The Samaritan High Priest is the high priest (kohen gadol

Kohen Gadol

The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...

) of the Samaritan

Samaritan

The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...

 community in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.

According to Samaritan tradition, the office has existed continuously since Aaron

Aaron

In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...

, the brother of Moses

Moses

Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

, and has been held by 132 people. This is not accepted by all historians, but the office may go back to the Hellenistic period, which would still make it the oldest office in the world. One account by Josephus

Josephus

Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

 suggests that it is an offshoot of the Zadok

Zadok

Zadok was a high priest of the Israelites in Jerusalem after it was conquered by David.Zadok may also refer to:*Rabbi Zadok, tanna of the 1st-century CE*Zadok the Priest, an 18th-century coronation anthem by Handel...

ite high priests in Jerusalem from around the time of Alexander the Great.

Partial list of Samaritan High Priests

• 112 (1613–1624 Shelemiah ben Pinhas
• 113 (1624–1650 Tsedaka ben Tabia Ha'abta'ai
• 114 (1650–1694 Yitzhaq ben Tsedaka
• 115 (1694–1732) Abraham ben Yitzhaq
• 116 (1732–1752) Tabia ben Yiszhaq ben Avraham
• 117 (1752–1787) Levi ben Avraham
• 118 (1787–1855) Shalma ben Tabia
• 119 (1855–1874) Amram ben Shalma
• 120 (1874–1916) Yaacob ben Aaharon ben Shalma
• 121 (1916–1932) Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma ben Tabia
• 122 (1933–1943) Matzliach ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq ben Shalma
• 123 (1943–1961) Abisha ben Phinhas ben Yittzhaq ben Shalma
• 124 (1961–1980) Amram ben Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma
• 125 (1980–1982) Asher ben Matzliach ben Phinhas
• 126 (1982–1984) Phinhas ben Matzliach ben Phinhas
• 127 (1984–1987) Yaacob ben Ezzi ben Yaacob ben Aaharon
• 128 (1987–1998) Yoseph ben Ab-Hisda ben Yaacov ben Aaharon
  Yoseph ben Ab-Hisda ben Yaacov ben Aaharon
  Yoseph ben Ab-Hisda ben Yaacov ben Aaharon; , served as the Samaritan High Priest from January 26, 1987 until his death. Prior to inheriting the post of high priest, he worked as a religious teacher and was principal of the Samaritan school...
  
   {1919-1998}
• 129 (1998–2001) Levi ben Abisha ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq
  Levi ben Abisha ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq
  Levi ben Abisha ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq; , served as the Samaritan High Priest from 1998 until his death. In his secular work prior to his retirement, he was chief clerk in the Nablus bus company. Before and after his retirement from secular work he was a genial and well-known teacher. He was...
  
   {1920-2001}
• 130 (2001–2004) Shalom ben Amram ben Yitzhaq (Saum Is'haq al-Samiri){1922-2004}
• 131 (2004–2010) Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq
  Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq
  Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq was the Samaritan High Priest from 2004 until his death. He was born in Nablus....
  
   {1927-2010}
• 132 (2010- Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob
  Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob
  Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob , also transliterated Aaron b. Abhisda b. Jacob, is the current Samaritan High Priest . He inherited the office upon the death of Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq as the eldest priest of the family of priests...