim is reflected in the DSS and more importantly the Pentateuch narrative is mostly set in the environ of Shechem. People don't even notice for some reason that Jerusalem isn't even referenced in this supposedly "Jewish" book!
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Re: The Samaritan schism.

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