The comfort of kin : : Samaritan community, kinship, and marriage / / by Monika Schreiber.

• Superior document: Brill's Series in Jewish Studies, Volume 51
• VerfasserIn: Schreiber, Monika,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : Brill,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's series in Jewish studies ; Volume 51.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (431 p.)
• Notes: Revised version of the author's dissertation--University of Vienna (Autria), Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 2009.

In The Comfort of Kin Monika Schreiber presents a study of the social and religious life of the Samaritans, a minority in modern Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Utilizing approaches ranging from anthropological theory and method to comparative history and religion, she approaches this community from diverse empirical and epistemic angles. Her account of the Samaritans, usually studied for their Bible and their role in ancient history, is enriched by a thorough treatment of the Samaritan family, a powerful institution rooted in notions of patrilineal descent and perpetuated in part by consanguineous marriage (which differs from incest in degree rather than in kind). Schreiber also discusses how the tiny community is affected by its demographic predicament, intermarriage, and identity issues.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction: Who Are the Samaritans? -- 1 A Community of Faith -- 2 An Accidental People: A Survey of Samaritan History -- 3 A Community of Practice -- 4 No Exit, No Entrance? The Bounds of Community -- 5 It’s All in the Family: From Ethnic Identity to Practical Kinship -- 6 Bintī li-ibn ʿammhā—My Daughter is for Her Cousin: Samaritan Marital Preferences -- 7 Too Close for Comfort? A Critical View of an Ancient Legacy -- 8 Single, Samaritan, Male: A Local Discourse on Minority and Choice -- 9 The Family Politic -- Epilogue: Will the Samaritans Endure? -- References -- Subject Index -- Index of Ancient Sources -- Index of Foreign Words Mentioned in the Text.