(September 29, 2014 at 8:59 am)Chad32 Wrote: I guess that explains why the Jews didn't like the Samaritans. They disliked the Canaanites because they worshiped a pantheon that Yahweh was a lesser member of. Same deal with the Samaritans, I guess.
No. That is decidedly not the issue.
They were ALL Canaanites and all worshiped the same traditions.
Quote:At first -- so much is clear -- the Samaritans had the upper hand. Indeed, compared with Jerusalem, Mount Gerizim enjoyed significantly older rights: In the great tale of the history of the chosen people, the mountain plays a key role.
Even after crushing the northern kingdom the Gezirim Temple remained in operation - which sort of puts the lie to this Lost Ten Tribes horseshit - and remained a major player until 128 when the Judeans destroyed it.
This was a political not a religious battle. The priests who controlled the yhwh cult in Jerusalem - recently freed from Seleucid control by the Maccabaean revolt - used the military power of the state to settle the issue of where would the temple be located.
When evaluating this stuff you must totally dismiss all the bible bullshit and examine the archaeology/history.
The Southern polity (call it Judah, Yehud, or Judaea ) is an insignificant pimple on the ass of history ( Herodotus doesn't even mention it ) from the early 6th century BC sack of Jerusalem to the period from 140-90 BC when it did attain a modicum of regional power.
And the fucking priests were right there dragging their particular version of a god along with them.
