The Samaritan village on Mount Grizim recently opened a new museum that showcases the history and culture of this unique community. Now numbering just 740 people the Samaritan community has withstood millennia of invasions, forced conversions and dispersal.

Samaritan Temple on Mount Grizim

Part of the ancient Israelite tribes, the Samaritans built their temple on Mount Grizim when King Solomon in Judea was building the temple in Jerusalem. This theological split has separated them from the Jews ever since, However they still revere the five books of Moses, and read their scrolls in the ancient Hebrew script.

Mount Grizim is a mountain next to Nablus and the Samaritans once numbered millions in the region. The modern status is unique. They were granted Israeli citizenship after the conquest of the West Bank in 1967, continue to hold Jordanian citizenship, and also hold ID cards from the Palestinian Authority.

Priest Husney Cohen

The new Museum is the culmination of a dream by Priest, Husney Cohen, 3rd in line for the high Priest’s position.

Husney presides at the museum and provides guests with an amazing presentation, including an overview of the Samaritan’s complex genealogical charts with which they trace their priestly lineage back to Adam.

The weekly Nablus Tour offered by Green Olive tours visits the Samaritan village, meets with Priest Husney Cohen, and ascends the holy mountain which today contains the remains of a Byzantine Church, much of it built with recut stones from an earlier Roman edifice.