Samaria was the core area of the northern kingdom of Israel. The story of the kingdom of the ten northern tribes of Israel lasted there 200 years.
"Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria." (2 Kings 17:5-6 BSB)
This Samaria spoken here was the last capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. The capital city gave a name to the surrounding area, thus it was also called Samaria.
The king of Assyria carried away the Israelites to Assyria around 722 B.C. However, he did not take them all away, but the remnant of the Israelites remained in the area of Samaria. Soon they got new neighbors.
The king of Assyria sent to Samaria people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. They mingled with the remnants of the Israelites and this new population of the Samaria area began to be called - Samaritans.
During the time of Jesus the Samaritans still lived in the area of Samaria, and Jesus had a unique relationship with them. To the Jews (Judah) Jesus spoke everything in parables, but to the Samaritans he openly told who he was (John 4).
In the 7th century, most of those who called themselves Samaritans seemed to disappear because ISIS-type armies forced them to convert to Islam. With Islam, the language of the Samaritans also changed to Arabic.
Although most Samaritans converted to Islam and started to speak Arabic, they did not leave their villages. They continued to live in Samaria. One hundred years ago, within excavations in the city of Samaria, old village names were found. These findings showed that many of the names of the villages near the old capital city are still the same as during the reign of the tribes of Israel - the names of the sons of Menashe (Manasseh).
Today there are only around 800 Samaritans who know their identity as Samaritans. Half of them live in Samaria, on top of Mount Gerizim (photo), and the other half live in Holon, near Tel Aviv.
These Samaritans pray in ancient Hebrew. They believe in their version of the five books of Moses and the coming of the Messiah.
They also know well that they are descendants of the northern tribes of Israel.
In recent years, something very exciting has begun to happen in Samaria. For example, such a note can now be found on the Wikipedia page of Nablus:
“Much of the local Palestinian Muslim population of Nablus is believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to Islam. Certain Nabulsi family names are associated with Samaritan ancestry – Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others.”
If “much of the local Palestinian Muslim population” is actually Samaritan, it means that they are, at least in part, descendants of the northern tribes of Israel. These families may have lived in their villages since the time of the northern state of Israel.
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