Abisha Scroll Samaritans attach special importance to the Abisha Scroll used in the Samaritan synagogue of Nablus. It consists of a continuous length of parchment sewn together from the skins of rams that, according to a Samaritan tradition, were ritually sacrificed.Barton 1903, p. 9. The text is written in gold letters. Rollers tipped with ornamental knobs are attached to both ends of the parchment and the whole is kept in a cylindrical silver case when not in use.Barton 1903, pp. 9–10. Samaritans claim it was penned by Abishua, great-grandson of Aaron (), thirteen years after the entry into the land of Israel under the leadership of Joshua, son of Nun,The Abisha scroll makes this claim for itself in a note inserted between columns of text at Deuteronomy 5. (Montgomery 1907, p. 287) although contemporary scholars describe it as a composite of several fragmentary scrolls each penned between the 12th and 14th centuries CE.Eshel 2003, p. 215. Other manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch consist of vellum or cotton paper written upon with black ink. Numerous manuscripts of the text exist, but none written in the original Hebrew or in translation predates the Middle Ages. The scroll contains a cryptogram, dubbed the tashqil by scholars, which Samaritans consider to be Abishua's ancient colophon: I am Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, unto them be accorded the grace of YHWH and His glory—I wrote this holy book at the entrance of the tabernacle on Mount Gerizim, in the year thirteen of the Israelites' possession of the Land of Canaan according to its boundaries [all] around; I praise YHWH.
Abisha Scroll Samaritans attach special importance to the Abisha Scroll used in the Samaritan synagogue of Nablus. It consists of a continuous length of parchment sewn together from the skins of rams that, according to a Samaritan tradition, were ritually sacrificed.Barton 1903, p. 9 The text is written in gold letters. Rollers tipped with ornamental knobs are attached to both ends of the parchment and the whole is kept in a cylindrical silver case when not in use.Barton 1903, pp. 9–10. Samaritans claim it was penned by Abishua, great-grandson of Aaron (), thirteen years after the entry into the land of Israel under the leadership of Joshua, son of Nun,The Abisha scroll makes this claim for itself in a note inserted between columns of text at Deuteronomy 5. (Montgomery 1907 p. 287) although contemporary scholars describe it as a composite of several fragmentary scrolls each penned between the 12th and 14th centuries CE.Eshel 2003, p. 215. Other manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch consist of vellum or cotton paper written upon with black ink. Numerous manuscripts of the text exist, but none written in the original Hebrew or in translation predates the Middle Ages. The scroll contains a cryptogram, dubbed the tashqil by scholars, which Samaritans consider to be Abishua's ancient colophon: I am Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the Priest, unto them be accorded the grace of YHWH and His glory—I wrote this holy book at the entrance of the tabernacle on Mount Gerizim, in the year thirteen of the Israelites' possession of the Land of Canaan according to its boundaries [all] around; I praise YHWH.