The present work fills an important gap in Samaritan studies, in that it treats of one of the most chartsmatic personalities in Samaritan tradition and of a period (3rd - 4th cent. A. D.) which constituted a high-water mark in Samaritan history. The figure of Baba Rabbah looms large on the Samaritan canvass. Much has been said of him that is legendary; much that is true. earlier and later traditions have been interwoven around. his personality. No critical attempt has ever been made, however, to reconstruct his life by analyzing the historicity of these traditions, especially regarding the victories he is said to have won over the Roman (and other) enemies of the community and the social, religious and political reforms he introduced in order to achieve a total reconstruction of Samaritan life. The present study brings to light a hitherto unpublished part of the important Samaritan Chronical No. II. Two versions are critically compared and presented in. parallel texts though all the extant chronicles and traditions are referred to in the oommentary Which accompanies the texts. The two versions - designated H1 and H2 - are far more detailed. than any other Samaritan Chronicle, presenting a full and readable account of the life and activity of Baba Rabbah, and, in general, of the social and political history of the period. The nature of these versions is described. and analysed., and. their linguistic features detailed. H1 and H2 differ mainly in that the former is written in Samaritan Hebrew, while the latter reflects their particular dialect of Aramaic. These versions are, additionally, therefore, a rich source of new vocabulary to deepen and broaden our ever-growing knowledge of non-Masoretic forms. The commentary and word-list, which accompany this section of the chronicle, highlight this particularly important aspect of the research. The Samaritans of the 3rd - 4th cent. A.D. did not live in a vacuum, as did some of their predecessors and most of their successors, when enemies permitted them ·this luxury. This generation was outgoing and determined, and roused to a unique degree of national pride and solidarity by the personality and leadership of Baba Rabbah. Their emergence into the political and religious arena of Palestine would have been bound, therefore, to have brought them into closer contact with the Judean community. The course of this interrelationship is plotted in the Chronicle; and the present study enables us, therefore, to fill in the background to Jewish attitudes toward the Samaritans, as reflected in rabbinic literature, such as the charge that they worshipped an image of a dove on Mount Gerizlm. Since Baba's reforms laid the foundation for the fruitful. period of Marqah, and other Samaritan liturgists and writers who made a pioneering contribution to the flowering of Samaritan literature, Baba's significance cannot be overestimated, and it is thus of the greatest importance that his life and times be researched.