The aim of this study is to ascertain the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus´ (first century C.E.) stance towards the Samaritans in the light of the new developments in Josephan and Samaritan studies as well as recent archaeological excavations. Although Josephus used a variety of sources in writing his Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities, he was no mere compiler but a creative historian whose narratives about the Samaritans express his personal view about their character, origin and religious faith. The book is thus not a history of early Samaritanism but an investigation into the attitude towards the Samaritans of one of the most eloquent representatives of first-century C.E. Judaism.weiterlesen