The 7th century is the period from 601 through 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era .
120-785: The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by the Islamic prophet Muhammad starting in 622. After Muhammad's death in 632, Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750). The Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century led to the downfall of the Sasanian Empire . Also conquered during
240-598: A Christian majority until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. At Mecca , Muhammad is said to have received repeated embassies from Christian tribes. Like their Byzantine and late Sasanian predecessors, the Marwanid caliphs nominally ruled the various religious communities but allowed the communities' own appointed or elected officials to administer most internal affairs. Yet the Marwanids also depended heavily on
360-430: A complete turning from an old to a totally new life. While it entailed the acceptance of new religious beliefs and membership in a new religious community, most converts retained a deep attachment to the cultures and communities from which they came." The result, he points out, can be seen in the diversity of Muslim societies today, with varying manifestations and practices of Islam. Conversion to Islam also came about as
480-472: A distinct, opportunistic ethnos and, alternatively, a Jewish sect. The Dead Sea scrolls ' Proto-Esther fragment 4Q550 has an obscure phrase about the possibility of a Kutha(ean) ( Kuti ) man returning but the reference remains obscure. 4Q372 records hopes that the northern tribes will return to the land of Joseph. The current dwellers in the north are referred to as fools, an enemy people. However, they are not referred to as foreigners. It goes on to say that
600-528: A global affiliation, the real heart of Muslim religious life remains outside politics—in local associations for worship, discussion, mutual aid, education, charity, and other communal activities. A third development is the growth and elaboration of transnational military organizations. The 1980s and 90s, with several major conflicts in the Middle East , including the Arab–Israeli conflict , Afghanistan in
720-402: A higher proportion of Muslims among the population. The Abbasids replaced the expanding empire and "tribal politics" of "the tight-knit Arabian elite with cosmopolitan culture and disciplines of Islamic science , philosophy , theology , law and mysticism became more widespread, and the gradual conversions of the empire's populations occurred. Significant conversions also occurred beyond
840-602: A large fraction of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (i.e., Samaritans) remained in Israel after the Assyrian exile. E. Mary Smallwood wrote that the Samaritans "were the survivors of the pre-Exilic northern kingdom of Israel, diluted by intermarriage with alien settlers," and that they broke away from mainstream Judaism in the 4th century BCE. Archaeologist Eric Cline takes an intermediate view. He believes only 10–20% of
960-511: A law was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire to be Muslims. Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the Arabian Peninsula into the new territories. Richard Bulliet 's "conversion curve" shows a relatively low rate of conversion of non-Arab subjects during the Arab centric Umayyad period of 10%, in contrast with estimates for the more politically-multicultural Abbasid period, which saw
1080-549: A pottery type he identifies as Mesopotamian clustering around the Menasheh lands of Samaria, that they were three waves of imported settlers. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (under "Samaritans") summarizes both past and present views on the Samaritans' origins. It says: Until the middle of the 20th century it was customary to believe that the Samaritans originated from a mixture of the people living in Samaria and other peoples at
1200-402: A result of enhanced communications, media, travel, and migration makes meaningful the concept of a single Islam practiced everywhere in similar ways, and an Islam which transcends national and ethnic customs. This does not necessarily imply political or social organizations: Global Muslim identity does not necessarily or even usually imply organized group action. Even though Muslims recognize
1320-487: A result of the breakdown of historically-religiously organized societies: with the weakening of many churches, for example, and the favouring of Islam and the migration of substantial Muslim Turkish populations into the areas of Anatolia and the Balkans, the "social and cultural relevance of Islam" were enhanced and a large number of peoples were converted. This worked better in some areas (Anatolia) and less in others (such as
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#17327726107311440-511: A return of the individual to Muslim values, communities, and dress codes, and a strengthened community. Another development is that of transnational Islam, elaborated upon by the French Islam researchers Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy . It includes a feeling of a "growing universalistic Islamic identity" as often shared by Muslim immigrants and their children who live in non-Muslim countries: The increased integration of world societies as
1560-751: A rival shrine at Shiloh , thereby preventing southern pilgrims from Judah and the territory of Benjamin from attending the shrine at Gerizim. Eli is also held to have created a duplicate of the Ark of the Covenant , which eventually made its way to the Judahite sanctuary in Jerusalem. In contrast, Jewish Orthodox tradition, based on material in the Bible, Josephus and the Talmud , dates their presence much later, to
1680-400: A similar meaning as "Islamization". 'Muslimization' has more recently also been used as a term coined to describe the overtly Muslim practices of new converts to the religion who wish to reinforce their newly acquired religious identity. Within the century of the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion during the early Muslim conquests , one of
1800-532: Is cognate with the Biblical Hebrew term Šomerim , and both terms reflect a Semitic root שמר, which means "to watch, guard". Historically, Samaritans were concentrated in Samaria . In Modern Hebrew , the Samaritans are called Shomronim (שומרונים), which also means "inhabitants of Samaria", literally, "Samaritans". In modern English, Samaritans refer to themselves as Israelite Samaritans. That
1920-511: Is not to be interpreted as signaling a precipitous schism between the Jews and Samaritans, as the Gerizim temple was far from the only Yahwistic temple outside of Judea. According to most modern scholars, the split between the Jews and Samaritans was a gradual historical process extending over several centuries rather than a single schism at a given point in time. The Macedonian Empire conquered
2040-545: Is the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world. Berber troops were used extensively by the Arabs in their conquest of Spain, which began in 711. No previous conqueror had tried to assimilate the Berbers, but the Arabs quickly converted them and enlisted their aid in further conquests. Without their help, for example, Andalusia could never have been incorporated into the Islamic state. At first only Berbers nearer
2160-423: Is the world's fastest-growing major religion . Alongside the terminology of the "spread of Islam", scholarship of the subject has also given rise to the terms "Islamization", "Islamicization", and "Islamification" ( Arabic : أسلمة , romanized : aslamah ). These terms are used concurrently with the terminology of the "spread of Islam" to refer to the process through which a society shifts towards
2280-746: The Balkans and the Indian subcontinent . The earlier period also saw the acceleration in the rate of conversions in the Muslim heartland, and in the wake of the conquests, the newly-conquered regions retained significant non-Muslim populations. That was contrast to the regions in which the boundaries of the Muslim world contracted, such as the Emirate of Sicily (Italy) and Al Andalus (Spain and Portugal), where Muslim populations were expelled or forced to Christianize in short order. The latter period of that phase
2400-500: The Balkans , often to evade the jizya tax. Similarly, Christian sources mention requests for mass conversions to Islam, such as in Cyprus , where Ottoman authorities refused, fearing economic repercussions. As of 2016, there were 1.7 billion Muslims, with one out of four people in the world being Muslim, making Islam the second-largest religion . Out of children born from 2010 to 2015, 31% were born to Muslims, and currently Islam
2520-600: The Chief Rabbinate of Israel classifies them as ethnic Jews (i.e., Israelites ). However, Rabbinic literature rejected the Samaritans' Halakhic Jewishness because they refused to renounce their belief that Mount Gerizim was the historical holy site of the Israelites. All Samaritans in both Holon and Kiryat Luza are Israeli citizens, but those in Kiryat Luza also hold Palestinian citizenship . Around
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#17327726107312640-529: The Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East . They are indigenous to Samaria , a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah that comprises the northern half of what is today referred to as the West Bank . They are adherents of Samaritanism , an Abrahamic , monotheistic , and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism . According to their tradition, the Samaritans are descended from
2760-846: The Iberian Peninsula , the 7th century was known as the Siglo de Concilios (century of councils) referring to the Councils of Toledo . Northumbria established dominance in the British Isles from Mercia , while the Lombards maintained its hold in most of Italy. In China, the Sui dynasty was replaced by the Tang dynasty , which set up its military bases from Korea to Central Asia. China began to reach its height. Silla allied itself with
2880-635: The Indian subcontinent , the Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Samanids in Persia, Timurids , and the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia significantly changed the course of history. The people of the Islamic world created numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, physicians, and philosophers , all contributing to
3000-543: The Islamic Golden Age , and the age of the Islamic gunpowder empires , resulted in Islam 's spread outwards from Mecca towards the Indian , Atlantic , and Pacific Oceans and the creation of the Muslim world . The Islamic conquests , which culminated in the Arab empire being established across three continents ( Asia , Africa , and Europe ), enriched the Muslim world, achieving the economic preconditions for
3120-568: The Khabur River and to the towns of the Medes . The king of the Assyrians then brought people from Babylon , Kutha , Avva , Hamath and Sepharvaim to place in Samaria. Because God sent lions among them to kill them, the king of the Assyrians sent one of the priests from Bethel to teach the new settlers about God's ordinances. The eventual result was that the new settlers worshipped both
3240-612: The Kitab al-Ta'rikh compiled by Abu'l-Fath in 1355. According to this, a text which Magnar Kartveit identifies as a "fictional" apologia drawn from earlier sources, including Josephus but perhaps also from ancient traditions, a civil war erupted among the Israelites when Eli, son of Yafni , the treasurer of the sons of Israel, sought to usurp the High Priesthood of Israel from the heirs of Phinehas . Gathering disciples and binding them by an oath of loyalty, he sacrificed on
3360-711: The Mediterranean Sea : Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and Venice with its eastern Mediterranean colonies. Later, the Ottoman Empire set on to conquer territories from these rivals: Cyprus and other Greek islands (except Crete ) were lost by Venice to the Ottomans, and the latter conquered territory up to the Danube basin as far as Hungary . Crete was conquered during the 17th century, but
3480-578: The Middle East , and south to Somalia by the Companions of the Prophet , most notably the Rashidun Caliphate and military advents of Khalid Bin Walid , Amr ibn al-As , and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas . The historic process of Islamization was complex and involved merging Islamic practices with local customs. This process took place over several centuries. Some scholars reject the stereotype that this process
3600-715: The Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720 BCE. The tensions continued in the post-exilic period. The Books of Kings is more inclusive than Ezra–Nehemiah since the ideal is of one Israel with twelve tribes, whereas the Books of Chronicles concentrate on the Kingdom of Judah and ignore the Kingdom of Israel . Accounts of Samaritan origins in respectively 2 Kings 17:6,24 and Chronicles , together with statements in both Ezra and Nehemiah differ in important degrees, suppressing or highlighting narrative details according to
3720-553: The Quran , which does not give much detail about the right conduct with non-Muslims, but it in principle recognises the religion of "People of the Book" (Jews, Christians and sometimes others as well) and securing a separate tax from them that replaces the zakat , which is imposed upon Muslim subjects. Ira Lapidus points towards "interwoven terms of political and economic benefits and of a sophisticated culture and religion" as appealing to
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3840-753: The Red Sea and down East Africa through settlements such as Mombasa and Zanzibar . The initial conversions were of a flexible nature. The reasons that by the end of the 10th century, a large part of the population had converted to Islam are diverse. According to the British-Lebanese historian Albert Hourani , one of the reasons may be that "Islam had become more clearly defined, and the line between Muslims and non-Muslims more sharply drawn. Muslims now lived within an elaborated system of ritual, doctrine and law clearly different from those of non-Muslims. (...) The status of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians
3960-591: The Samaritan script . According to Samaritan tradition, the position of the community's leading Samaritan High Priest has continued without interruption over the course of the last 3600 years, beginning with the Hebrew prophet Aaron . Since 2013, the 133rd Samaritan High Priest has been Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach . In censuses, Israeli law classifies the Samaritans as a distinct religious community , but
4080-680: The Somali people 's connection with Muhammad . The early Muslims fled to the port city of Zeila in modern-day Somaliland to seek protection from the Quraysh at the court of the Aksumite Emperor in present-day Ethiopia . Some of the Muslims that were granted protection are said to have then settled in several parts of the Horn region to promote the religion. The victory of the Muslims over
4200-500: The death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates , expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces expanding over vast territories and building imperial structures over time. Most of the significant expansion occurred during the reign of the rāshidūn ("rightly-guided") caliphs from 632 to 661 CE, which were the first four successors of Muhammad. These early caliphates , coupled with Muslim economics and trading ,
4320-626: The 11th century BCE and in accordance with Samaritan beliefs, he is accused of establishing a religious shrine in Shiloh in opposition to the establishment of the original shrine on Mount Gerizim. Once a large community, the Samaritan population shrank significantly in the wake of the Samaritan revolts , which were brutally suppressed by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. Their numbers were further reduced by Christianization under
4440-535: The 1980s and 2001, and the three Gulf Wars ( 1980–88 , 1990–91 , 2003–2011 ) were catalysts of a growing internationalization of local conflicts. Figures such as Osama bin Laden and Abdallah Azzam have been crucial in these developments, as much as domestic and world politics. Muslim Arab expansion in the first centuries after Muhammad's death soon established dynasties in North Africa , West Africa , to
4560-490: The 2nd century BCE, a series of events led to a revolution by a faction of Judeans against Antiochus IV. Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE): the Samaritan temple was renamed either Zeus Hellenios (willingly by the Samaritans according to Josephus) or, more likely, Zeus Xenios, (unwillingly in accord with 2 Macc. 6:2). Josephus quotes the Samaritans as saying: We therefore beseech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give order to Apollonius,
4680-701: The 2nd century BCE. Overall, the Samaritans were generally more populous and wealthier than the Judeans in Palestine, until 164 BC. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was on the throne of the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 163 BCE. His policy was to Hellenize his entire kingdom and standardize religious observance. According to 1 Maccabees 1:41-50 he proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him. In
4800-572: The 7th century were Syria , Palestine , Armenia , Egypt , and North Africa . The Byzantine Empire suffered setbacks during the rapid expansion of the Caliphate and a mass incursion of Slavs in the Balkans which reduced its territorial limits. The decisive victory at the Siege of Constantinople in the 670s led the empire to retain Asia Minor , which ensured the existence of the empire. In
4920-770: The Arab dynasty established the empire's first school, which taught the Arabic language and Islamic studies. The caliphs furthermore began the ambitious project of building mosques across the empire, many of which remain today, such as the Umayyad Mosque , in Damascus. At the end of the Umayyad period, less than 10% of the people in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Spain were Muslim. Only the Arabian Peninsula had
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5040-419: The Arabs." Only in subsequent centuries, with the development of the religious doctrine of Islam and with that the understanding of the Muslim ummah , would mass conversion take place. The new understanding by the religious and political leadership in many cases led to a weakening or breakdown of the social and religious structures of parallel religious communities such as Christians and Jews. The caliphs of
5160-452: The Assyrian deportations and replacement of the previous inhabitants by forced resettlement by other peoples but claims a different ethnic origin for the Samaritans. The Talmud accounts for a people called "Cuthim" on a number of occasions, mentioning their arrival by the hands of the Assyrians. According to 2 Kings 17:6, 24 and Josephus , the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians ( Sargon II ) to Halah , to Gozan on
5280-477: The Assyrian invasion, major cities such as Samaria and Megiddo remained largely intact, and other sites show a continuity of occupation. The Assyrians settled exiles from Babylonia, Elam, and Syria in places including Gezer , Hadid , and villages north of Shechem and Tirzah . However, even if the Assyrians deported 30,000 people, as they claimed, many would have remained in the area. Based on changes in material culture, Adam Zertal estimated that only 10% of
5400-399: The Assyrian invasion. This correlates with expectations from the fact that the Samaritans retained endogamous and biblical patrilineal marriage customs, and that they remained a genetically isolated population. According to Chronicles 36:22–23, the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great (reigned 559–530 BCE), permitted the return of the exiles to their homeland and ordered the rebuilding of
5520-454: The Balkans in which "the spread of Islam was limited by the vitality of the Christian churches".) During the Abbasid period, economic hardships, social disorder, and pressure from Muslim attackers, led to the mass conversion of Samaritans to Islam. Along with the religion of Islam, the Arabic language, Arabic numerals and Arab customs spread throughout the empire. A sense of unity grew among many though not all provinces and gradually formed
5640-615: The Byzantines and later by Islamization following the Arab conquest of the Levant . In the 12th century, the Jewish explorer and writer Benjamin of Tudela estimated that only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in Palestine and Syria . As of 2024, the Samaritan community numbers around 900 people, split between Israel (some 460 in Holon ) and the West Bank (some 380 in Kiryat Luza ). The Samaritans in Kiryat Luza speak Levantine Arabic , while those in Holon primarily speak Israeli Hebrew . For liturgy, they also use Samaritan Hebrew and Samaritan Aramaic , both of which are written in
5760-526: The Caucasus , Crimea , and the Volga ), and Southern Europe (in Spain , Portugal , and Sicily prior to re-Christianizations ). In contemporary usage, "Islamization" and its variants too can also be used with implied negative connotations to refer to the perceived imposition of an Islamist social and political system on a society with an indigenously different social and political background. The English synonym of "Muslimization", in use since before 1940 (e.g., Waverly Illustrated Dictionary ), conveys
5880-514: The Christian inhabitants to Islam. A Christian community is recorded in 1114 in Qal'a in central Algeria. There is also evidence of religious pilgrimages after 850 CE to tombs of Catholic saints outside of the city of Carthage, and evidence of religious contacts with Christians of Arab Spain. In addition, calendar reforms adopted in Europe at this time were disseminated amongst the indigenous Christians of Tunis, which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome. During
6000-547: The God of the land and their own gods from the countries from which they came. In the Chronicles , following Samaria's destruction, King Hezekiah is depicted as endeavouring to draw the Ephraimites , Zebulonites , Asherites and Manassites closer to Judah . Temple repairs at the time of Josiah were financed by money from all "the remnant of Israel" in Samaria, including from Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin. Jeremiah likewise speaks of people from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria who brought offerings of frankincense and grain to
6120-425: The Hebrew Bible, they were temporarily united under a United Monarchy , but after the death of Solomon, the kingdom split in two, the northern Kingdom of Israel with its last capital city Samaria and the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital, Jerusalem . The Deuteronomistic history , written in Judah, portrayed Israel as a sinful kingdom, divinely punished for its idolatry and iniquity by being destroyed by
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#17327726107316240-704: The Holy Sepulchre, with the tall minaret, is known as the place to which he retired for his prayer. Bishop Arculf , whose account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the seventh century, De locis sanctis , written down by the monk Adamnan, described reasonably pleasant living conditions of Christians in Palestine in the first period of Muslim rule. The caliphs of Damascus (661-750) were tolerant princes who were on generally good terms with their Christian subjects. Many Christians, such as John of Damascus , held important offices at their court. The Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad (753-1242), as long as they ruled Syria, were also tolerant to Christians. Harun Abu Jaʻfar (786-809), sent
6360-472: The Horonite , the governor of Samaria, centered around the refortification of the then-destroyed Jerusalem. Despite this political discourse, the text implies that relationships between the Jews and Samaritans were otherwise quite amicable, as intermarriage between the two seems commonplace, even to the point that the High Priest Joiada married Sanballat's daughter. Some theologians believe Nehemiah 11:3 describes other Israelite tribes returning to Judah with
6480-455: The House of YHWH. Chronicles makes no mention of an Assyrian resettlement. Yitzakh Magen argues that the version of Chronicles is perhaps closer to the historical truth and that the Assyrian settlement was unsuccessful, a notable Israelite population remained in Samaria, part of which, following the conquest of Judah, fled south and settled there as refugees. Adam Zertal dates the Assyrian onslaught at 721 BCE to 647 BCE, infers from
6600-420: The Islamic Golden Age. The Timurid Renaissance and the Islamic expansion in South and East Asia fostered cosmopolitan and eclectic Muslim cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. The Ottoman Empire, which controlled much of the Middle East and North Africa in the early modern period, also did not officially endorse mass conversions, but evidence suggests they occurred, particularly in
6720-399: The Israelite population (i.e. 40,000 Israelites) were deported to Assyria in 720 BCE. About 80,000 Israelites fled to Judah whilst between 100,000 and 230,000 Israelites remained in Samaria. The latter intermarried with the foreign settlers, thus forming the Samaritans. The religion of this remnant community is likely distorted by the account recorded in the Books of Kings, which claims that
6840-406: The Israelite population in Samaria was deported, while the number of imported settlers was likely no more than a few thousand, indicating that most Israelites continued to reside in Samaria. Gary N. Knoppers described the demography shifts in Samaria following the Assyrian conquest as: "... not the wholesale replacement of one local population by a foreign population, but rather the diminution of
6960-511: The Israelites who, unlike the Ten Lost Tribes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel , were not subject to the Assyrian captivity after the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and annexed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. Regarding the Samaritan Pentateuch as the unaltered Torah , the Samaritans view the Jews as close relatives, but claim that Judaism fundamentally alters the original Israelite religion. The most notable theological divide between Jewish and Samaritan doctrine concerns
7080-414: The Judeans. The former lived in the cities of Judah whilst the latter lived in Jerusalem. Benjamites also lived with Judeans in Jerusalem. During Achaemenid rule, material evidence suggests significant overlap between Jews and proto-Samaritans, with the two groups sharing a common language and script, eschewing the claim that the schism had taken form by this time. However, onomastic evidence suggests
7200-425: The Levant in the 330s BCE, resulting in both Samaria and Judea coming under Greek rule as the province of Coele-Syria . Samaria was by-and-large devastated by the Alexandrian conquest and subsequent colonization efforts, though its southern lands were spared the broader consequences of the invasion and continued to thrive. Matters were further complicated in 331 BCE, when the Samaritans rose up in rebellion and murdered
7320-463: The Macedonian-appointed prefect, Andromachus – resulting in a brutal reprisal by the army. Following the death of Alexander the Great , the area became part of the newly partitioned Ptolemaic Kingdom , which, in one of several wars , was eventually conquered by the neighboring Seleucid Empire . Though the temple on Mount Gerizim had existed since the 5th century BCE, evidence shows that its sacred precinct experienced an extravagant expansion during
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#17327726107317440-423: The Muslim population grow from around 40% in the mid-9th century, with almost the entire population being converted by the end of the 11th century. That theory does not explain the continuing existence of large minorities of Christians during the Abbasids. Other estimates suggest that Muslims were not a majority in Egypt until the mid-10th century and in the Fertile Crescent until 1100. What is now Syria may have had
7560-406: The Ottomans lost Hungary to the Holy Roman Empire , and other parts of Eastern Europe, which ended with the Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699. The Ottoman sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 and the caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924. Islam has continued to spread through commerce and migrations, especially in Southeast Asia, America and Europe. Modern day Islamization appears to be
7680-440: The Quraysh in the 7th century had a significant impact on local merchants and sailors, as their trading partners in Arabia had then all adopted Islam , and the major trading routes in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea came under the sway of the Muslim Caliphs . Through commerce, Islam spread amongst the Somali population in the coastal cities. Instability in the Arabian peninsula saw further migrations of early Muslim families to
7800-579: The Samaritan diaspora in Delos , dating as early as 150–50 BCE, provide the "oldest known self-designation" for Samaritans, indicating that they called themselves "Bene Israel" in Hebrew (English: "Children of Israel", i.e. literally the descendants of the biblical prophet Israel, also known as Jacob, more commonly "Israelites"). In their own language, Samaritan Hebrew , the Samaritans call themselves "Israel", "B'nai Israel", and, alternatively, Shamerim (שַמֶרִים), meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers", and in Arabic al-Sāmiriyyūn ( السامريون ). The term
7920-433: The Samaritan tradition that they are mainly descended from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who remained in Israel after the Assyrian conquest. He states that the description of them at 2 Kings 17:24 as foreigners is tendentious and intended to ostracize the Samaritans from those Israelites who returned from the Babylonian exile in 520 BCE. He further states that 2 Chronicles 30:1 could be interpreted as confirming that
8040-453: The Samaritans as the Cuthaeans. In the biblical account, however, Kuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria. The similarities between Samaritans and Jews were such that the rabbis of the Mishnah found it impossible to draw a clear distinction between the two groups. Attempts to date when the schism among Israelites took place, which engendered the division between Samaritans and Judaeans, vary greatly, from
8160-440: The Samaritans assert their distinction from the Judeans based on both race (γένος) and in customs (ἔθος). According to II Maccabees: Shortly afterwards, the Greek king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews of Israel to violate their ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as
8280-449: The Samaritans have long been disputed between their own tradition and that of the Jews. Ancestrally, Samaritans affirm that they descend from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in ancient Samaria . Samaritan tradition associates the split between them and the Judean -led southern Israelites to the time of the biblical priest Eli , described as a "false" high priest who usurped the priestly office from its occupant, Uzzi, and established
8400-435: The Samaritans mocked Jerusalem and built a temple on a high place to provoke Israel. Contemporary scholarship confirms that deportations occurred both before and after the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel in 722–720 BCE, with varying impacts across Galilee , Transjordan , and Samaria . During the earlier Assyrian invasions, Galilee and Transjordan experienced significant deportations, with entire tribes vanishing;
8520-480: The Samaritans, which he appears to use interchangeably. Among them is a reference to Khuthaioi , a designation employed to denote peoples in Media and Persia putatively sent to Samaria to replace the exiled Israelite population. These Khouthaioi were in fact Hellenistic Phoenicians/Sidonians. Samareis (Σαμαρεῖς) may refer to inhabitants of the region of Samaria, or of the city of that name, though some texts use it to refer specifically to Samaritans. The origins of
8640-491: The Somali seaboard. These clans came to serve as catalysts, forwarding the faith to large parts of the Horn region. Samaritans The Samaritans ( / s ə ˈ m ær ɪ t ən z / ; Samaritan Hebrew : ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ Šā̊merīm ; Hebrew : שומרונים Šōmrōnīm ; Arabic : السامريون as-Sāmiriyyūn ), often preferring to be called Israelite Samaritans , are an ethnoreligious group originating from
8760-678: The Tang dynasty, subjugating Baekje and defeating Goguryeo to unite the Korean Peninsula under one ruler. The Asuka period persisted in Japan throughout the 7th century. Harsha united Northern India, which had reverted to small republics and states after the fall of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century. Spread of Islam The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following
8880-626: The Temple ( Zion ). The prophet Isaiah identified Cyrus as "the L ORD 's Messiah ". As the Babylonian captivity had primarily affected the lowlands of Judea, the Samarian populations had likely avoided the casualties of the crisis of exile, and in fact, showed signs of widespread prosperity. The books of Ezra–Nehemiah detail a lengthy political struggle between Nehemiah , governor of the new Persian province of Yehud Medinata , and Sanballat
9000-476: The adoption of the client status of mawali . Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier since that deprived the provinces of revenues from the tax on non-Muslims. An enfranchisement was experienced by the mawali during the Abbasid period, and a shift was made in the political conception from that of a primarily-Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire. Around 930
9120-685: The beginning of the Babylonian captivity. In Rabbinic Judaism , for example in the Tosefta Berakhot , the Samaritans are called Cuthites or Cutheans ( Hebrew : כותים , Kutim ), referring to the ancient city of Kutha , geographically located in what is today Iraq . Josephus in both the Wars of the Jews and the Antiquities of the Jews , in writing of the destruction of the temple on Mt. Gerizim by John Hyrcanus , also refers to
9240-703: The biblical story of Moses ordering Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the mountains by Shechem ( Nablus ) and place half of the tribes, six in number, on Mount Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half on Mount Ebal , the Mount of the Curse. The narratives in Genesis about the rivalries among the 12 sons of Jacob are viewed by some as describing tensions between north and south. According to
9360-464: The capitulation in the spring of 637. Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Umar known as Umar's Assurance , allowing for the religious freedom for Christians in exchange for jizya , a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called dhimmis . Under Muslim rule, the Jewish and Christian population of Jerusalem in this period enjoyed the usual tolerance given to non-Muslim theists. Having accepted
9480-472: The chronicles, and a variety of non-Samaritan materials. According to the former, the Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and until the 17th century CE they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas. They claim to have continuously occupied their ancient territory and to have been at peace with other Israelite tribes until
9600-597: The coast were involved, but by the 11th century Muslim affiliation had begun to spread far into the Sahara and Sahel . The conventional historical view is that the conquest of North Africa by the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate between CE 647–709 effectively ended Catholicism in Africa for several centuries. However, new scholarship has appeared that provides more nuance and details of the conversion of
9720-414: The consciousness of a broadly Arab-Islamic population. What was recognizably an Islamic world had emerged by the end of the 10th century. Throughout the period, as well as in the following centuries, divisions occurred between Persians and Arabs, and Sunnis and Shias, and unrest in provinces empowered local rulers at times. The expansion of Islam continued in the wake of Turkic conquests of Asia Minor ,
9840-500: The early Hellenistic era, indicating its status as the preeminent place of Samaritan worship had begun to crystallize. By the time of Antiochus III the Great , the temple "town" had reached 30 dunams in size. The presence of a flourishing cult centered around Gerizim is documented by the sudden resurgence of Yahwistic and Hebrew names in contemporary correspondence, suggesting that the Samaritan community had officially been established by
9960-590: The emergence of this institution owing to the emphasis attached to Islamic teachings. Trade played an important role in the spread of Islam in some parts of the world, such as Indonesia. During the early centuries of Islamic rule, conversions in the Middle East were mainly individual or small-scale. While mass conversions were favored for spreading Islam beyond Muslim lands, policies within Muslim territories typically aimed for individual conversions to weaken non-Muslim communities. However, there were exceptions, like
10080-552: The existence of a distinct northern culture. Some inhabitants of Samaria during this period identified with Israelite heritage. This connection is evidenced in two ways: first, through biblical accounts of local officials' involvement with the Jerusalem Temple, and second, through naming patterns. Many names recorded in the Wadi Daliyeh documents and on Samaritan coins feature Israelite elements. Sanballat's sons bore
10200-743: The extent of the empire such as that of the Turkic tribes in Central Asia and peoples living in regions south of the Sahara and north of the Sahel in Africa through contact with Muslim traders active in the area and Sufi orders . In Africa, Islam spread along three routes, across the Sahara and Sahel via trading towns such as Timbuktu , up the Nile Valley through the Sudan up to Uganda and across
10320-648: The forced mass conversion of the Samaritans . Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Umayyads , Abbasids , Mamluks , Seljukids , and the Ayyubids were among some of the largest and most powerful in the world. The Ajuran and Adal Sultanates , and the wealthy Mali Empire , in North Africa , the Delhi , Deccan , and Bengal Sultanates , and Mughal and Durrani Empires , and Kingdom of Mysore and Nizam of Hyderabad in
10440-403: The governor of this part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of thy affairs, to give us no disturbances, nor to lay to our charge what the Jews are accused for, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs, but let our temple which at present hath no name at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius. In the letter, defended as genuine by E. Bickerman and M. Stern ,
10560-421: The help of non-Arab administrative personnel and on administrative practices (e.g., a set of government bureaus). As the conquests slowed and the isolation of the fighters ( muqatilah ) became less necessary, it became more and more difficult to keep Arabs garrisoned. As the tribal links that had so dominated Umayyad politics began to break down, the meaningfulness of tying non-Arab converts to Arab tribes as clients
10680-649: The keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne , who built a hospice for Latin pilgrims near the shrine. Rival dynasties and revolutions led to the eventual disunion of the Muslim world. In the ninth century, Palestine was conquered by the Fatimid Caliphate , whose capital was Cairo . Palestine once again became a battleground as the various enemies of the Fatimids counterattacked. At
10800-449: The local Israelite religion was perverted with the injection of foreign customs by Assyrian colonists. In reality, the surviving Samaritans continued to practice Yahwism . This explains why they did not resist Judean kings, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, imposing their religious reforms in Samaria. Magnar Kartveit argues that the people who later became known as Samaritans likely had diverse origins and lived in Samaria and other areas, and it
10920-524: The local population", which he attributed to deaths from war, disease and starvation, forced deportations, and migrations to other regions, particularly south to the Kingdom of Judah. The state-sponsored immigrants who had been forcibly brought into Samaria appear to have generally assimilated into the local population. Nevertheless, the Book of Chronicles records that King Hezekiah of Judah invited members of
11040-689: The majority until around the fourteenth century. In the initial invasion, the victorious Muslims granted religious freedom to the Christian community in Alexandria , and the Alexandrians quickly recalled their exiled Monophysite patriarch to rule over them, subject only to the ultimate political authority of the conquerors. In such a fashion the city persisted as a religious community under an Arab Muslim domination more welcome and more tolerant than that of Byzantium. (Other sources question how much
11160-656: The masses. He noted: "The question of why people convert to Islam has always generated the intense feeling. Earlier generations of European scholars believed that conversions to Islam were made at the point of the sword, and that conquered peoples were given the choice of conversion or death. It is now apparent that conversion by force, while not unknown in Muslim countries, was, in fact, rare. Muslim conquerors ordinarily wished to dominate rather than convert, and most conversions to Islam were voluntary. (...) In most cases, worldly and spiritual motives for conversion blended together. Moreover, conversion to Islam did not necessarily imply
11280-689: The meaning of their name signifies Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/ Samaritan Pentateuch ] , rather than being a toponym referring to the inhabitants of the region of Samaria, was remarked on by a number of Christian Church fathers, including Epiphanius of Salamis in the Panarion , Jerome and Eusebius in the Chronicon , and Origen in The Commentary on Saint John's Gospel. Josephus uses several terms for
11400-584: The most significant empires in world history was formed. For the subjects of the empire, formerly of the Byzantine and the Sasanian Empires, not much changed in practice. The objective of the conquests was mostly of a practical nature, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arabian Peninsula. A real Islamization therefore came about only during the subsequent centuries. Ira M. Lapidus distinguishes between two separate strands of converts of
11520-573: The native population welcomed the conquering Muslims.) Byzantine rule was ended by the Arabs, who invaded Tunisia from 647 to 648 and Morocco in 682 in the course of their drive to expand the power of Islam. In 670, the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi established the city of Kairouan (in Tunisia) and its Great Mosque also known as the Mosque of Uqba; the Great Mosque of Kairouan
11640-535: The reign of Umar II , the then governor of Africa, Ismail ibn Abdullah, was said to have won the Berbers to Islam by his just administration, and other early notable missionaries include Abdallah ibn Yasin who started a movement which caused thousands of Berbers to accept Islam. The history of commercial and intellectual contact between the inhabitants of the Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula may help explain
11760-878: The religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim . Societal Islamization has historically occurred over the course of many centuries since the spread of Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula through the early Muslim conquests , with notable shifts occurring in the Levant , Iran , North Africa , the Horn of Africa , West Africa , Central Asia , South Asia (in Afghanistan , Maldives , Pakistan , and Bangladesh ), Southeast Asia (in Malaysia , Brunei , and Indonesia ), Southeastern Europe (in Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Kosovo , among others), Eastern Europe (in
11880-412: The religious and spiritual reasons that individuals may have had, conversion to Islam "represented the response of a tribal, pastoral population to the need for a larger framework for political and economic integration, a more stable state, and a more imaginative and encompassing moral vision to cope with the problems of a tumultuous society." In contrast, for tribal, nomadic, monotheistic societies, "Islam
12000-681: The same time, the Byzantines continued to attempt to regain their lost territories, including Jerusalem. Christians in Jerusalem who sided with the Byzantines were put to death for high treason by the ruling Shiʻi Muslims. In 969, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, John VII, was put to death for treasonous correspondence with the Byzantines. As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted and churches destroyed. The Sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , 996–1021, who
12120-463: The stone altar, without using salt, a rite which made the then High Priest Ozzi rebuke and disown him. Eli and his acolytes revolted and shifted to Shiloh , where he built an alternative Temple and an altar, a perfect replica of the original on Mt. Gerizim. Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas had intercourse with women and feasted on the meats of the sacrifice, inside the Tabernacle . Thereafter Israel
12240-512: The surrender, Omar then entered Jerusalem with Sophronius "and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities". When the hour for his prayer came, Omar was in the Anastasis church, but refused to pray there, lest in the future Muslims should use that as an excuse to break the treaty and confiscate the church. The Mosque of Umar , opposite the doors of the Church of
12360-463: The theophoric Israelite names Delaiah and Shelemiah, while the name "Jeroboam", used by northern Israelite kings during the monarchic period, also appears on Samaritan coins. The archaeological evidence can find no sign of habitation in the Assyrian and Babylonian periods at Mount Gerizim, but indicates the existence of a sacred precinct on the site in the Persian period, by the 5th century BCE. This
12480-542: The time of Ezra down to the destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE). The emergence of a distinctive Samaritan identity, the outcome of a mutual estrangement between them and Jews, was something that developed over several centuries. Generally, a decisive rupture is believed to have taken place in the Hasmonean period . The Samaritan traditions of their history are contained in
12600-562: The time of the conquest of Samaria by Assyria (722–721 BCE). The biblical account in II Kings 17 had long been the decisive source for the formulation of historical accounts of Samaritan origins. Reconsideration of this passage, however, has led to more attention being paid to the Chronicles of the Samaritans themselves. With the publication of Chronicle II (Sefer ha-Yamim), the fullest Samaritan version of their own history became available:
12720-496: The time when Eli disrupted the Northern cult by moving from Shechem to Shiloh and attracting some northern Israelites to his new followers there. For the Samaritans, this was the "schism" par excellence. Furthermore, to this day the Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Joseph. Josephus, a key source, has long been considered a prejudiced witness hostile to the Samaritans. He displays an ambiguous attitude, calling them both
12840-741: The time: animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent and the native Christians and Jews existing before the Muslims arrived. The empire spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Aral Sea , from the Atlas Mountains to the Hindu Kush . It was bounded mostly by "a combination of natural barriers and well-organized states". For the polytheistic and pagan societies, apart from
12960-454: The tribes of Ephraim , Zebulun , Asher , Issachar and Manasseh to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover after the destruction of Israel. In light of this, it has been suggested that the bulk of those who survived the Assyrian invasions remained in the region. Per this interpretation, the Samaritan community of today is thought to be predominantly descended from those who remained. The Israeli biblical scholar Shemaryahu Talmon has supported
13080-457: The tribes of Reuben , Gad , Dan , and Naphtali are never again mentioned. Archaeological evidence from these regions shows that a large depopulation process took place there in the late 8th century BCE, with numerous sites being destroyed, abandoned, or feature a long occupation gap. In contrast, archaeological findings from Samaria—a larger and more populated area—suggest a more mixed picture. While some sites were destroyed or abandoned during
13200-489: The various intentions of their authors. The emergence of the Samaritans as an ethnic and religious community distinct from other Levant peoples appears to have occurred at some point after the Assyrian conquest of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel in approximately 721 BCE. The annals of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the former kingdom. Jewish tradition affirms
13320-583: The world's holiest site, which the Jews believe is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and which Samaritans believe is Mount Gerizim near modern Nablus and ancient Shechem . Both Jews and Samaritans assert that the Binding of Isaac occurred at their respective holy sites, identifying them as Moriah . The Samaritans attribute their schism with the Jews to Eli , who was a High Priest of Israel around
13440-512: The world, there are also significant and growing numbers of communities, families, and individuals who, despite the fact that they are not part of the Samaritan community, identify with and observe the tenets and traditions of the Samaritans' ethnic religion. The largest community outside the Levant, the "Shomrey HaTorah" of Brazil (generally known as neo-Samaritans worldwide), has approximately 3,000 members as of February 2020 . Inscriptions from
13560-629: Was believed to be "God made manifest" by his most zealous Shiʻi followers, now known as the Druze , destroyed the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. This powerful provocation helped ignite the flame of fury that led to the First Crusade . The dynasty was later overtaken by Saladin of the Ayyubid dynasty . In Egypt conversion to Islam was initially considerably slower than in other areas such as Mesopotamia or Khurasan, with Muslims not thought to have become
13680-786: Was diluted; moreover, the number of non-Muslims who wished to join the ummah was already becoming too large for this process to work effectively. The Siege of Jerusalem (636–637) by the forces of the Rashid Caliph Umar against the Byzantines began in November 636. For four months, the siege continued. Ultimately, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem , Sophronius , an ethnic Arab, agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Umar in person. The caliph, then in Medina , agreed to these terms and travelled to Jerusalem to sign
13800-526: Was initially "spread by the sword" or forced conversions. There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as responsible for setting up the "dhimmah" to increase taxes from the dhimmis to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and to discourage conversion. Islam was initially associated with the Arabs' ethnic identity and required formal association with an Arab tribe and
13920-591: Was marked by the Mongol invasion (particularly the Siege of Baghdad in 1258) and, after an initial period of persecution, the conversion of those conquerors to Islam. The Ottoman Empire defended its frontiers initially against threats from several sides: the Safavids in the east, the Byzantine Empire in the north until it vanished with the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and the great Catholic powers from
14040-521: Was more precisely defined, and in some ways it was inferior. They were regarded as the 'People of the Book', those who possessed a revealed scripture, or 'People of the Covenant', with whom compacts of protection had been made. In general, they were not forced to convert , but they suffered from restrictions. They paid a special tax ; they were not supposed to wear certain colors; they could not marry Muslim women ;." Most of those laws were elaborations of basic laws concerning non-Muslims ( dhimmis ) in
14160-439: Was split into three factions: the original Mt. Gerizim community of loyalists, the breakaway group under Eli, and heretics worshipping idols associated with the latter's sons. Judaism emerged later with those who followed the example of Eli. Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of the Israelites from the time that Joshua conquered Canaan and the tribes of Israel settled the land. The reference to Mount Gerizim derives from
14280-423: Was substituted for a Byzantine or Sassanian political identity and for a Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian religious affiliation." Conversion initially was neither required nor necessarily wished for: "(The Arab conquerors) did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset, they were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of
14400-509: Was the temple project on Mount Gerizim that provided the unifying characteristic that allows them to be identified as Samaritans. Modern genetic studies support the Samaritan narrative that they descend from indigenous Israelites. Shen et al. (2004) formerly speculated that outmarriage with foreign women may have taken place. Most recently the same group came up with genetic evidence that Samaritans are closely linked to Cohanim , and therefore can be traced back to an Israelite population prior to
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