sor Sargon after the siege had lasted three years (2 K 17'-" 188- '"• ■", cf. 21" ; Ant. IX. xiv. 1 ; Inscrip- tions of Snrgon). The Norihern kingdom fell with its capital, and the people were transplanted hy the conqueror ; hut the city was not completely destroyed (Jer 41^). Two jears later it rose, in alliance with Ilaniath, Arpad, and Damascus, against the Assjrians : but the rising collapsed on the overthrow of the king of Hamath (see Insrrip- tiuns). The transplanted Jews were replaced by foreign colonists (2 K 17**, Ezr 4'°) under Assyrian governors, of one of whom the name, Nabu-achi-su, has been |)reserved (III. Kawlinson, 34, col. ii. 'J4 f.). In B.C. 331 Samaria submitted to Alexander, who killed many of its inhabitants, and replaced tliem by Macedonian colonists. Later it was dismantled by Ptolemy Lagi, afterwards rebuilt, and again destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes. The walls must soon have been re.stored, for it was a ' very strong city' when taken by John Hyrcanus, B.C. 120, after a year's siege {Ant. XIII. x. 2, 3; BJ 1. ii. 7). Hyrcanus is said to have completely destroyed the city by ' bringing streams to drown it'; but this can refer only to that portion of it which lay at the foot of the hill. Samaria was rebuilt by Pompev, who made it a free city, and attached it to tlie government of Syria {Ant. XIV. iv. 4 ; BJ I. vii. 7) ; and it was further restored and strengthened by Gabinius {Ant. Xiv. V. 3 ; BJ I. viii. 4). Herod, in pursuance of his commercial policy, which was based on intercourse with the West, and of his plan of covering the country with strongholds garrisoned by Gentile soldiers devoted to his interests, made Samaria a strong fortress. He embellished it, built a temple of great size and magnificence, and settled it with veterans from his army and people from the neighbourhood (Ant. XV. viii. 5; BJ I. x.vi. 2). The city, which is .said at this time to have had a circumference of 2J miles, was re-named Sebaste ( .\ugu8ta) in honour of Augustus, who had given it to Herod {Ant. XV. vii. 3) ; and this name has survived in the modem Sebustich. At Samaria Herod entertained Agrippa ; there he killed his wife Mariamne, and there also he strangled his sons {Ant. XV. vii. 5-7, XVI. ii. 1, xi. 7). During the Jewish revolt, Samaria and Herod's soldiers, called Sehastencx, went over to the Homans {Ant. XVII. X. 3, 9 ; BJ II. iii. 4, iv. 3, xii. 5). Many authorities suppose that the gospel was preached in Samaria (Ac 8°- °- ") ; but it is possible th.at some town in the district of Samaria, of which the name is not specihed, is intended (note the absence in V.' of the def. art. in some MSS). Septimius Severus made Samaria a Colonia, but it rapidly declined as Shechem (Neapolis) rose to importance, and in the 4th cent, it was already a small town (Euseb. Onom.). It was an Episcopal see, and its bishops attended the Councils of Mcwa, Constan- tinople, and Chalcedon, and the S3'nod of .lerusalcra (A.D. .jnO). According to Jerome it was the burial- place of Klisha, Obadiah, and St. John the Baptist iEj). ad Marccllnm, Com. ad Obad.), and their tombs were shown to pilgrims in the Middle Ages. The Crusaders established a Latin bishopric in Samaria.
The modem village of Srhuntinh lies at the E. end of the terraced hill of S.imaria, which is now partially cultivated and in places covered with olive groves. The old city wall can be traced for most of its course, following irregularly the con- tour of the hill, and there are remains of the west pate. I'rom this gate a street 50 ft. wide, and lined with columns, of which many still stand, ran along the S. side of the hill to a gate on tho E., which has disappeared. To the W. of tho village are the columns of a largo buried tcmjilo ; towards the S.W. the columns of a smaller temple ;
and in a hollow at the foot of the N.E. side of the hill are several shafts of columns that formed part of a quadrangle, perhai)s a hippodrome, 622 ft. long and 190 ft. wide. Close to the site of the E. gate are the ruins of the line cathedral chiuch of St. John, built between A.D. 1150 and 1180, over the traditional tomb of St. Jojin the Baptist. In the neighbourhood of the village are two fine .springs, ' Ain lltlrim and 'Ain Kefr Rinnn, from which small streams How for a short distance. These streams are, apparently, those utilized by Hyrcanus to undermine the lower portion of tho city. (Stanley, S. and P. 243-240 ; G. A. Smith, ffOITLpf. 346-349; PEF Mem. ii. 160, 211-215; Gu^rin, Samarie, ii. 188, etc.). 2. Samaria (r; "Zaiiipaa ; Samaria) mentioned in
1 Mac 5"" cannot be the well-known Samaria, and is apparently an error. The place intended seems to be Marisa (Marishah, now Kh. Mer'ash near Beit Jibrin), a reading found in an ancient Latin version. See Josephus, Ant. Xll. viii. 6, and
2 Mac 12»». C. W. Wilson.
SAMARIA, Territory of (■^ Sa/iapetTis xi^po;
Xafuipeia, —afiapia ; .Jos. x^P"' Sa/iap^wi/ ; Sanuiria). — At an early period the name of the city was applied to the kingdom of the ten tribes, and as the limits of that kingdom varied (2 K lO^--" 15^, 1 Ch 5-'), so did those of the territory called Samaria. Thus the ' king of Samaria ' (2 K V, Hos 10') is the king, and the ' cities of Samaria' (1 K 13'^ 2 K 17"- =" 23'») the cities, of the Northern kingdom ; and the ' mountains of Samaria' (Jer 31°, Am 3") is simply anotlier term for the hill-country of Ephraim (A V Mt. Ephraim). The name Samaria is used in its extended sense in 1 K 18^ 2 K IT-^ 23i«, 2 Ch 25", Ezr 4", Nch i\ Am 3'2.