3. ASi/iuif/of/uc— They themselves never call it syna- gogue. Sometimes they use the Arabic term bit Al- lah, house of (iod. but the common appellation is Icin- shah, iTCSp, place of assembly ; equivalent to the Greek ffwi'nyaiy/;, and the Hebrew rCj^il n"2. At present they have but one, a small and unsii;ht]y building, but large enough for tlieir community. Its pxtrenic longtli measures thirty-seven feet five inches, with a broach li of eighteen feet. A part of tlie floor— naTncly, that of the right-hand division in the accotnpanyinLC |)lan — is raised a foot higlier than the remainini; portion. On the left- hand side is a recess some four feet square. The ceil- ing is vaulted, and from il liang two very primitive chandeliers and a small oil-lamp. In the roof is a cir- cular, dome- like window to admit light and air, the only opening besiilcs the door. The small, square re-
Plan of the present Samaritan Synagogue.
cess is the mushah, or altar, which is considered to be the most sacred spot in the building. It is here the Torah, or Law of Moses, is kept, in the form of a roll, and in this respect the mushah answers to the Jewish chel. But it has a further sacredness attached to it. During the existence of the temple on Gerizim sacri- fices were slain on the altar, but since its demolition they are considered unlawful ; therefore the musbah takes the place of the altar, and prayer that of sacrifice. Its place in the synagogue, therefore, fronts the spot whereon the temple formerly stood, so that when the worshippers, during service, look towards the sacred re- cess their faces may be turned to Mount Gerizim. A large, square veil hangs continually in front of the mus- hah, in order to screen it from the gaze of the people, as no one is permitted to enter it but the two officials. The congregation consists of males only; but in this particular the Samaritans do not stand alone, as it is common to the natives of all creeds, with the exception of the few Christian Protestants in the country. Should the females wish to be present, they are at liberty to gather outside the building in the court and listen to the service, but no more. On this point Jews and Sa- maritans agree, but not with regard to the number nec- essary to constitute a congregation. With the first there must be a minyan^. e. ten males of full age — pres- ent before the congregation is legal and the service can be read; but with the Samaritans there is no rule, but, like the Christian practice, it may be formed of any number met together to worship. Thej' never as- semijle in the synagogue during week-days except on the feasts and fasts. On the Sabbath they have three services. The first is a short one at sunset on Friday, at which time their Sabbath commences. The second is early on the following morning, and is much the longest and most important, for during this service the law is shown. The minister takes it out of the mus- hah, removes its covering, opens the silver-gilt case in which it is kept, and exliibits to the congregation that column of the text which contains Aaron's blessing (Nimib. vi, 24-27), when they step forward to kiss the sacred scroll. The last service is on Saturday after- noon a little before sunset, and consists of prayers inter- spersed with portions of the law, and arranged in one liturgy. Tlie language being all Hebrew, the peo])le understand the service but very imperfectly, the offi- cials with oni! or two others excejited. It is performed in a kind of chant or cantillation most peculiar in its character. It differs nearly as much from tlie native Arab music as from that of luiropeans, and seems to have an origin both ancient and peculiar. They have seventy difleront melodies, composed, according to their tradition, bj' the seventy elders of Israel in the time of
1. Fortress.
2. " Seven Steps of Adam out of Par- adise."
3. " Scene of the Offering of Isaac" — a trough like tliat used for the pas- chal feast.
4. " Holy Place."
5. "Joshua's Twelve Stones."
6. "Tomb of Sheik Ghninem," or *' Schechem ben-Hamor."
riun of Muuul Gerizim.
' Cave where the Tabernacle was
SAMAPJTANS, MODERN 305 SAMAPJTANS, MODERN
Moses, which they have preserved and still use on va- rious occasions.
4. /Sac7-ed iSeasons. — An important part of the Sa- maritan religion consists of the observance of certain sacred seasons. These are as follows:
(1.) The Sabbath. — Like the Jews, they reckon their days from sunset to sunset, according to the expressioii in Genesis — "And the evening and the morning were the first day." The Sabbath, therefore, as already said, commences at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. This day they keep most strictly as a day of rest, upon which ;io maimer of work is to be done, according to the words of the law in Exod. xx, 8-10. To this command they adhere most faithfidly, accepting it in its literal fulness. Unlike the Jews, they employ i\o go'im, or (ientiles, to light tlieir fires orsnuff their can- dles, but all within the gates keep the Sabbath alike. Consequently they never have any fire on that day, but scrupidously keep the command, "Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day"' (Exod. XXXV, 3). Not a lamp or a candle ever burns in their houses or in the synagogue on that day. When darkness comes on during the reading of the opening service on Friday evening, they never introduce lights, but finish the service in the dark, and remain so in their houses until they retire to rest. Their first and great idea of keeping the Sabbath holy is to remain quiet — never to go out of their dwellings except to the synagogue ; and the second is, to live more generously than on ordinary days, but the cooking is all prepared on Friday. Although they carefully abstain from all kind of work, even the most trifling actions, they keep no such guard on their language nor check on their thoughts, but feel at liberty to talk about anything and everything ; and of a higher and purer mode of sanctifying the day they have no idea.