Samaria (Region)
Located between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south. Tensions were high between the Samaritans and the Jews[1]
Description
The region of Samaria
Maria Valtorta compares the landscape of Samaria with that of her own region in Italy. “The land of Samaria with its beautiful crops of olive trees, wheat, and vineyards guarded from the top of the hills by groves of oaks and tall forest trees that provide Protection Against the winds which, coming through the passes, tend to form whirlwinds that would damage the crops. This region reminds me very much of some parts of our Apennines here, towards Amiata, when the eye simultaneously contemplates the flat cereal fields of Maremma and the joyful hills, and the severe mountains that rise higher, inland. I do not know what Samaria is like today. Then it was very beautiful.”[2]
But even more than the relief, the visionary observes and describes some specific features of Samaria and its inhabitants which should draw the attention of ethnologists. “In Samaria there are different customs from those in other places, in fact regarding clothing and many other things. And one is the number of dogs, unusual elsewhere, which strikes me, just as the Presence of pigs in the Decapolis struck me. Many dogs, perhaps because Samaria has many shepherds and must have many Wolves in those wild mountains. Also many because the shepherds, in Samaria, I most often see alone, at most with a child, grazing their own flocks, whereas elsewhere, most of the time, they are several to look after the large flocks of some rich man. The fact is that here each shepherd has his own dog or several, according to the number of sheep in his flock. Another feature is precisely those donkeys almost as large as a horse, sturdy, capable of climbing these mountains with a heavy load on their backs, even large logs, strong as they come down from these magnificent mountains covered with ancient woods.”[3].
The city of Samaria
The city of Samaria (Sebaste) was the capital of the kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BCE, and gave its name to the surrounding territory. The city was built on a hill, 11 km northwest of Shechem, by Omri, king of Israel, who named it after Shemer, the man from whom he had acquired the hill[4]. Destroyed several times, the rebuilding of the city, undertaken by Pompey, was completed by Herod the Great, who named it Sebaste (Augusta) in honor of the emperor.
It is briefly mentioned in the work[2].
Notable events
- Jesus finds refuge there, at Ephraim, before His Passion[5].
- He meets Photina, the Samaritan woman there[6] and stays for a few days at Sychar.
- Samaria hosts John the Baptist after his first arrest. “Does the Baptist still baptize here? No. He is at the borders of Samaria”[7].
- The ten lepers are healed there[8].
Its name
The name "Samaria" (Samareia in Greek) finds its origins in biblical Hebrew and would mean Those who guard. Indeed, in Hebrew, it is written "שֹׁמְרוֹן" (Shomron). The etymology of this name is "שמר" (shamar), which means "to guard" or "to protect."
Where is it mentioned in the work?
EMV 111 EMV 143 EMV 551
Learn more about this place
The region of Samaria is bounded to the north by the Jezreel Valley, to the east by the Jordan River, to the west by the Plain of Sharon and Mount Carmel, and to the south by the mountains of Jerusalem.
The deacon Philip preached the Gospel there[9].
Gallery
Landscape of Samaria, Sebaste, 2023.
Explore
- 32° 08’ 35’’ N / 35° 15’ 38’’ E /
- +350/1000m
Notes and references
- ↑ Article partially written from the Geographical Dictionary of the Gospel, J.-F. LAVÈRE.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 EMV 193.3.
- ↑ EMV 483.1.
- ↑ 1 Kings 16:24.
- ↑ EMV 551.9 | John 11:54.
- ↑ EMV 143.2 | John 4:3-38.
- ↑ EMV 111.1.
- ↑ EMV 483.7 [ Luke 17:11-19.
- ↑ Acts 8:5.