Guardians of an ancient faith with a cameo role in the Bible, the 750 surviving followers of the Samaritan religion are using surprisingly modern methods to keep their tiny community alive.

Internet acquaintances, mail-order brides and pre-nuptial genetic tests have all become familiar to Samaritans trying to plan future generations despite a shortage of young women within their own tight-knit community.

Such openness to the outside world seems baffling in a group that considers itself the original Israelites and upholds rigid traditions about diet, sex and the Sabbath.

Half of the community lives in the tidy modern village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim, the faith's holy mountain in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and the other half lives in the Israeli town of Holon near Tel Aviv.

Husney Kohen, 65, one of the faith's 12 hereditary priests, saw no contradiction in the lifestyle of a community that numbered more than a million in the late Roman Empire but is now, as he puts it, "the smallest sect in the world."

The Samaritans trace their ancestry to the northern Israelite kingdom that was destroyed by the Assyrians in around 720 BC. Their faith shares many similarities with Judaism.

"Samaritans are very religious, but we are also modern," Mr Kohen, 65, explained in the community's small museum here lined with scriptures written in the ancient Samaritan language and lists of high priests going back to Aaron, the brother of Moses.

The alternative to adapting was grim. A century ago, the community was down to only 146 members. Some left to work in the Mediterranean port of Jaffa, launching a new community there.

Marriage within the tight-knit community was so common by the mid-20th century that about seven percent of Samaritans suffered from some genetic defect.

Genetic testing before marriage has helped cut that rate in half. With rising living standards, the community has slowly restocked its ranks in recent decades. But a surplus of males meant some men had to seek wives outside the Samaritan world.

"We don't have enough girls, but we can't tell the boys they can't get married," Mr Kohen said. "We've taken in about 25 Jews, five Christians and three Muslims. The boys get to know them through the internet."

What may sound easy is quite difficult. The Samaritans insist the women convert before marriage and commit fully to a religious discipline hardly imaginable elsewhere.

The Samaritans believe Mount Gerizim near the West Bank city of Nablus was the holy place chosen by God, not Jerusalem. They have their own version of the Torah and holy days similar to Jewish ones.

They say the Judaism in the south, especially after the sixth century BC Babylonian exile, diverted from the original faith.