The claims of the Bible of massive almost complete resettlement of non-Israelites in Israel and deportations of Israelites, and the claims by later Jews that the Samaritans represent these "non-Israelites"
are problematic and are a different issue for history. Based on
language, scripts, their version of the Torah, and other factors,
I think the "split" between Samaritans and Jews is usually dated
to the 2nd century BCE. I have considered it interesting that it
is about this time that various elements of Rabbinic Judaism
appear to develop in the Jewish community so it could be
considered less of a "split" and more of a divergence of two sects
from one common unified community.
As for the script, the alphabetic script began as Phoenician,
and it quickly diverged into three main lines - Aramaic, Hebrew,
and Phoenician. The script used in both the North (Israel) and
the South (Judea) was the Hebrew script. ...
... The Samaritans, believing
they are the real descendants of the Israelites, kept the Hebrew
script. ... The earliest Samaritan script is from a probable 1st
century inscription that does not differ from other inscriptions of
the First Revolt. The special characteristics of the Samaritan
script appear only from the 3rd century onwards. This is why
Albright suggested to date the Samaritan split to the 1st century
BCE when Samaria and Shekhem were conquered by the Jews.
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