Nablus in the context of "Paleo-Hebrew alphabet"

Samaritanism (Hebrew: הַדָּת הַשּׁוֹמְרוֹנִית‎; Arabic: السامرية) is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people, who originate from the Hebrews and Israelites and began to emerge as a relatively distinct group after the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the Iron Age. Central to the faith is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe is the original and unchanged version of the Torah.

Although it developed alongside and is closely related to Judaism, Samaritanism asserts itself as the truly preserved form of the monotheistic faith that the Israelites adopted under Moses. Samaritan belief also holds that the Israelites' original holy site was Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, and that Jerusalem only attained importance under Israelite dissenters who had followed Eli to the city of Shiloh; the Israelites who remained at Mount Gerizim would become the Samaritans in the Kingdom of Israel, whereas the Israelites who left would become the Jews in the Kingdom of Judah. Mount Gerizim is likewise revered by Samaritans as the location where the Binding of Isaac took place, in contrast to the Jewish belief that it occurred at Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

Shechem (/ʃəˈkɛm/ shə-KEM; Biblical Hebrew: שְׁכֶם, romanized: Šəḵem, Biblical pronunciation: [ʃəˈxɛm]; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠬࠥࠊࠝࠌ, romanized: Šăkēm), also spelled Sichem (/sɪˈkɛm/ sik-KEM; in the Septuagint, Koine Greek: Συχέμ, romanized: Sykhém) and other variants, was an ancient city in the Southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) following the split of the United Monarchy. According to Joshua 21:20–21, it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel. The city later regained its importance as a prominent Samaritan center of Hellenistic Palestine.

Traditionally associated with the city of Nablus, Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata village in the West Bank, Palestine.

The Samaritan Pentateuch, also called the Samaritan Torah (Samaritan Hebrew: ‮ࠕࠦ‎‎‬ࠅࠓࠡࠄ‎, Tūrā), is the sacred scripture of the Samaritans. Written in the Samaritan script, it dates back to one of the ancient versions of the Torah that existed during the Second Temple period. It constitutes the entire biblical canon in Samaritanism.

Some 6,000 differences exist between the Samaritan and the Jewish Masoretic Text. Most are minor variations in the spelling of words or grammatical constructions, but others involve significant semantic changes, such as the uniquely Samaritan commandment to construct an altar on Mount Gerizim. Nearly 2,000 of these textual variations agree with the Koine Greek Septuagint, and some are shared with the Latin Vulgate. Throughout their history, Samaritans have used translations of the Samaritan Pentateuch into Aramaic, Greek, and Arabic, as well as liturgical and exegetical works based upon it.

The Yishuv (Hebrew: ישוב, lit. 'settlement'), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (Hebrew: הישוב העברי, lit. 'the Hebrew settlement'), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el (lit. 'the Jewish Settlement in the Land of Israel') was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 25,000 Jews living in that region, and continued to be used until 1948, by which time there were some 630,000 Jews there. The term is still in use to denote the pre-1948 Jewish residents in Palestine, corresponding to the southern part of Ottoman Syria until 1918, OETA South in 1917–1920, and Mandatory Palestine in 1920–1948.

A distinction is sometimes drawn between the Old Yishuv and the New Yishuv. The Old Yishuv refers to all the Jews living in Palestine before the first Zionist immigration wave (aliyah) of 1882, and to their descendants until 1948. The Old Yishuv residents were religious Jews, living mainly in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron. There were smaller communities in Jaffa, Haifa, Peki'in, Acre, Nablus, Shfaram, and until 1799 in Gaza. In the final centuries before modern Zionism, a large part of the Old Yishuv spent their time studying the Torah and lived off charity (halukka), donated by Jews in the Diaspora.

Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (Arabic: البيرة; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the central ridge running through the West Bank and is 860 meters (2,820 ft) above sea level, covering an area of 22.4 square kilometers (8.6 sq mi). Al-Bireh is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority (as part of Area A).

Bireh has been associated with several ancient sites. Because of its location Al-Bireh served as an economic crossroad between the north and south, along the caravan route between Jerusalem and Nablus. Under Crusader rule, it was one of the fief villages of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was captured and destroyed by Saladin, but it was rebuilt during the Ayyubid period. Throughout the Ottoman era, it was a predominantly Muslim village. Following the British Mandate, its population grew. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it came under Jordanian rule until the Six-Day War in 1967, when it was occupied by Israel.

Mount Gerizim (/ˈɡɛrɪzɪm/ GHERR-iz-im; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠄࠟࠓࠬࠂࠟࠓࠩࠆࠝࠉࠌ, romanized: ʾĀ̊rgā̊rīzem; Hebrew: הַר גְּרִזִים, romanized: Har Gərīzīm; Arabic: جَبَل جَرِزِيم, romanized: Jabal Jarizīm, or جَبَلُ ٱلطُّورِ, Jabal at-Ṭūr) is one of two mountains near the Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem, located in the north of Palestine’s West Bank. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal. The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 881 m (2,890 ft) above sea level, 70 m (230 ft) lower than Mount Ebal. The mountain is particularly steep on the northern side, is sparsely covered at the top with shrubbery, and lower down there is a spring with a high yield of fresh water. The mountain is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where, upon first entering the Promised Land after the Exodus, the Israelites performed ceremonies of blessings, as they had been instructed by Moses.

In Samaritan tradition, it is the oldest and most central mountain in the world, towering above the Great Flood and providing the first land for Noah’s disembarkation. Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim is the location where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. Jews, on the other hand, consider the location of the near-sacrifice to be Mount Moriah. Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount, as the location chosen by God for a holy temple. A Samaritan Temple was located on Mount Gerizim from the 5th century BCE until it was destroyed in the 2nd century BCE. Mount Gerizim continues to be the centre of Samaritan religion, and Samaritans ascend it three times a year: at Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Tirzah (Hebrew: תִּרְצָה) was an ancient town in the Samarian highlands northeast of Shechem; it is generally identified with the site of Tell el-Far'ah (North), northeast of modern city of Nablus, West Bank, in the immediate vicinity of the Palestinian village of Wadi al-Far'a.

Tell Balata (Arabic: تل بلاطة) is an archaeological site in the West Bank near Nablus, Palestine, that includes the remains of an ancient Canaanite city, associated since 1913 with the Biblical city of Shechem. The built-up area of Balata, a Palestinian village and suburb of Nablus, covers about one-third of the tell, and overlooks a vast plain to the east. The Palestinian village of Salim is located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) to the east.

The site is listed by UNESCO as part of the Inventory of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites of Potential Outstanding Universal Value in the State of Palestine. Experts estimate that the towers and buildings at the site date back 5,000 years to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages.