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  • From: "Thomas L. Thompson" <tlt AT teol.ku.dk>
  • To: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc: ihj AT hum.ku.dk
  • Subject: SV: [b-hebrew] Samaritans
  • Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:23:39 +0100

Dear Yigal,
Well the Samaritans and their relationship to Judaism is not directly my own
field, and it has only been a relatively short time that this question has
taken up much of my time, but I will try to address your two questions, as
both of them seem to me to be quite important.

2) This is an intriguing question. I think quite possibly that Gerizim is
original to the Pentateuch. How early that is is another question that is
partially dependent on a satisfactory description of its composition. I
suspect, for instance that Genesis--or much of it--is later than, for example
Exodus-Numbers. Whether the torah is common to Palestinian literature or
whether it is adopted by Judaism is an important consideration. If it is
common in its origin to both Judaism and Samaritanism, this might suggest a
Persian period + chronology.
As for the status of Gerizim, the excavations strengthen the idea that this
may be very early indeed. How early is something we will have to wait for
patiently as--insofar as I have understood--they have not gotten down to
bedrock yet, but 6th century is early indeed--far earlier than Jerusalem's
temple.

1) I argued already in my Early History of 1992 that the populations of the
regions of Judea and Samaria should be dealt with in separate but related
histories from the Iron Age. Judaism seems to be the relatively latecomer,
when one begins to consider identification and self-identity as Jews and
Samaritans (that is, Shomronim)--a relationship of the older tradition of the
Samaritans and the younger Judaism, which has many confirmations in the
biblical traditions (see here my new book, The Messiah Myth, Basic, New York,
April, 2005). Ingrid's 2000 book on the Samaritans deals extensively--and I
think essentially correctly--with Josephus' treatment of the Samaritans as
both tendentious and distorting.

Sincerely,
Thomas

Thomas L. Thompson
Professor, University of Copenhagen



Yigal Levin wrote:

Dear Thomas,

If you are willing to share them, I would be interested to hear your
views
on the following two issues:
1. The role that the political division between Samaria and Jerusalem,
especially during the Persian Period but perhaps also during the Iron
Age,
had on the development of Judaism and Samaritanism into two distinct
groups.

2. As far as it is possible to tell from the archaeological and
textual
evidence, when do you think that Mt. Gerizim attained its status as
the
Samaritans' cultic center? Was it not only after the sack of Samaria
by
Alexander and its conversion into a Greek city? Or is there evidence
of it
having occurred earlier? Would this not then give us a date for at
least the
inclusion of Mt. Geranium into the Samaritan Pentateuch?

Thank you,

Yigal






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