Mount Gerizim

The excavation of the Samaritan temple has transformed understanding of the Samaritan-Jewish split, demonstrating that the Samaritans maintained a parallel sacrificial cult of comparable scale and sophistication to the Jerusalem Temple.

Mount Gerizim rises to 881 meters above sea level on the southern side of the pass through which the main road runs between the mountains near Shechem (modern Nablus). Together with Mount Ebal to the north, it frames the most important crossroads in the central hill country of Israel/Palestine. Deuteronomy 11:29 assigns blessings to Gerizim and curses to Ebal, and Joshua 8:33 records the covenant ceremony between the two mountains. The mountain has been sacred to the Samaritans for over 2,500 years, and the small surviving Samaritan community (about 800 people) still celebrates Passover on its summit today.

The modern archaeological investigation of Mount Gerizim has fundamentally changed understanding of the Samaritan religion and its relationship to Judaism. Early investigations at Tell er-Ras, a subsidiary peak, by A.M. Schneider in 1928 and Robert Bull in the 1960s uncovered a Roman-period temple built by Hadrian. But the most significant discoveries came from Yitzhak Magen of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who excavated the main temple precinct on the summit from 1982 to 2008 — one of the most extensive and important excavations in the history of the region.

Magen's excavations uncovered a large sacred precinct measuring approximately 96 by 98 meters (roughly 200 by 200 cubits), enclosed by a substantial wall. Within this precinct, he identified the foundations of the Samaritan temple, built on bedrock with carefully dressed ashlar blocks. The temple was oriented east-west and had a courtyard, an inner court, and a main hall — a layout broadly paralleling the Jerusalem Temple as described in the Hebrew Bible. The pottery and coins from the construction fill date the initial construction to the 5th century BCE, during the Persian period, making it roughly contemporary with the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The most striking evidence of the cult's scale was the recovery of over 400,000 animal bones, primarily sheep and goats, from sacrificial deposits around the temple. These bones showed cut marks and burning consistent with ritual slaughter and altar sacrifice. The sheer quantity indicates that the Gerizim temple was not a minor provincial shrine but a major sacrificial center that operated for centuries. This challenges older scholarly views that treated the Samaritan temple as a secondary or derivative institution; the archaeological evidence suggests it was a fully realized parallel to Jerusalem.

The Samaritan temple was destroyed by John Hyrcanus I, the Hasmonean ruler of Judea, in 111/110 BCE. Josephus describes this destruction, which was part of Hyrcanus's campaign to eliminate rival religious centers and consolidate Jerusalem's exclusive sanctity. The archaeological evidence confirms a violent destruction at the appropriate stratigraphic level, with the temple walls deliberately dismantled and the precinct demolished.

After the temple's destruction, a substantial Hellenistic-period town grew on the mountain, built among and over the temple ruins. This town, which Magen excavated extensively, contained residential quarters, workshops, public buildings, ritual baths (mikva'ot), and over 13,000 coins, the largest numismatic assemblage from any single site in Israel. The town flourished under Hellenistic and early Roman rule until it was abandoned.

The emperor Hadrian built a large Roman temple to Zeus Hypsistos on Tell er-Ras in the 2nd century CE, after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt. In the 5th century CE, the Christian emperor Zeno built a church on the summit, the Church of Mary Theotokos, which was fortified and functioned as a monastery. The Samaritans revolted against this Christian appropriation of their holiest site in 529 CE, and Justinian subsequently rebuilt and strengthened the church complex. Remains of the Byzantine church and fortifications are visible on the summit today.

The Mount Gerizim excavations are among the most significant archaeological projects of the past 50 years for understanding the religious landscape of Second Temple period Judaism. The existence of a parallel, functioning sacrificial temple on Gerizim from the 5th to the late 2nd century BCE means that "Judaism" during this period was not a monolithic religion centered solely on Jerusalem. The rivalry between the two temples shaped sectarian identities and produced the theological arguments preserved in both Jewish and Samaritan literature.

Magen's multi-volume publication of the excavations has been released through the Israel Antiquities Authority. The site is accessible to visitors, though security arrangements vary due to its location near Nablus.

• Samaritan temple precinct (96x98 meters) with foundations dating to the 5th century BCE, contemporary with the Jerusalem Second Temple
• Over 400,000 sacrificial animal bones demonstrating that the Gerizim temple operated a major cult rivaling Jerusalem in scale
• Destruction layer from John Hyrcanus I's demolition of the temple in 111/110 BCE, confirming Josephus's account
• Hellenistic town with over 13,000 coins, the largest numismatic assemblage from any single site in Israel
• Byzantine Church of Mary Theotokos built by Emperor Zeno on the summit, later fortified by Justinian

Mount Gerizim appears in Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 as the mountain of blessing, opposite Ebal's mountain of cursing. In Joshua 8:33, the Israelites stand on both mountains for the covenant ceremony. In Judges 9:7, Jotham stands on Mount Gerizim to deliver his parable against Abimelech. The most important New Testament reference is John 4:20, where the Samaritan woman at the well tells Jesus: "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." Jesus responds that "the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (John 4:21). This exchange directly references the Samaritan-Jewish dispute over the proper location of the temple, a dispute whose archaeological reality is now fully documented. The Samaritan Pentateuch reading of Deuteronomy 27:4 has "Gerizim" where the Masoretic Text reads "Ebal," reflecting the long-standing dispute over which mountain held the original altar.