Jews and Others
trast, as we have seen, the church did already use ‘‘the Syrian language,’’ if in
a subordinate role, in its liturgy. But Christianwritingin Syriac was still, so
far as we know, characteristic of the area east of the Euphrates, with some
examples from Syria proper appearing in the first half of the fifth century.
We cannot confidently attribute to the Palestinian provinces of this period
either Christian theological writing, or the copying of manuscripts, or the
widespread erection of inscriptions, in ‘‘the Syrian language.’’ It is significant,
however, that the thirteen Greek inscriptions of the fifth century from the
church excavated at Evron near Nahariya are accompanied by one Semitic-
language inscription, in Christian Palestinian Aramaic script, perhaps of the
first half of the century. If this pattern is indicative, Greek was still the pre-
dominant written language.^63 New evidence might change this picture at any
time; but for the moment we should see the Christian church of Palestine
as a Greek communal structure, in which ‘‘the Syrian language,’’ spoken, and
then also written, played a modest, but accepted, part.
Inevitably, given the dearth of internal information (unless we were to
base our conceptions on what is reported in medieval Samaritan chronicles),
such questions can hardly even be posed for Samaritan culture and communal
identity. Outside observers duly recorded, as we have seen, that the Samari-
tans recognised only the books of the Pentateuch, and Jerome notes their
distinctive upright script, usingantiquae Hebraeorum litterae(‘‘Paleo-Hebrew’’
in modern terminology), in which thetau, the last letter of the Hebrew alpha-
bet, had a form very like that of a cross. He also observes, here agreeing with
rabbinic tradition, that until the time of Ezra the Jews also had used this
script, which the Samaritans still retained.^64 How he knew this, and where
he will have seen any Samaritan writing, remains a mystery. Nor is it clear
whether any Samaritan theological or exegetical writing can be shown to
have belonged to this period. It remains possible that a major Samaritan
work, the Memar Marqah, ‘‘The Teaching of Marqah,’’ an extended reflection
on the Pentateuch, may date to this time. If so, as it is written in Aramaic, it
would supply conclusive evidence for the use of a dialect of Aramaic, writ-
ten in their distinctive script, by the Samaritan community.^65 Jerome betrays
no knowledge of a Samaritan literature, but if he did ever visit a Samaritan
synagogue, he will indeed have been able to see their distinctive script in its
. See V. Tzaferis, ‘‘The Greek Inscriptions from the Early Christian Church at Evron,’’
Eretz Israel (): , and A. Jacques, ‘‘A Palestinian-Syriac Inscription in the Mosaic
Pavement at Evron,’’ .
. Jerome,Com. in Ezechielem, , / (CCLLXXV, );Praef. in Libros Samuel et
Malachim(PLXXVIII, cols. –).
. SeeMemar Marqah: The Teaching of Marqah, ed. and trans. J. Macdonald, I–II ().