Editing Samaritans (section)

=== Persian period ===
[[File:Samaritan inscription.jpg|right|thumb|Ancient inscription in [[Samaritan Hebrew]]. From a photo {{circa|1900}} by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]]]

According to Chronicles 36:22–23, the Persian emperor [[Cyrus the Great]] (reigned 559–530 BCE) permits the return of the exiles to their homeland and orders the [[Second Temple|rebuilding of the Temple]] ([[Zion]]). The prophet [[Isaiah]] identifies Cyrus as "the {{lord}}'s [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]]".<ref>{{bibleverse||Isaiah|45:1|HE}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Knoppers|2013|p=104}}

The books of Ezra–Nehemiah detail a lengthy political struggle between Nehemiah, governor of the new Persian province of [[Yehud Medinata]], and [[Sanballat the Horonite]], the governor of Samaria, centered around the refortification of the 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 of Israel|High Priest]] [[Joiada]] married Sanballat's daughter.{{sfn|Knoppers|2013|p=162}} Some theologians believe Nehemiah 11:3 describes other Israelite tribes returning to Judah with the Judeans. The former lived in the cities of Judah whilst the latter lived in Jerusalem. [[Benjamites]] also lived with Judeans in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Nehemiah 11 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/nehemiah/11.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311080519/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/nehemiah/11.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref>

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 the existence of a distinct northern culture.{{sfn|Knoppers|2013|pp=109–112}} 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 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.<ref name=":7">{{Citation |last=Eshel |first=Hanan |title=The Growth of Belief in the Sanctity of Mount Gerizim |work=A Teacher for All Generations (2 vols.) |pages=509–510 |year=2012 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004224087/B9789004224087_029.xml |access-date=2024-10-10 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-22408-7}}</ref>

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.{{sfn|Magen|2007|pp=178–179}} This is not to be interpreted as signaling a precipitous schism between the Jews and Samaritans, as the [[Mount Gerizim Temple|Gerizim temple]] was not 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.{{sfn|Bourgel|2019|p=1}}