1Ki 18:2 was, well… and the famine was severe in S
1Ki 20:1 Ben-hadad .. besieged S, and fought her
2Ki 17:6 king of Assyria took S, and led Israel
Isa 7:9 the head of Ephraim is S, and the .. of S
Eze 16:46 older sister is S, she and her daughters
Hos 13:16 S will be desolate, because he rebelled
Mic 1:1 from Judah; what he saw about S and Jerusalem
Joh 4:4 and it was necessary for him to go through S
Act 8:5 Philip, going down to the city of S
Act 8:14 the apostles who .. heard that S had
Samaria (Heb. Shômerôn, “watchman” or “watchman”; as. Samerina, etc.; Aram. Shamerayin; Gr. Samáreia). In 1Ki 16:24 it is said that the place was named after Shemer, who sold the hill on which the city was built to Omri. 1. Capital city of the kingdom of Israel. It was located about 9.5 km northwest of Shechem, and occupied a prominent position on the top of an isolated rounded hill, about 445 m above sea level from the Mediterranean Sea, which is visible from that place, and between 90 and 120 m above the surrounding plain, rich in olive groves and wheat fields. Its strategic location, plus the wealth and beauty of its surroundings, made it a wise choice as capital. It was built by Omri (c885-c874 BC), who bought the hill from Shemer for 2 talents of silver and moved the capital of his kingdom from Tirzah to the new location (1Ki 16:24). It was one of the few cities founded by the Israelites, and it remained Israel’s main city as long as the kingdom existed (about 150 years). It was also the burial site for the kings of Israel (1Ki 16:28, 29; 20:43; 22:10, 37, 51; 2Ki 17:1, 6; etc.). Omri, either by force or as a result of a pact, provided mercantile possibilities for Syrian merchants in Samaria (1Ki 20:34). In the days of Ahab, the fortifications of the city reached such a degree of perfection that the Syrians could not take it (vs 1-21); even the Assyrians, masters in the art of seizing fortified cities, only conquered it after a 3-year siege (2Ki 18:9, 10). When it finally fell (723/722 BC), nearly 30,000 citizens were taken captive into exile. They were replaced by people from Babylon and Syria (17:24). Map IX, D-3 From the beginning of its history, Samaria was a center of pagan worship and idolatry, Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, introduced the cult of Baal in the city, and later a temple and an altar were built in honor of the god (1 Kings 16:31, 32). Asherah’s cult also found support from the royal house (18:18, 19). A great moral corruption was the result of this gross system of idolatry (Hos 4:1-14). The prophets boldly denounced apostasy (Isa. 7:9, 8:4; Eze 16:46, 47; 23:4-10, 33: Hos 7:17; 8:5, 6; 13:16; Amo 3 :9, 10, 12; Mic 1:5-9). Elijah (1Ki_17 and 18) and his successor Elisha, who apparently lived in Samaria, worked hard to counter wickedness (2Ki 2:25; 5:39; 6:24, 25. 32). In 722 BC, after its fall to Shalmaneser V or Sargon II, Samaria became the head of an Assyrian province. When Alexander the Great invaded Syria (333 BC), he occupied Samaria and made it the seat of a governorate. But Andrómaco, the governor installed there, was assassinated by the Samaritans between 332 and 331 BC, when he was in Egypt. Consequently, Alexander severely punished its inhabitants, moved them to Shechem and repopulated it with 1,043 Syro-Macedonians. As a result, Samaria was one of the earliest Hellenistic cities in Palestine. Around 108 BC, after a year-long siege, John Hyrcanus, the Maccabean king of Judah, conquered it and, in an attempt to wipe out even the vestiges of its former glory and power, set about systematically demolishing it. Over the years it was rebuilt, and when Pompey arrived in Palestine (63 BC) he annexed it to the province of Syria; later, Gabino fortified it. Shortly after this, Samaria passed through its most glorious period, when Herod the Great, who there married Mariamne, his favorite wife, and to whom the city was given as a gift, rebuilt it, refortified it, and embellished it with magnificent buildings, of which some impressive ruins still remain. He also changed the name to Sebaste, the feminine of Sebastós, “majestic”, the Greek equivalent of Augustus. He has retained that name to this day, since his name is Sebastiyeh. Map XI, C-4. 444. Map of the ancient city of Samaria. In the Christian Era, Samaria (or Sebaste) was surpassed in size and importance by Neapolis (now Nâblus), the successor of ancient Shechem, although Sebaste became the seat of a bishopric. This episcopal seat was re-established by the Crusaders, and a Greek bishop, now residing in Jerusalem, still derives his title from Sebaste, even though it is no more than a village. The first excavations there were carried out by G. Schumacher, GA Reisner, DG Lyon, and CS Fisher, on behalf of Harvard University, from 1908 to 1910. This expedition uncovered the remains of Herod’s Forum, a Roman basilica and a racetrack. The foundations of Omri’s palace were also exposed (1Ki 22:39), and the extensions made by Ahab and Jeroboam II, as well as the fountain where the palace servants washed the blood-stained cart, in which they had brought the body of Ahab from Ramoth in Gilead. Of great interest are some ostracas, probably from the days of Jeroboam II, containing notes relating to the payment of oil and wine to the royal deposits, and possibly corresponding to taxes. Further excavations were carried out under the direction of JW Crowfoot between 1931 and 1933, and in 1044. 1935, by combined expeditions, with which several scientific institutions cooperated, which provided the possibility of more precisely establishing the dates of previous discoveries, and clarifying some archaeological and historical problems. The most interesting discoveries of this last expedition include a large number of carved ivory* platelets, probably from Ahab’s ivory house (v 39). Additional Hebrew ostracas were also found. Bib.: GA Reisner et al., Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 2 ts (Cambridge, Mass., 1924); JW Jack, Samaria in Ahab’s Time, Harvard Excavations and Their Results (Edinburgh, 1929); JW Crowfoot et al., Samaria-Sebaste. Reports of the Work of the Joint Expedition in 1931-1933 and of the British Expedition in 1935 (London, 1938, 1942, 1957): t I, The Building at Samaria ; t II, Early lvories From Samaria ; t III, The Objects From Samaria; ANET 284, 285; FJ-AJ xiii. 10.2, 3; FJ-GJ i.2.7; FJ-AJ xiv.4.4; 5.3. 445. Remains of a wall from ancient Samaria from the time of King Omri. 2. Mount or hill where the city of Samaria was located (1Ki 16:24). See Samaria 1. 3. Kingdom of Israel, or the territory occupied by the 10 tribes, often called Samaria because of its capital city (1Ki 21:1; 2Ki 17:24; Jer 31:5). See Israel 3. 4. Province of Samaria. After its conquest (723/22 BC) by Shalmaneser V or Sargon II, the city of Samaria became the seat of the Assyrian governor. Two of the governors who held office during the 7th century BC are known, based on cuneiform records, as Nabû-kêna-utsur (690 BC) and Nabû-shar-ahhêshu (646 BC). Nothing is known about the form of its administration, but making comparisons with other regions of the empire it is easy to think that it had a single purpose, namely, to obtain as much tribute as it was possible to extract, in products of the land, from the oppressed population. When the territory of Samaria fell into the hands of the Babylonians, and later into the Persians, the form of administration may have been the same: with a governor who represented the crown. He could be a foreigner or a native of the place appointed by the central government. A governor of Samaria during the Persian period was an enemy of Nehemiah: Sanballat,* who is well known from the Bible (Neh 4:1, 2; etc.) and from the Elephantine papyri.* Thanks to these papyri and others discovered in 1962 In a cave in Wâd§ Dâliyeh, about 16 km north-northwest of Jericho, the names of several rulers of the Persian period who were successors of Sanballat are known. During the Hellenistic period, Samaria held the status of a province: first as part of Alexander’s empire, and later under the rule of the Ptolemies or the Seleucids, depending on which of those 2 powers controlled Palestine. When Pompey occupied that country on behalf of Rome (63 BC), the region came under the control of the senatorial province of Syria, of which it became a part. Bib.: RW Klein, IDBS 781, 782. 5. Region of Samaria in NT times. When Christ was born, Samaria was part of Herod’s kingdom. After his death, his son Archelaus inherited it (4 BC-6 AD), along with Judea and Idumea. Those 3 regions remained a political unit throughout NT time, and were ruled by Roman procurators from AD 6 to 41, at which time the ministry of Christ took place, and again from 44 to 66 In the period between AD 41 and 44, Samaria was part of the kingdom of Agrippa I, who ruled over a region equivalent to that of his grandfather: Herod the Great (Luk 17:11; Joh 4:4; Act 9 :31; etc). Map XVI, D-3.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
city of Palestine, located on a hill, about seventy kilometers north of Jerusalem and about forty-five east of the Mediterranean Sea, from which it commanded the main road to Jerusalem.
The city was founded by King Omri who ruled Israel between 885 and 874 BC. C., establishing in it the capital of the kingdom, for the facilities it offered from the defensive point of view, and that until the construction of S. had been in the city of Tirsá for six years.
Omrí bought the mountain for two talents of silver from Semer, fortified it and erected the city on top, and named it S., after the previous owner of the site, 1 Kings 16, 24. The city was completed. by Omri’s son and successor, King Ahab, 874-853 BC. C., who married Jezebel, daughter of Itobaal, king of Tyre, who made him fall into idolatry, introducing the cult of Baal, a deity to whom the king built an altar and a sanctuary in S., 1 R 16, 32; likewise a palace was made of ivory, 1 R 22, 39. Having become the city in the center of the worship of Baal, the prophet ® Elijah harshly criticized the conduct of the king, and, in a judgment of God, exterminated the priests and prophets of this god, brought to S. by Queen Jezebel. Being king of Israel Hosea, 732-724 BC, and being a tributary of Assyria, stopped paying the tribute, in the year 724, Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria, besieged the city of S., which, due to its location already its fortifications, resisted the siege for three years.
But finally, in 722 or 721 a. C., fell into the hands of Sargon II,…