Unleavened Bread; one for the fifty days following Passover; one for Pentecost: one for the 1st of Tisri; one for the Day of Atonement; one for the Tabernacles; one for the first day of the year, and one for the last day of the year.
mental activity existed among the people in former ages. Of their literary' productions but little remains, owing in part to tlie destructive hand of time, but much more to the ravages they suffered during the first cen- turies of the Christian a^ra, and again under the Mo- hammedan rule. The works now known as extant may be classified under four heads, and we arrange the lists according to the Samaritan dates, including some already enumerated under Samakitan Litehatl'ke.
L Theolo(jical.—\t is to this class most belong, and the first on the list is the Torah, or Law of Moses. See Samauitan Pentateuch.
Risalal Achhor Israel, a work explaining the feasts, their object, and rnannei- of keeping ihein, by Ele.izar, a priest who is said to have lived in tlie 5th ceuinrv afier the con- quest of Palestine by the tribes. (Composed in Hebiew, of which ihere is an Arabic transhiliou.)
Sharti-h, an exposition of the book of Exodus by vari- ous authors. (Written in Hebrew, with au Arabic trans- lation. No date, but ancient.)
El- Amir, a commentary on portions of the law by Ma- raka, who flourished about tifiy years before Christ. (He- brew, with an Arabic translation.)
Shartcli, au exposition of Genesis from the beginning to ch.xxviii; the author not known, but dates from tlie 2d century of our sera. (Written in Hebrew, but, like the former, has au Arabic translation.)
El-Kaffi. This is a work discussing the doctrines con- tained in the law, written by Juseph el-Askari, A.D. 700. (Hebrew and Arabic.)
Masa'd Chdafi, a work discussing the differences be- tween the Jews and Samaritans, by Munaji Naphes ed- Din, who lived in the 12th century. (Hebrew and Arabic.) El-Mulhalal fi en-Xihahi, an explanation of the laws of marriage, by Abul-Baiakat, who lived in the 12th century. (Hebrew and Arabic.)
Kitab el-Mirath, a work on the laws and regulations of wills and testaments. (Written by the same author, iu Hebrew, with au Arabic translation.)
Sharlch, a historical exposition of the law, showing how the ancieuts observed it; written by El-Hhabr Ja- cub in the l-2th century. (In Hebiew only.)
Hharich, an exposition of the book of Exodus, by Gha- zal ed-Duik, of thelSth century. (In Hebrew and Arabic.) Sharic/i, a book explaining the blessings and cursings of the law, by Ibrahim el-Kaisi, of the 10th century. (Hebrew and Arabic.)
limalat el-Arshad, a book on the days of the month upon which the feasts weie to be held, written by Ibrahim il-Ahi, au author of the 18th century. (Hebrew and Arabic.)
.S7(f(/ ifli, an exiiosition of the whole book of Genesis, written by Musalem el-Murjam, of the last century. (Hebrew aiid Arabic.)
Sharich, an exposition of the books of Le- viticus and Numbers, by Ghazal el-Matari, wlio lived iu the last century. (Hebrew and Arabic.)
tiharlch, a work concerning the Eternal, to- gether with certain social points, princi|)ally marriage and the Sabbath, by Ghazal ibu- Ramiyahh. (Hebiew and Arabic, but with- out date.)
2. Liiurgicol. — This class comprises all the books relating to their public and pri- vate services, such as the feasts and fasts, circumci.sion, marriage, and burial. They consist of passages from the Torah, inter- spersed with prayers and poetic composi- tions, the reading of which is principally performed with a kind of cantillation ; hence the term Tarfil generally applied to these books. This class is nearly as extensive as the theological, and contains much interest- ing matter and many beautiful passages, but the works have not yet received the atten- tion they deserve. The most important are the services for the annual feasts and fasts, eleven in number — namely, one for the or- dinary Sabbaths throughout the year; one for the two Sabbaths preceding Passover;
after De
the end for protecti(
eleven inches by nine inches, and three inches in thickness. The text is divided into par- agraphs, with verses, sentences, and words separated by a single dot. W^ords are not al- lowed to be broken by the line, but, in order to fill up the line, the last letters are farther apart, unless they form the word Jehovah, which is read E/wetn. The letters are not so small as those of Abishua's roll (the oldest at Nablis), nor so large as those of the Inter roll. The hand is steady and uniform. The Decalogue is not numbered by marginal let- ters (in this respect it resembles Abishua's roll), and so, also, the paragraphs are neither numbered nor stated in either t^xt. These points seem to show the Fire-tried Manuscript to be ancient ^Conder, Tent Work in Palestine, i, 52).
SAMATUS
308
SAMLAH
All these liturgies exist only in Hebrew, as it would j be unlawful to translate them into the vulgar tongue, j They are all of ancient ilate, but the authors and coni- jjilers are unknown. See Sajiauitan Lni ik;y.
3. Historicul.^ln this class there are but few works ; these are :
Tarck. This is the Samaritan hook of Joshua, as it is geiieially called, and is pretty well known to European scbiilars since the time of Scaliger, who, in A.D. 1SS4, re- ceived a coijy from the Samaritans of Cairo, an edition <if which was brought out by Jnynboll (Leydeu, 184S), with a Latiu version and valuable annotations. It contains a brief history of themselves from the close of the Penta- teuch down to moderu times, and comprising some amount of valuable information mixed up with much that is tictitious and exaggeraied.