Among The Samaritans

The Samaritans, who properly refer to themselves as the Israelites, are most familiar to the wider public as a monotheistic community distinct from the Jews and mentioned in the New Testament. Yet they have managed to survive till the present day, with the community that once had millions of members now numbering less than 1000 people and mainly divided between the village of Kiryat Luza in the West Bank (located next to Samaritan holy site of Mount Gerizim) and Holon that lies within Israel’s 1948 territory.

The Samaritans of Kiryat Luza, who moved there from the Palestinian city of Nablus following the outbreak of the First Intifada, occupy a limbo position. They hold identity documents from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and can freely move between the territories controlled by the Israel and Palestinian Authority: a privilege in comparison with both Israeli Jews and Palestinians. The main entrance into the village via Nablus is manned by the Israel Defence Forces. In the village itself, it becomes readily apparent that Palestinian Arabic is the primary language of communication among the Samaritans, but there is also a general working knowledge of Israeli Hebrew.

Package delivery business in Kiryat Luza.

Scene from Kiryat Luza. While the building sign reads “Samaritan Building Center,” the Arabic reads: “Centre of the sect and guest house.” The Hebrew reads: “Visitors’ centre.”

Together with a friend, I had the fortune of being able to visit Kiryat Luza. We were given a tour of the Samaritan Museum by Husni Wasif al-Samari, a Samaritan priest who set up the museum. The two-floor museum (top-floor and basement floor) features some old Samaritan manuscripts (including one pertaining to astronomy), illustrated depictions of Samaritan history, a Samaritan genealogy beginning from Adam until Moses, a list of Samaritan high priests, a Samaritan Torah (which is mostly identical to the Jewish Torah, though it is written in an alphabet that the Samaritans say properly reflects the ancient Hebrew alphabet and features a commandment to construct an altar on Mount Gerizim) and some miscellaneous artefacts connected to Samaritan history.