SAMARIA (sa-ma'ri-a), (Heb. sho-nter One' , watch-height; ".F..a/Adpeta, sam-ar' i-ah), a city, situated near the middle of Palestine, built by Omri, king of Israel, on a mountain or hill of the same name, about B. C. 925. It was the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes.
(1) History. The hill was purchased from the owner, Shemer, from whom the city took its name (1 Kings xvi :23, 24). Samaria continued to be the capital of Israel for two centuries, till the carrying away of the ten tribes by Shalma neser, about B. C. 72o (2 Kings xvii :3, 5). Dur ing all this time it was the seat of idolatry, and is often as such denounced by the prophets, some times in connection with Jerusalem. It was the seat of a temple of Baal, built by Ahab, and de stroyed by Jehu (I Kings xvi :32, 33; 2 Kings x: 18-28). It was the scene of many of the acts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, connected with the various famines of the land, the unexpected plenty of Samaria, and the several deliverances of the city from the Syrians. After the exile of the ten tribes Samaria appears to have continued, for a time at least, the chief city of the foreigners brought to occupy their place; although Shechem soon became the capital of the Samaritans as a religious sect. John Hyrcanus took the city after a year's siege, and razed it to the ground (Joseph. Antiq. xiii. to, 3; De Bell. Jud. i. 2, 7). Yet it must soon have revived, as it is not long after mentioned as an inhabited place in the possession of the Jews. Pompey restored it to its former possessors ; and it was afterwards rebuilt by Gabinius ( Joseph. Antiq., xiii. 5, 4; xiv. 4, 4; xiv. 5, 3). Augustus bestowed Samaria on Herod; who eventually rebuilt the city with great mag nificence, and gave it the name of Sebaste (which is the Greek translation of the Latin name or epithet Augustus), in honor of that emperor (Antiq. xv. 7, 3 ; De Bell. Jud. xv. 7, 7; xv. 8, 5). Here Herod planted a colony of 6,000 persons, composed partly of veteran soldiers, and partly of people from the environs; enlarged the circum ference of the city; and surrounded it with a strong wall twenty stades in circuit. In the midst
of the city—that is to say, upon the summit of the hill—he left a sacred place of a stade and a half, splendidly decorated, and here he erected a temple to Augustus, celebrated for its magnitude and beauty. The whole city was greatly orna mented, and became a strong fortress (Joseph. .4ntiq., xv. 8, 5; De Bell. Jud. i. 21, 2; Strabo, xvi. 2, 13).
Such was the Samaria of the time of the New Testament, where the Gospel was preached by Philip, and a church was gathered by the Apostles (Acts viii :5, 9, sq.). At what time the city of Herod became desolate, no existing accounts state: but all the notices of the fourth century and later lead to the inference that its destruction had already taken place.
(2) Hill of Samaria. The Hill of Samaria is an oblong mountain of considerable elevation, and very regular in form, situated in the midst of a broad, deep valley, the continuation of that of Nabulus (Shechem), which here expands into a breadth of five or six miles. Beyond this valley, which completely isolates the hill, the mountains rise again on every side, forming a complete wall around the city. They are terraced to the tops, sown in grain, and planted with olives and figs, in the midst of which a number of handsome vil lages appear to great advantage, their white stone cottages contrasting strikingly with the verdure of the trees. The Hill of Samaria' itself is culti vated front its base, the terraced sides and sum mits being covered with corn and with olive trees.
(3) Ruins. The most conspicuous ruin of the place, is the church dedicated to John the Baptist, erected on the spot which an old tradition fixed as the place of his burial, if not of his martyr dom. it is said to have been built by the Em press Helena ; but the architecture limits its an tiquity to the period of the crusades, although a portion of the eastern end seems to have been of earlier date.