search
Samaritans
Samaritans take part in the traditional Passover sacrifice at Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on April 18, 2019. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
April 19, 2019, 9:32 am
Tiny Samaritan community marks Passover sacrifice as numbers grow
Biblical ritual held annually at West Bank mountaintop ceremonial ground provides participants young and old with hope for future of ancient community
By Mike Smith
Preservation work on the 1,600-year-old inscription and wine press unearthed at the home of a wealthy Samaritan in Tzur Natan. (Galeb Abu Diab/Israel Antiquities Authority)

February 27, 2019, 1:27 pm
5th century Greek inscription found at site of ancient Samaritan rebellion
Rare mosaic attests to the 1,600-year-old holdings of wealthy landowner ‘Master Adios’ in the heartland of a Samaria at war with the encroaching Christian empire
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Samaritan people pray during a pilgrimage marking the holiday of Passover at Mount Gerizim on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, May 11, 2012. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/File)
September 30, 2018, 1:57 am
Samaritans view part of ancient Torah scroll stolen from them in 1995
Parchment found during a routine customs check of a backpacker seeking to exit Israel to Jordan through the Allenby Crossing
By JTA
Samaritans take part in the traditional Passover sacrifice ceremony, where sheep and goats are slaughtered, at Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on April 29, 2018. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
April 30, 2018, 5:32 am
West Bank neighbors flock to Mt. Gerizim for Samaritan Passover sheep slaughter
Both Israeli and Palestinian community leaders in attendance, demonstrating storied religious minority’s successful ability to straddle political divide
By Jacob Magid
Samaritan people pray during a pilgrimage marking the holiday of Passover at Mount Gerizim on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, May 11, 2012. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/File)
From the WebApril 29, 2018, 10:15 pm
Who stole the Torahs?
NPR report details years-long quest by Samaritan community to locate holy books stolen from their synagogue
Samaritan worshipers pray on top of Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus as they celebrate the Shavuot festival at dawn, on June 4, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH)
June 5, 2017, 1:55 am
Atop holy mount, Samaritans mark biblical festival of Shavuot
Tiny community makes pilgrimage to West Bank’s Mount Gerizim for seven day celebration of anniversary of receiving the Torah
By TOI staff
Sofi and the Baladis, an ensemble making music with Samaritan, Arabic and Israeli roots, will perform Sunday, March 19, 2017 at Tel Aviv's Papaito (Courtesy Sofi and the Baladis)
March 16, 2017, 9:32 pm
A former Samaritan faces the music of her complicated roots
Israeli actress and musician Sofi Tsedaka takes to the stage to reckon with her upbringing, and her decision to decamp from the ancient sect
By Jessica Steinberg
This undated photo provided by Heritage Auctions, HA.com shows the world's earliest-known stone inscription of the Ten Commandments – a two-foot square slab of white marble, weighing about 115 pounds and inscribed in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan, that sold for $850,000 Wednesday evening, Nov. 16, 2016, (Matt Roppolo/Heritage Auctions, HA.com via AP)
November 17, 2016, 4:47 pm
World’s oldest Ten Commandments sold for $850,000
115-pound tablet is inscribed in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan; the buyer must display it in a museum
By AP
Illustrative: The Samaritan high priest, Abdullah Wassef Tawfiq, stands with his brother Husney Cohen inside his living room with a home-made 'sukkah' made from fresh fruit for the holiday of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, in Mount Gerizim near the West Bank town of Nablus, on October 18, 2016. (Dov Lieber / Times of Israel)
October 19, 2016, 7:43 pm
Inside the Samaritan high priest’s fruity sukkah, literally
While Jews use holiday to spend time outdoors, this ancient Israeli community, now numbering just 750, builds its festive huts indoors, and not out of wood, but fruit
By Dov Lieber and Iacopo Luzi
Akram Rajoub, who said on April 26, 2016, that he had been fired from the post of governor of Nablus by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. (Screenshot: YouTube)
April 27, 2016, 1:16 pm
Abbas sacks Nablus governor, reportedly over public criticism
Some Palestinian outlets also speculate that Akram Rajoub was fired for walking out of Samaritan Passover Seder after settlers arrived
By Dov Lieber
Load More