Samaritans

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Samaritans (; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ, romanized: Šā̊merīm; Hebrew: שומרונים, romanized: Šomronim; Arabic: السامريون, romanized: as-Sāmiriyyūn), often preferring to be called Israelite Samaritans, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah. They are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism. The Samaritans identify as descendants of the Israelite tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and the priestly tribe of Levi. They maintain that they represent the most authentic continuation of the Mosaic covenant. In contemporary scholarship, the Samaritan community is generally understood to have emerged in Samaria from populations associated with the former northern Kingdom of Israel, alongside populations of Mesopotamian origin, with its distinctive identity taking shape during the Persian and Hellenistic...

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