SEBASTE, ANCIENT SAMARIA. 
The first aspect of this Village, the relique of the City, is singularly impressive. “ It 
is difficult to conceive,” says the Artist, “ any place surpassing this in the beauty of 
its position, or any spot more commanding in situation than that of the ancient Capital 
of Samaria, standing as it does in the most fertile portion of Judea, and enriched by 
the taste and wealth of the most superb of all its governors, Herod. I never was 
more delighted, than when slowly winding round the brow of a hill it first burst upon 
me, bathed in the brightness of an eastern sunset. If, desolate as it is, the ruins of 
this city could thus strike the eye, what must its effect have been when its sides and 
summit were covered with the temples and palaces of Herod!” 1 
A lofty promontory, advancing boldly into the midst of a bi’oad and beautiful 
plain; a fertile basin, surrounded by a circle of noble hills, marked the natural position 
for a Metropolis. It was founded by Omri, King of Israel, the father of Ahab, about, 
the year 925 B.c. ; the hill on which it was built being bought by him of Sliemer, 
from whom its name of Samaria is derived. 2 From this period the Kings of Israel 
abandoned their former metropolis Shechem, and Samaria became their political capital. 
In history, the city is often confounded with the country. 
The vast ruins which now exist at Sebaste are chiefly those of the Palace of Herod. 
The most remarkable are those of a Colonnade, which has been traced to the extent 
of 3000 feet! In the western part, above sixty of these columns are still erect, and 
many more are partly buried, and partly strewn around. These columns are sixteen 
feet high, and two feet in diameter at their bases. Robinson says, that he could discover 
no trace of their capitals; the Artist, however, found one, which was Corinthian. 
There is scarcely a doubt that this vast colonnade was the work of Herod, who enriched 
Samaria with splendid edifices; but its purpose is unknown, and those columns now 
stand in the midst of ploughed fields, “the skeleton, as it were, of departed glory.” 3 
Samaria continued during two centuries to be the chief city of the ten tribes (until 
the Captivity, B.C. 720), and during the whole period it was the seat of idolatry. The 
great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, gave sacred distinction to its history; and the 
tombs of Elisha and of Obadiah the prophet are said to have formerly existed here. 
The original Samaria was taken and razed to the ground by John Hyrcanus. But 
it must have been soon rebuilt, for Pompey restored it to its former inhabitants; and 
when Augustus gave the country to Herod the Great, Samaria was renewed by that 
superb monarch with extraordinary magnificence. Its name was then changed to Sebaste, 4, 
1 Roberts’s Journal. 
3 Biblical Researches, iii. 145. 
2 1 Kings, xvi. 24. 
4 Now called by the Arabs Sebustiek. 
