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.....Sebastiyeh
 ......Ancient Samaria






Before leaving Nablus the visitor must go a couple more kilometers to the west, to climb up to the village of Sebastiyeh where the ruins of ancient Samaria, Capital of the Kingdom of Israel (-931/-731) await.
The strategic value of the site (which we can discover from a Belvedere located behind the cafeteria) has always attracted the many conquerors of Palestine. A series of digs has established that the natural hill that supports the current ruins were settled as far back as the twelfth century BC. But it’s in the ninth century, around -880 that Omri, ruler of the Kingdom of Israel (separated from the kingdom of Judea since the previous century) established his capital here.


General view, towards the North west, of the civil basilica of Sebastiyeh.



The archeological site is twelve kilometers from the city. You must follow the road to Tulkarem for ten kilometers, then the road to Jenin and then the second right. The road enters a valley planted with fruit trees, around a rocky outcrop, goes through the village of Samaria and finishes in a small car park.

Luxurious and prosperous, rival of Jerusalem, the city quickly attracted the wrath of the Prophets. The reason of their anger was both social and religious. Elias, and one century later, Amos and Osee, castigated the corrupt morals of the aristocracy and the introduction of eastern cults. They relentlessly called upon the perverted city to be punished by the Lord.
Their prayers were answered in -724, by the Assyrian king Sargon 2nd, who took the city after a three year siege and deported nearly 30 000 people to Mesopotamia. Foreign settlers were installed in their place. In -331 Alexander the great took the city and Hellenized it by establishing a syro-macedonian settlement. But it’s Herod, who received the city from Augustus, who returned the city to its ancient beauty. Most of the ruins that are visible today date back to his reign (-37 to 4), and even the name of the new foundation reminds us of the great builder. The name was changed to Sebastiya, city of Sebastos, the greek name of Caesar Augustus…

We enter the site by the roman forum, a large artificial quadrangle built in the Herodian era, on the end of which are the remnants of the civil basilica, the shape of which is visible by the few still standing columns. North of the forum, from the platform behind the cafeteria there is a plunging view on what used to be the race track a few columns beneath show us where the gates stood. A path, leaving the north end of the basilica leads up to the acropolis. We quickly arrive to the roman theatre, maybe built over the herodian theatre behind which can be seen a large round semi-cylindrical tower. This ruin is one of the most beautiful Hellenistic monuments of Palestine. Built around -320 it is stuck in a Israelite wall and connected to a Hellenistic wall which was part of the fortifications of the acropolis built during Alexander the Great’s era .



 The roman theatre was certainly built
on the ruins of the Herodian theatre. From
the seats one has a beautiful view over the hills of Samaria.


The path leads up to the Acropolis through olive and fruit tree plantations, and leads to the steps of the temple of Augustus, built in -25 by Herod. Before it was a large square courtyard where the alter was. At the top of the steps, on the floor of what was the “cella” of the temple, elements of Doric columns are scattered. The large room was surrounded by two long hallways. To the south was a building with three rooms, the use of which has not yet been determined by archeologists.  But under the temple a neighborhood of the Hellenistic city was discovered, under which was the palace of the kings of Israel. Here is where the famous ivories that are kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem were found.

Going around the digs on the southern side, we notice the bases of the columns that once lined the main street of the roman city, and that date back to the reign of Septimius Severus. We quickly reach a small church built by the crusaders and dedicated to Saint John Baptist. It was built between the 11th and 12th centuries, on the crypt where according to Jean Phocas (1185), the head of the Precursor was found. Indeed, since the since the 4th century Christian traditions celebrated in samaria the famous birthday party during which Herod-Antipas had John the Baptist executed and it didn’t take much more for the crusaders to dedicate the church to him, as well as the one that was turned into a mosque and by which one should end a visit to sebastiyeh. It is on the main square of the town and is known to the locals as Sidi Yahya mosque. This is where the remains of the Precursor allegedly lie, in between the tombs of Prophets Elijah and Abdias.


Sidi Yahya mosque (Saint John the Baptist), gives onto the shaded square of the village of sebastiyeh. The locals
go there during praying hours.








© Text and photos Christophe Le Du. All rights reserved