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The Isars, or Isaric Christians (Isaric Aramaic: ࠍࠫࠈࠓࠜࠉ-ࠀࠩࠉࠎࠞࠓࠞࠀ / נֻטרֵי־אִיסָרָא ''Nòṭrey-Isara'' “Bond Keepers” or “Keepers/Samaritans of the Bond”, Biblical Hebrew: נׂצרֵי הָאִסָר ''Notsrey ha isar''), are an ethnoreligious group of mixed Semitic, Indo-European, and Asian heritage. They claim descent from Byzantine Samaritan refugees who fled Constantinople's brutal suppression of Samaritan Revolts during the 6th century CE, and who resettled along the Adriatic Sea, specifically in Dalmatia. Terms such as "Samaritan," "Neo-Samaritan," "Samaritan Christian," "Keeper," "Hebrew," and "Israelite" are used by Isars, in addition to the foregoing descriptives, to identify themselves. Isars are a subgroup of Samaritan Christians who practice a syncretic form of Christianity that incorporates elements from Samaritanism, Judaism, and various forms of Christianity, and includes certain beliefs and practices that have close correlation to aspects of Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Islam, and, more distantly, Taoism, though these are not interrelated. Like other Samaritan Christians, they use the Samaritan Pentateuch as the basis for their translation of the Bible, and are one of only a few modern religious groups to utilize dialects of Hebrew and Aramaic in their prayers and liturgy, which includes prostration akin to that performed by Samaritans, Karaite Jews, and Muslims. Their study and use of Samaritan Hebrew for chanting the Torah makes them unique among the world's Christians; and the "maqhal" (synagogue) in which they meet on Saturdays for instruction and worship bears little to no resemblance to the Western Christian conception of a church. All of their members presently live in East Java, Indonesia, though their founder is originally from the United States. ==History== Isars have an unusually diverse ancestry, ranging from Western, Central, and Eastern European ethnic groups, to Middle Eastern ethnic groups, to East and Southeast Asian ethnic groups, to New World native ethnic groups. Because of their diverse origins, they do not identify with any one of the many nationalities or ethnicities of these regions, but view themselves as a complex whole belonging to the greater Hebrew/Israelite Diaspora. The Samaritan forebears of the Isars seem to have met the same fate as most other Samaritan diaspora communities: they converted to Christianity (presumably by force or necessity) and took on a new identity. That identity was not always totally removed from their native language and religion. In the case of the Isars, archaeological and genealogical evidence suggests that their ancestors in Dalmatia seemed to prefer Aramaic and Greek names that showed an intimate connection to the law, i.e., the Torah, the sole holy book of Samaritan people. For example, the Greek name Nομια (Nomia “Lawfulness”) belonged to a Samaritan woman whose grave stele and epitaph were recovered from the Manastirine necropolis in the ruins of Salona.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/main?url=oi%3Fikey%3D324941%26bookid%3D226%26region%3D3 )〕 Additionally, the surname Purgali (or Purgalay) was derived from the Aramaic word פוּרגָּל (''purgal'' “precept, commandment, instruction”), which ultimately came from the Greek word παραγγελια (paraggelia “order, charge”). Over time, that name was shortened to Purgli due to influence from the Croatian language, and was later Anglicized as Purgley. There are two known lines of descent within Isaric genealogies that trace back to Dalmatia (Croatia), where a Samaritan diaspora community is known to have existed. Only one of those lineages, the Purgley family, is linked to the Samaritans of Salona, but both of them arrived in North America around the same time, i.e., during the latter half of the 19th century CE. Before calling themselves Isars in the 21st century, this small family of immigrants lived simple, inconspicuous lives in the Plaquemines Parish region of southeast Louisiana for five generations. They completely assimilated to the surrounding culture and rarely looked back upon their history. By the turn of the 21st century, the number of individuals bearing the Purgley name and having Samaritan descent dwindled to less than a dozen, on account of female children being predominate in the family. Male members of the Purgley family traditionally worked as laborers, fishermen, and/or lighthouse keepers,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth202424/ )〕 but all are now deceased. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Isaric Christians」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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