School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemThe history of the Defter of the Samaritan liturgy( 1969)The typescript of what was intended to be the final draft for the present work was already well advanced at the time when Zeev Ben-Hayyim’s erudite contribution to Defter studies, The Recitation of Prayers and Hymns, became available. Even a superficial reading of this volume indicated that my own work ought to be revised at several points, but a more careful study revealed nothing that required abandonment of the line of inquiry which I had pursued. It did provoke, however, certain doubts that brought disquiet and unrest to my mind until I could provide an answer to a vexacious problem. It raised the question whether Ben-Hayyim and every other writer on the Samaritan liturgy subsequent to Cowley's printed edition, myself included, had placed too much reliance on his work. Since the answer appeared to lie in the affirmative, there could be no other alternative for me than to begin again. Where the method and techniques of earlier scholarship could stand before modern criticism the results could be accepted, but elsewhere new techniques had to be developed. Hence the present form of this thesis is concerned primarily with problems of method, and of interpreting manuscript evidence. If Cowley's successors must be criticized for their uncritical use of his work, Cowley himself ought to bear responsibility for the methods that he employed. However few if any of his successors have taken the trouble to determine his primary aim or the validity of his method. Although aspects of his work are rejected in the ensuing pages as no longer holding sufficient a degree of accuracy to be used as a basis for further research, the greater part is still extremely valuable even if it must be used with caution. Allowance ought to be made for the fact that new techniques developed subsequent to his work, yet he may not be absolved from all blame because of the way in which he employed the manuscripts which he classified as Defters. Whilst this deficiency is sought out and displayed in the present work, my own admiration for his achievement in his time has increased rather than diminished. (From Preface)