Image Details

Courtesy of the Matson Collection, the Episcopal Home

The Samaritans adhere strictly to the description of the Passover sacrifice recorded in Exodus 12. The sacrifice takes place at sunset, when the sheep are slaughtered in a shallow stone-lined pit, low on the slope of Mt. Gerizim. Then the sheep are shorn and eviscerated. If the entrails show no blemishes upon examination, the carcasses are placed on spits (shown here, compare with next two photos) and roasted for several hours in the tannurim. At midnight, the celebrants eat the cooked sheep with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.