A Samaritan priest reveals a Torah scroll at dawn during a Samaritan Passover ceremony on Mount Gerizim. The religion of Samaritanism is based on the Torah. Samaritans descended from the ancient Israelite tribes of Menashe and Efraim but broke away from mainstream Judaism 2,800 years ago. Today, they number just 700, many of whom live here beside the Palestinian city of Nablus.