Nablus - Samaritan quarter

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1m/2,891ft), which rises on one side of Nablus; on the other is Mount Eval (the Biblical Ebal; 940m/3,084ft).

Moses instructed the Israelites to "put the blessing upon mount Gerizim and the curse upon mount Ebal" (Deuteronomy 11,29). When they came into the Promised Land Joshua set up an altar on Mount Ebal (Joshua 8,30). In 168 B.C. the Samaritan shrine which had stood on Mount Gerizim since 350 B.C. was converted by the Hellenising Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV into a temple of Zeus. This was destroyed in 128 B.C. by the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus I, who desired to incorporate the Samaritans into his kingdom. The Samaritans were also persecuted under Pontius Pilate (A.D. 26-36), Vespasian and the Roman Emperors from Hadrian to Justinian II. In 486 their temple on Mount Gerizim was again destroyed by the Emperor Zeno and replaced by a Christian church.

In spite of their continuing persecution the Samaritans have survived to this day, though in very small numbers. They celebrate the Passover annually on the summit of Mount Gerizim, slaughtering seven lambs in precise accordance with the Mosaic prescriptions (Exodus 12,5-11).