Samaritanism

Samaritanism is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that originated from the Hebrews and Israelites and emerged as a distinct group after the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people and central to the faith is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe is the original and unchanged version of the Torah. Samaritanism asserts itself as the truly preserved form of the monotheistic faith adopted by the Israelites under Moses, with Mount Gerizim being the true location of God's Holy Place and the location where the Binding of Isaac took place. The Samaritan people have a history that dates back to the period soon after the Israelites' entry into the Promised Land, with Samaritan historiography tracing the schism to High Priest Eli leaving Mount Gerizim and building a competing altar in nearby Shiloh. Modern genetic studies suggest that Samaritans' lineages trace back to a common ancestor with Jews in the paternally-inherited Jewish high priesthood temporally proximate to the period of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel, and are probably descendants of the historical Israelite population.learn more on wikipedia