This article focuses mainly on the Iron-Age city. For other periods and the modern establishment see Sebastia, Nablus
Samaria (; , Samareia; Samerina; , as-Samira) was a city in the historical region of Samaria that served as the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel during the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. Towards the end of the 8th century BCE, possibly in 722 BCE, Samaria was captured by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and became an administrative center under Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian rule. During the early Roman period, the city was expanded and fortified by Herod the Great, who renamed it "Sebastia" in honor of emperor Augustus.
The ancient city's hill is where the modern Palestinian village of Sebastia, which retains its Roman name, is located. The archeological site, subject to a shared Israeli–Palestinian control, is located on the hill's eastern slope.
Etymology
Samaria's biblical name, Šōmrōn (שֹׁמְרוֹן), means "watch" or "watchman" in Hebrew. The Bible derives the name from the individual (or clan) Shemer (), from whom King Omri (ruled 880s–870s BCE) purchased the hill in order to build his new capital city ().
In earlier cuneiform inscriptions, Samaria is referred to as "Bet Ḥumri" ("the house of Omri"); but in those of Tiglath-Pileser III (ruled 745–727 BCE) and later it is called Samirin, after its Aramaic name, Shamerayin. The city of Samaria gave its name to the mountains of Samaria, the central region of the Land of Israel, surrounding the city of Shechem. This usage probably began after the city became Omri's capital, but is first documented only after its conquest by Sargon II of Assyria, who turned the kingdom into the province of Samerina.
Geography
Samaria was situated north-west of Shechem, located close to a major road heading to the Sharon Plain on the coast and on another leading northward through the Jezreel Valley to Phoenicia. This location may be related to Omri's foreign policy. Strategically perched atop a steep hill, the city had a clear and good view of the nearby countryside.
History
Early Bronze Age
The earliest settlement on the tell was dated to the Early Bronze Age.
Iron Age
First Iron Age settlement
The earliest reference to a settlement at this location may be the town of Shemer, or Shamir, which according to the Hebrew Bible was the home of the judge Tola in the 12th century BC ().
Archaeological evidence suggests a small rural settlement existed in Samaria during Iron Age I (11–10th centuries BCE); remains from this period are several rock-cut installations, several flimsy walls, and typical pottery forms. Stager suggested to identify these remains with biblical Shemer's estate.
Remains from the early Iron Age II (IIA) are missing or unidentified; Franklin believes this phase consisted of merely an agricultural estate.
Omride capital
In the 9th and the 8th centuries BCE, Samaria was the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
A massive royal acropolis was built on the site during the late Iron Age II, including a casemate wall and a palatial complex considered one of the largest Iron Age structures in the Levant.
According to Israel Finkelstein, the first palace at Samaria, probably built by Omri (884–873 BCE), marked the beginning of the northern Kingdom of Israel's transformation into a more complex kingdom. A later urban transformation of the capital and the kingdom, he believes, was characteristic of the more advanced phase of the Omride dynasty, probably occurring during the reign of Ahab (873–852 BCE). Finkelstein also suggested that the biblical narratives surrounding the northern Israelite kings were composed either in Samaria or Bethel. After the fall of Israel during the 8th century, this information was brought to Judah, and later found its way into the Hebrew Bible.
Provincial capital under Mesopotamian rule
Towards the end of the 8th century BCE, possibly in 722 BCE, Samaria was captured by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and became an administrative center under Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian rule.
Hellenistic period
Samaria was destroyed a second time by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and again by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus in 108 BCE.
Roman period
The city was rebuilt by Herod the Great between the years 30–27 BCE. According to Josephus, Herod rebuilt and expanded the city, bringing in 6,000 new inhabitants, and renamed it Sebastia in the emperor's honor (translating the Latin epithet augustus to Greek sebastos, "venerable").