Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English], from Late Latin samaritanus, noun & adjective, from [[Greek]] samaritēs inhabitant of Samaria, from Samari

[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English], from Late Latin samaritanus, noun & adjective, from [[Greek]] samaritēs inhabitant of Samaria, from Samari

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century before 12th Century]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century before 12th Century]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1: a [[native]] or inhabitant of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria Samaria]

*1: a [[native]] or inhabitant of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria Samaria]

*2: [from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan parable of the good Samaritan] in [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_10 Luke 10:30–37] : a [[person]] who is [[generous]] in helping those in distress  

*2: [from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan parable of the good Samaritan] in [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_10 Luke 10:30–37] : a [[person]] who is [[generous]] in helping those in distress  

==Description==

==Description==

The '''Samaritans''' ([[Hebrew]]: שומרונים‎ Shomronim, Arabic: السامريون‎ as-Sāmariyyūn) are an ethnoreligious [[group]] of the [[Levant]]. Religiously, they are the [[adherents]] to Samaritanism, an [[Abraham]]ic [[religion]] closely related to [[Judaism]]. Based on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan_Pentateuch Samaritan Torah], Samaritans claim their [[worship]] is the true religion of the ancient [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites Israelites] prior to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Exile Babylonian Exile], preserved by those who remained in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel Land of Israel], as [[opposed]] to [[Judaism]], which they assert is a related but altered and amended [[religion]] brought back by the [[exile]]d returnees.

The '''Samaritans''' ([[Hebrew]]: שומרונים‎ Shomronim, Arabic: السامريون‎ as-Sāmariyyūn) are an ethnoreligious [[group]] of the [[Levant]]. Religiously, they are the [[adherents]] to Samaritanism, an [[Abraham]]ic [[religion]] closely related to [[Judaism]]. Based on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan_Pentateuch Samaritan Torah], Samaritans claim their [[worship]] is the true religion of the ancient [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites Israelites] prior to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Exile Babylonian Exile], preserved by those who remained in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel Land of Israel], as [[opposed]] to [[Judaism]], which they assert is a related but altered and amended [[religion]] brought back by the [[exile]]d returnees.

Ancestrally, they claim [[descent]] from a group of Israelite inhabitants from the [[tribes]] of Joseph and Levi (another Benjamin tribe branch), who have connections to ancient Samaria from the beginning of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Exile Babylonian Exile] up to the Samaritan Kingdom of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Rabba Baba Rabba]. The Samaritans, however, derive their [[name]] not from this geographical designation, but rather from the [[Hebrew]] term Shamerim שַמֶרִים, "Keepers [of the Law]".

Ancestrally, they claim [[descent]] from a group of Israelite inhabitants from the [[tribes]] of Joseph and Levi (another Benjamin tribe branch), who have connections to ancient Samaria from the beginning of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Exile Babylonian Exile] up to the Samaritan Kingdom of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Rabba Baba Rabba]. The Samaritans, however, derive their [[name]] not from this geographical designation, but rather from the [[Hebrew]] term Shamerim שַמֶרִים, "Keepers [of the Law]".

In the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud Talmud], a central post-exilic religious [[text]] of [[Judaism]], their claim of ancestral [[origin]] is disputed, and in those [[texts]] they are called Cutheans (Hebrew: כותים‎, Kuthim), allegedly from the ancient city of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutha Cuthah] (Kutha), geographically located in what is today [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq]. Modern [[genetics]] has suggested some [[truth]] to both the claims of the Samaritans and Jewish accounts in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud Talmud].

In the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud Talmud], a central post-exilic religious [[text]] of [[Judaism]], their claim of ancestral [[origin]] is disputed, and in those [[texts]] they are called Cutheans (Hebrew: כותים‎, Kuthim), allegedly from the ancient city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutha Cuthah] (Kutha), geographically located in what is today [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq]. Modern [[genetics]] has suggested some [[truth]] to both the claims of the Samaritans and Jewish accounts in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud Talmud].

Although historically they were a large [[community]] — up to more than a million in late [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_empire Roman times], then [[gradually]] reduced to several tens of thousands up to a few centuries ago — their unprecedented demographic shrinkage has been a result of various historical [[events]], including most notably the bloody [[repression]] of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 AD) against the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine Byzantine] Christian rulers and the mass [[conversion]] to [[Islam]] in the Early Muslim period of [[Palestine]]. According to their tally, as of November 1, 2007, there were 712 Samaritans living almost exclusively in two localities, one in Kiryat Luza on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gerizim Mount Gerizim] near the city of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nablus Nablus] in the West Bank, and the other in the Israeli city of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holon Holon]. There are, however, followers of various backgrounds adhering to Samaritan [[traditions]] outside of Israel especially in the United States.

Although historically they were a large [[community]] — up to more than a million in late [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_empire Roman times], then [[gradually]] reduced to several tens of thousands up to a few centuries ago — their unprecedented demographic shrinkage has been a result of various historical [[events]], including most notably the bloody [[repression]] of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 AD) against the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine Byzantine] Christian rulers and the mass [[conversion]] to [[Islam]] in the Early Muslim period of [[Palestine]]. According to their tally, as of November 1, 2007, there were 712 Samaritans living almost exclusively in two localities, one in Kiryat Luza on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gerizim Mount Gerizim] near the city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nablus Nablus] in the West Bank, and the other in the Israeli city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holon Holon]. There are, however, followers of various backgrounds adhering to Samaritan [[traditions]] outside of Israel especially in the United States.

With the revival of [[Hebrew]] as a spoken language by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliyah Jewish immigrants] to [[Israel]], and its [[growth]] and officialization following the [[establishment]] of the [[state]], most Samaritans today speak [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language Modern Hebrew], especially in [[Israel]]. As with their counterpart [[Muslim]], [[Christian]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze Druze] and other Israeli religious [[communities]], the most recent spoken mother tongue of the Samaritans was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language Arabic], and it still is for those in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank West Bank] city of Nablus. For [[liturgical]] [[purposes]], Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic, and Samaritan Arabic are used, all of which are written in the Samaritan [[alphabet]], a variant of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Hebrew_alphabet Old Hebrew alphabet], distinct from the so-called square script "Hebrew alphabet" of Jews and Judaism, which is a stylized form of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet Aramaic alphabet]. Hebrew, and later Aramaic, were languages in use by the Israelites of Judea prior to the Roman exile, and beyond.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan]

With the revival of [[Hebrew]] as a spoken language by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliyah Jewish immigrants] to [[Israel]], and its [[growth]] and officialization following the [[establishment]] of the [[state]], most Samaritans today speak [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language Modern Hebrew], especially in [[Israel]]. As with their counterpart [[Muslim]], [[Christian]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze Druze] and other Israeli religious [[communities]], the most recent spoken mother tongue of the Samaritans was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language Arabic], and it still is for those in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank West Bank] city of Nablus. For [[liturgical]] [[purposes]], Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic, and Samaritan Arabic are used, all of which are written in the Samaritan [[alphabet]], a variant of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Hebrew_alphabet Old Hebrew alphabet], distinct from the so-called square script "Hebrew alphabet" of Jews and Judaism, which is a stylized form of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet Aramaic alphabet]. Hebrew, and later Aramaic, were languages in use by the Israelites of Judea prior to the Roman exile, and beyond.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan]

==See also==

==See also==

*'''''[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_143_-_Going_Through_Samaria#143:4._THE_JEWS_AND_THE_SAMARITANS The Jews and Samaritans]'''''

*'''''[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_143_-_Going_Through_Samaria#143:4._THE_JEWS_AND_THE_SAMARITANS The Jews and Samaritans]'''''