The region of Samaria is part of the Central Hill country, extending

north from the Hill Country of Judah.

Note the general location of Samaria on regional Map 12- The Samaria region was made up of

two tribal allotments, Ephraim in the south and Manasseh in the north, both sons of Joseph.

Samaria, or Shomron in Hebrew, means “to guard or guarded”

The region of Samaria takes its name from city of Samaria, labelled by a letter “S”

on this map. The city of Samaria was the third capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

It was built by the Baal worshiping kings Omri and Ahab.

Note that the term “Samaria” can have three different meanings. Samaria can refer

to the capital city of the region. Or geographically to the central Hill Country

region shaded yellow on this map, or, , politically to the entire Northern Kingdom

of Israel which came into being after the death of Solomon.

Note the geographical regions surrounding Samaria.

To the west is the Coastal, or Sharon Plain. To the north are

Mt. Carmel and the Jezreel Valley. To the east

is the deep Lower Jordan Valley, and to the south

are the Shephelah, Hill Country and Wilderness of Judah.

As mentioned, Samaria, like Judah, is Hill Country. However, Samaria, especially in the

north in Manasseh, has wider valleys and plains that make it more open, or accessible, than

Judah. Note a series of wide East to West running

valleys that form a convenient way to criss-cross through Samaria.

The route in these valleys is called the Trans-Samaria highway.

The Trans-Samaria highway connects the Mediterranean Sea and Coastal plain to the Jordan Valley

and Gilead. All the capital cities of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were along the

Trans-Samaria Highway. The first capital was at Shechem between

Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim. Tirzah was the second capital, and

finally Samaria was built on a hilltop with better access to the Coast.

Note some of the major features and sites of the Samaria region on Map 1-2.

Here is Bethel, where Jeroboam the first king of the North built a corrupt religious center.

To the north, in Ephraim is Shiloh where Joshua set up the

Tabernacle. Here is the Trans-Samaria Highway and the

three capital cities Shechem,

Tirzah, and Samaria. To the north

is Dothan, where Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers.

The central Hill Country of Samaria is the focus of Map 1-7. On the southern part of

the map note the sites of

Bethel and Ai.

Soon after Abram came into the land, he worshipped the Lord on a

hill between Bethel and Ai.

When Jacob fled from Esau to Aram, he stopped at Bethel and had a dream in which

he was re-assured that indeed the transcendent God does communicate with mankind on earth.

Bethel means “place or house of God”.

The city of Ai was the location of God’s second victory in the Promised Land

with Joshua and the Israelites. Israel failed to conquer Ai the first attempt because they

began to claim responsibility for their earlier victory at Jericho. But when Israel understood

that they were coming into the Promised Land by God’s power and not their own, Ai was

conquered.

Map 1-9 shows the Bethel-Ai region in greater detail. Ai of Abraham’s

time is identified as the large Early Canaanite ruin called et-Tell. However, excavations

at et-Tell have apparently not uncovered any ruins dating to the conquest of Joshua. It

is possible that the name “Ai” shifted to a nearby hill-top

in Joshua’s day. Ruins dating to Joshua’s time have been excavated at Hirbet Maqatir.

Video: We found this collection of pottery inside a building. You can see a large storage

jar here and next to it is a bowl or perhaps a jug. Here we have a small dipper juglet,

and next to that is another vessel – it looks like a bowl or large jug. This is significant

to us because it allows us to date our fortress. This pottery is typical of the late Bronze

1 period, 15th Century BC around the time of Joshua.

Back on Map 1-7, follow the Road of the Patriarchs that goes

north from Bethel to Shechem. Just east of this road is Shiloh. At Shiloh in the

Hill Country of Ephraim the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant was set up.

Video: We’re here at Shiloh. When the Israelites conquered the land they came and Joshua set

up the tabernacle here. The place where those people are is the possible location of where

the tabernacle sat. This is also the location where Hannah dedicated her son Samuel and

he grew up here at Shiloh.

Now let’s move north of Shiloh to the Trans-Samaria Highway. Remember the

Trans-Samaria Highway runs in a series of wide valleys that run through the heart of

Samaria. From Adam at the Jordan River the route

follows the Wadi Far’a to Tirzah, then goes

to Shechem. Shechem is connected to the Coastal plain in the

west through Shechem Valley, or Nahal Shechem. The

city of Samaria sits along this western part of the route.

This Google Earth photo shows the Shechem region looking west. Today the modern Arabic

town of Nablus is built over Shechem between Mt. Gerizim on the south (to the left) and

Mt. Ebal on the north. The Trans-Samaria Highway comes from the Mediterranean

Sea in the West straight up Nahal Shechem to the wide plains in the Shechem region.

At Shechem the Lord first said to Abram, “To your descendants I will give this land”.

With this promise to Abram, God put His name and reputation on the line in a practical,

(4x click, click click, click) facts-on-the-ground way. So, has God shown himself to be God?

The relationship of the descendants of Abram to this land at various times throughout history

is observable evidence that the God of the Bible is the One true God.

Video: We are standing at Mt. Gerizim. Below us is the town Shechem and to the North is

Mt. Ebal. When Abraham first came to the land, God promised at Shechem that Abraham’s descendents

would inherit the land. Hundreds of years later under the time of Joshua, Joshua and

the Israelites came into Shechem and testified that their God had fulfilled that promise.

Joshua had the Israelites stand on Mt. Gerizim and Ebal in a covenant confirmation ceremony

and in acknowledgment that indeed the God of Abraham made good on His promise.

Joshua built an altar on Mt. Ebal to worship the Lord. Archaeologists have discovered what

appears to be an altar complex on the north side of Mt. Ebal, however, the

structure apparently dates to the 1200s BC, which would put it in the period of the Judges.

Let’s go back to Map 1-7 to examine more closely the Wadi Far’a , which is eastern

section of the Trans-Samaria Highway, connecting Tirzah to Adam in the Jordan Valley and to

Gilead.

This is most likely the route that Jacob used when he journeyed from

Penuel and Sukkot to Shechem.

Video: We’re standing in a valley that goes through Samaria and connects 2 cities: Sukkot

and Shechem. When Jacob returned from the land of Aramia (?) he traveled between those

2 cities, probably through this valley.

The Shechem-Penuel connection via Wadi Far’a is

illustrated by the fact that the first King of the North during the divided monarchy,

Jeroboam, “Built Shechem…and dwelt there; and he went out from there and built Penuel.”

Penuel became the northern kingdom’s administrative center in Gilead.

During the Divided Monarchy , the Northern Kingdom was called Israel,

while the descendants of David ruled over the southern kingdom of Judah.

The Northern kingdom lasted 210 years. But none of its kings followed

the Lord.

Back on Map 1-7, remember the western section of the Trans-Samaria highway is Nahal Shechem,

which passes near the third capital of Northern Kingdom, the city of Samaria.

Samaria was built by Kings Omri and Ahab, who made Baal worship the state supported

religion of the Northern Kingdom.

Ahab built himself an ivory decorated palace in

Samaria, as well as a temple to Baal. Kings and prophets, like Elisha, walked through

Samaria’s gates.

Later, when King Jehu purged Israel of Baal worship he made the temple of Baal into a

latrine.

The city and kingdom of Samaria came to an end in 722 BC

. The city withstood a siege of three years, but it was only kicking against the goads

. The Lord had brought the Assyrian empire as His tool to drive Israel into

exile. “This happened because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God

who brought them up from the land of Egypt” (2 Kings 17:7).

In the first century BC, Herod the Great built a temple to Caesar Augustus at the site and

renamed it Sebastia, which means Augustus in Greek.

Note one more location on Map 1-7, Dothan, to the north

of the Trans-Samaria Highway overlooking the wide, triangular shaped Dothan Valley.

Dothan is where supernatural chariots of fire appeared in the days of Elisha.

Earlier, Joseph had found his brother’s grazing flocks near Dothan, but his brothers

threw him into a water cistern.

His brothers arranged to have Joseph sold to a caravan of Ishmaelite,

who were bringing goods from Gilead to Egypt. But God incorporated the wicked plans of the

brothers to bring about the preservation of the people of Israel in Egypt.

This cistern is the kind of water system that Joseph’s brothers put him into. “Zach

you down there?” “Yep!”

I’m standing on Mt. Gerizim and behind me are the ruins of ancient Shechem, which is

where God first promised Abram his descendants would inherit the promise land. Hundreds of

years later when Joshua and the Israelites came into this land, they came to this location

and acknowledged that God had kept his promise.

Here we are at Mt. Gerizim, and you can see Shechem behind me. That is where Jotham climb

the mountain to condemn Abimelech and the people of Shechem for making Abimelech king.

Also here is the city of Sychar - it’s in the vicinity where Jesus stopped when traveling

to Samaria and testified to the woman at the well.

The Samaritan woman Jesus met at well said that “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain,

but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” She is referring

to Mt. Gerizim – which we are standing on right now.

Samaritan Passover on Mt. Gerizim

Hi! We’re standing at the ruins of ancient Shiloh.

Behind us are the ruins of Shiloh.

We’re here in Shiloh where the tabernacle of the Lord was first set up in the days of

Joshua. When Samuel was a boy, the Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant from here down

to Aphec in the west and lost it in battle.

“Eli, your two sons have been killed, and what’s worse – the Ark of the Covenant

has been taken by the Philistines!”

In fact, Jeremiah comes and talks about the ruins of Shiloh to Jerusalemite listeners.

He says to them in the book of Jeremiah…

Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what

I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

So they instructed the Benjamites saying, “Go and hid in the vineyards and watch.

When the girls of Shiloh come out to join the dancing, rush from vineyards and each

of you seize a wife from girls of Shiloh and go to rhe land of Benjamin.

We are standing in a narrow spot in the Wadi Far’a

I’m standing on some ruins called Maqatir. The Bible gives very specific geography related

to Joshua’s conquest of the city. To the west, Joshua set an ambush while he himself

camped on a ridge across the valley at the city of Ai.