Editing Samaria (section)

==History==
[[File:גבעות יצהר.JPG|thumb|300px|Hills of Samaria, near [[Yitzhar]]]]
[[File:Dothan, where Joseph was sold by his brethren American Colony, Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|300px|Site of [[Tel Dothan|Dothan]] where, according to the [[Book of Genesis]], [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]] was sold by his brethren]]Over time, the region has been controlled by numerous different civilizations, including [[Canaanites]], [[Israelites]], [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrians]], [[Babylonians]], [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]], [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]], [[Hasmoneans]], [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], [[Arabs]], [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/reisner.html |title=Open Collections Program: Expeditions and Discoveries, Harvard Expedition to Samaria, 1908–1910 |website=ocp.hul.harvard.edu |access-date=2012-02-25 |archive-date=2023-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208141226/http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/reisner.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Israelite tribes and kingdoms===
{{further|Israelite highland settlement|Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)}}
According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the [[Israelites]] captured the region known as Samaria from the [[Canaan]]ites and assigned it to the [[Tribe of Joseph]]. The southern part of Samaria was then known as [[Mount Ephraim]]. After the death of [[Solomon|King Solomon]] (c. 931 BC), the northern tribes, including [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and [[Tribe of Manasseh|Menashe]], separated themselves politically from the southern tribes and established the separate [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]]. Initially its capital was [[Tirzah (ancient city)|Tirzah]] until the time of King Omri (c. 884 BC), who built the city of [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]] and made it his capital. Samaria functioned as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel (the "Northern Kingdom") until its fall to the Assyrians in the 720s. Hebrew prophets condemned Samaria for its "ivory houses" and luxury palaces displaying pagan riches.<ref name="research-projects.uzh.ch">{{cite web |url=http://www.research-projects.uzh.ch/p4012.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321193020/http://www.research-projects.uzh.ch/p4012.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 March 2018 |title=The Ivories from Samaria: Complete Catalogue, Stylistic Classification, Iconographical Analysis, Cultural-Historical Evaluation |website=www.research-projects.uzh.ch}}</ref>

The archaeological record suggests that Samaria experienced significant settlement growth in Iron Age II (from {{circa}} 950 BC). Archaeologists estimate that there were 400 sites, up from 300 during the previous Iron Age I ({{circa}} 1200 BC onwards). The people dwelt on [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]]s, in small villages, farms, and forts, and in the cities of [[Shechem]], Samaria and Tirzah in northern Samaria. [[Adam Zertal|Zertal]] estimated that about 52,000 people inhabited the Manasseh Hill in northern Samaria prior to the Assyrian deportations. According to botanists, the majority of Samaria's forests were torn down during the Iron Age II, and were replaced by plantations and agricultural fields. Since then, few oak forests have grown in the region.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=דר, שמעון |date=2019 |title=הכלכלה הכפרית של השומרון בימי קדם |url=https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/judea-and-samaria-research-studies/2019/07/17/%d7%94%d7%9b%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%9c%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%a9%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%a9%d7%95%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%9f-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9e%d7%99-%d7%a7%d7%93%d7%9d/ |journal=Judea and Samaria Research Studies |issue=28 |pages=5–44 |doi=10.26351/JSRS/28-1/1 |s2cid=239322097 |access-date=2023-02-25 |archive-date=2023-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225193451/https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/judea-and-samaria-research-studies/2019/07/17/%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%99-%D7%A7%D7%93%D7%9D/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Assyrian period ===
{{main|Samerina}}
[[File:Deportation of Jews by Assyrians.svg|thumb|The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] under [[Shalmaneser V]] and the deportation of peoples from Samerina by [[Sargon II]] (and possibly Shalmaneser V)]]
In the 720s, the [[conquest of Samaria]] by [[Shalmaneser V]] of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], which culminated in the three-year siege of the [[Samaria (ancient city)|capital city of Samaria]], saw the territory annexed as the Assyrian province of [[Samerina]].{{Sfn|Yamada|Yamada|2017|p=|pp=408–409}} The siege has been tentatively dated to 725 or 724 BC, with its resolution in 722 BC, near the end of Shalmaneser's reign.{{Sfn|Yamada|Yamada|2017|p=|pp=408–409}} The first documented mention of the province of Samerina is from the reign of Shalmaneser V's successor [[Sargon II]]. This is also the first documented instance where a name derived from "Samaria", the capital city, was used for the entire region, although it is thought likely that this practice was already in place.{{sfn|Mills|Bullard|1990}}

Following the Assyrian conquest, [[Sargon II]] claimed in Assyrian records to have deported 27,280 people to various places throughout the empire, mainly to [[Guzana]] in the Assyrian heartland, as well as to the cities of the [[Medes]] in the eastern part of the empire (modern-day Iran).{{sfn|Reid|1908}}{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=50}}{{sfn|Radner|2018|loc=0:51}} The deportations were part of a standard [[resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire]] to deal with defeated enemy peoples.{{Sfn|Mark|2014|p=}} The resettled people were generally treated well as valued members of the empire and transported together with their families and belongings.{{Sfn|Radner|2017|p=210}}{{Sfn|Dalley|2017|p=528}}{{Sfn|Frahm|2017|pp=177–178}} At the same time, people from other parts of the empire were resettled in the depopulated Samerina.{{sfn|Gottheil|Ryssel|Jastrow|Levias|1906}} The resettlement is also called the [[Assyrian captivity]] in [[Jewish history]] and provides the basis for the narrative of the [[Ten Lost Tribes]].{{Sfn|Mark|2014|p=}}

=== Babylonian and Persian periods ===
[[File:Achaemenid coin minted in Samaria, dated c. 375-333 BC.jpg|thumb|right|Persian Achaemenid coin minted in Samaria, dated {{circa|375}}–333 BC. Left; Persian [[satrap]] holding lance and reins on horseback, Aramaic inscription ''BDYḤBL'' below. Right; satrap and driver in [[chariot]] drawn by two horses]]
[[File:Achaemenid coin, minted in Samaria, dated c. 375-333 BC.jpg|thumb|right|Persian [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] coin minted in Samaria, dated {{circa|375}}–333 BC. Left; a seated Persian wearing [[tiara]] and holding bird. Right; Persian king standing, holding dagger and bull by its horn, flanked by an [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] inscription which reads ''ŠMRY'']]

According to many scholars, archaeological excavations at Mount Gerizim indicate that a [[Mount Gerizim Temple|Samaritan temple]] was built there in the first half of the 5th century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last=Magen |first=Yitzhak |title=Judah and Judeans in the Fourth Century BC |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-57506-130-6 |editor1=Oded Lipschitz |chapter=The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim in the Light of the Archaeological Evidence |editor2=Gary N. Knoppers |editor3=Rainer Albertz |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NsxZRnxE70C&q=Lipschits+Yehud&pg=PA75 |access-date=2022-01-18 |archive-date=2023-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129223857/https://books.google.com/books?id=6NsxZRnxE70C&q=Lipschits+Yehud&pg=PA75#v=snippet&q=Lipschits%20Yehud&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The date of the schism between Samaritans and Jews is unknown, but by the early 4th century BCE the communities seem to have had distinctive practices and communal separation.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Much of the anti-Samaritan polemic in the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical texts (such as Josephus) originate from this point and on.<ref name="EJ">{{cite EJ |author=L. Matassa, J. Macdonald |display-authors=etal |title=Samaritans |pages=718-740}} As quoted by [https://ancient-world-project.nes.lsa.umich.edu/tltc/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Encyclopedia-Judaica_sv_Samaritans.pdf Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920000514/https://ancient-world-project.nes.lsa.umich.edu/tltc/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Encyclopedia-Judaica_sv_Samaritans.pdf |date=2021-09-20 }} and [https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/samaritans Encyclopedia.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118182836/https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/samaritans |date=2022-01-18 }}</ref>

===Hellenistic period===
During the [[Hellenistic Palestine|Hellenistic period]], Samaria was largely divided between a Hellenizing faction based around the town of Samaria and a pious faction in Shechem and surrounding rural areas, led by the High Priest.

Samaria was a largely autonomous province nominally dependent on the [[Seleucid Empire]]. However, the province gradually declined as the [[Maccabees|Maccabean]] movement and [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean Judea]] grew stronger.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last=Dušek |first=Jan |title=Samaria, Samarians, Samaritans |chapter=Administration of Samaria in the Hellenistic Period |date=27 October 2011 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110268201.71/html |pages=76–77 |access-date=11 April 2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110268201.71 |isbn=978-3-11-026820-1 |archive-date=11 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411195358/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110268201.71/html |url-status=live }}</ref> The transfer of three districts of Samaria— [[Taybeh, Ramallah|Ephraim]], [[Lod]] and [[Deir 'Ammar|Ramathaim]]—under the control of Judea in 145 BCE as part of an agreement between [[Jonathan Apphus]] and [[Demetrius II Nicator|Demetrius II]] is one indication of this decline.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raviv |first=Dvir |date=3 July 2019 |title=Granting of the Toparchies of Ephraim, Ramathaim and Lod to Hasmonean Judea |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2019.1650500 |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=267–285 |doi=10.1080/03344355.2019.1650500 |s2cid=211674477 |issn=0334-4355}}</ref> Around 110 BCE, the decline of Hellenistic Samaria was complete, when the Jewish [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean ruler]] [[John Hyrcanus]] destroyed the cities of Samaria and Shechem, as well as the city and temple on Mount Gerizim.<ref name=":2" /><ref>See: Jonathan Bourgel, "[https://www.academia.edu/42119968/The_Samaritans_during_the_Hasmonean_Period_The_Affirmation_of_a_Discrete_Identity The Destruction of the Samaritan Temple by John Hyrcanus: A Reconsideration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318162438/https://www.academia.edu/42119968/The_Samaritans_during_the_Hasmonean_Period_The_Affirmation_of_a_Discrete_Identity|date=2022-03-18}}", ''JBL'' 135/3 (2016), pp. 505-523; [https://www.academia.edu/34049422/The_Destruction_of_the_Samaritan_Temple_by_John_Hyrcanus_A_Reconsideration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620130651/https://www.academia.edu/34049422/The_Destruction_of_the_Samaritan_Temple_by_John_Hyrcanus_A_Reconsideration|date=2019-06-20}}. See also idem, [https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/11/628/htm "The Samaritans during the Hasmonean Period: The Affirmation of a Discrete Identity?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119013131/https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/11/628/htm|date=2022-01-19}} Religions 2019, 10(11), 628.</ref> Only a few stone remnants of the Samaritan temple exist today.

===Roman period===
In 6 CE, Samaria became part of the Roman province of [[Judea (Roman province)|Iudaea]], following the death of King [[Herod the Great]].

Southern Samaria reached a peak in settlement during the early Roman period (63 BCE–70 CE), partly as a result of the [[Hasmonean dynasty]]'s settlement efforts. The impact of the [[Jewish–Roman wars]] is archaeologically evident in Jewish-inhabited areas of southern Samaria, as many sites were destroyed and left abandoned for extended periods of time. After the [[First Jewish–Roman War|First Jewish-Roman War]], the Jewish population of the area decreased by around 50%, whereas after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], it was completely wiped in many areas. According to Klein, the Roman authorities replaced the Jews with a population from the nearby provinces of [[Roman Syria|Syria]], [[Phoenicia under Roman rule|Phoenicia]], and [[Arabia Petraea|Arabia]].<ref>קליין, א' (2011). ''היבטים בתרבות החומרית של יהודה הכפרית בתקופה הרומית המאוחרת'' ''(135–324 לסה"נ)''. עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 314–315. (Hebrew)</ref><ref>שדמן, ע' (2016). ''בין נחל רבה לנחל שילה: תפרוסת היישוב הכפרי בתקופות ההלניסטית, הרומית והביזנטית לאור חפירות וסקרים''. עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 271–275. (Hebrew)</ref> An apparent new wave of settlement growth in southern Samaria, most likely by non-Jews, can be traced back to the late Roman and Byzantine eras.<ref>Finkelstein, I. 1993. The Southern Samarian Hills Survey. In E. Stern (ed.). The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, Carta, Vol. 4, pp. 1314.</ref><ref name=":0" />

====New Testament references====
{{religious text primary|section|date=April 2023}}
The [[New Testament]] mentions Samaria in [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 17:11–2,<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|17:11–20|KJV}}</ref> in the miraculous [[Cleansing ten lepers|healing of the ten lepers]], which took place on the border of Samaria and Galilee. [[Gospel of John|John]] 4:1-26<ref>{{bibleverse|John|4:1–26|KJV}}</ref> records Jesus' encounter at [[Jacob's Well]] with the woman of Sychar, in which he declares himself to be the Messiah. In Acts 8:1,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|8:1|KJV}}</ref> it is recorded that the early community of disciples of Jesus began to be [[Persecution of Christians|persecuted]] in Jerusalem and were 'scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria'. [[Philip the Evangelist|Philip]] went down to the [[Samaria (ancient city)|city of Samaria]] and preached and healed the sick there.<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|8:4–8|KJV}}</ref> In the time of [[Jesus]], ''Iudaea'' of the Romans was divided into the [[toparchy|toparchies]] of Judea, Samaria, Galilee and the [[Paralia (Palestine)|Paralia]]. Samaria occupied the centre of ''Iudaea''.<ref>{{bibleverse|John|4:4|KJV}}</ref> (''Iudaea'' was later renamed ''Syria Palaestina'' in 135, following the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]].) In the [[Talmud]], Samaria is called the "land of the Cuthim".

===Byzantine period===
Following the bloody suppression of the [[Samaritan revolts|Samaritan Revolts]] (mostly in 525 CE and 555 CE) against the [[Byzantine Empire]], which resulted in death, displacement, and [[conversion to Christianity]], the Samaritan population dramatically decreased. In the central parts of Samaria, the vacuum left by departing Samaritans was filled by nomads who gradually became [[Sedentism|sedentarized]].<ref name=":Ellenblum20102">{{Cite book |last=Ellenblum |first=Ronnie |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/958547332 |title=Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-511-58534-0 |oclc=958547332 |quote=From the data given above it can be concluded that the Muslim population of Central Samaria, during the early Muslim period, was not an autochthonous population which had converted to Christianity. They arrived there either by way of migration or as a result of a process of sedentarization of the nomads who had filled the vacuum created by the departing Samaritans at the end of the Byzantine period [...] To sum up: in the only rural region in Palestine in which, according to all the written and archeological sources, the process of Islamization was completed already in the twelfth century, there occurred events consistent with the model propounded by Levtzion and Vryonis: the region was abandoned by its original sedentary population and the subsequent vacuum was apparently filled by nomads who, at a later stage, gradually became sedentarized |access-date=2023-02-05 |archive-date=2023-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710040327/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/958547332 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Byzantine period is considered the peak of settlement in Samaria, as in other regions of the country.<ref>זרטל, א' (1992). ''סקר הר מנשה''. קער שכם, כרך ראשון. תל-אביב וחיפה: אוניברסיטת חיפה ומשרד הביטחון. (Hebrew) 63–62.</ref> Based on historical sources and archeological data, the [[Manasseh Hill Country Survey|Manasseh Hill surveyors]] concluded that Samaria's population during the Byzantine period was composed of Samaritans, Christians, and a minority of Jews.<ref>זרטל, א' (1996). ''סקר הר מנשה. העמקים המזרחיים וספר המדבר, כרך שני''. תל-אביב וחיפה: אוניברסיטת חיפה ומשרד הביטחון. 93–91 (Hebrew)</ref> The Samaritan population was mainly concentrated in the valleys of Nablus and to the north as far as [[Jenin]] and [[Legio|Kfar Othenai]]; they did not settle south of the Nablus-Qalqiliya line. Christianity slowly made its way into Samaria, even after the Samaritan revolts. With the exception of Neapolis, Sebastia, and a small cluster of monasteries in central and northern Samaria, most of the population of the rural areas remained non-Christian.<ref>די סגני, ל' (2002). מרידות השומרונים בארץ-ישראל הביזנטית. בתוך א' שטרן וח' אשל (עורכים), ''ספר השומרונים''. ירושלים: יד יצחק בן-צבי, רשות העתיקות, המנהל האזרחי ליהודה ושומרון קצין מטה לארכיאולוגיה, עמ' 454–480. (Hebrew)</ref> In southwestern Samaria, a significant concentration of churches and monasteries was discovered, with some of them built on top of citadels from the late Roman period. Magen raised the hypothesis that many of these were used by Christian pilgrims, and filled an empty space in the region whose Jewish population was wiped out in the Jewish–Roman wars.<ref>מגן, י' 2002 .השומרונים בתקופה הרומית – הביזנטית. בתוך א' שטרן וח' אשל (עורכים), ''ספר השומרונים''. ירושלים: יד יצחק בן-צבי, רשות העתיקות, המנהל האזרחי ליהודה ושומרון קצין מטה לארכיאולוגיה, עמ' 213–244. (Hebrew)</ref><ref name=":0" />

=== Early Muslim, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods ===
Following the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]], and throughout the [[Bilad al-Sham|early Islamic period]], Samaria underwent a process of [[Islamization]] as a result of waves of conversion among the remaining Samaritan population, along with the migration of Muslims into the area.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last1=לוי-רובין |first1=מילכה |last2=Levy-Rubin |first2=Milka |date=2006 |title=The Influence of the Muslim Conquest on the Settlement Pattern of Palestine during the Early Muslim Period / הכיבוש כמעצב מפת היישוב של ארץ-ישראל בתקופה המוסלמית הקדומה |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23407269 |journal=Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv / קתדרה: לתולדות ארץ ישראל ויישובה |issue=121 |pages=53–78 |jstor=23407269 |issn=0334-4657 |access-date=2023-02-05 |archive-date=2023-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205140101/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23407269 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated257">M. Levy-Rubin, "New evidence relating to the process of Islamization in Palestine in the Early Muslim Period - The Case of Samaria", in: ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'', 43 (3), pp. 257–276, 2000, [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]</ref><ref name="Fattal, A. 1958 p. 72-73">Fattal, A. (1958). ''Le statut légal des non-Musulman en pays d'Islam'', Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, pp. 72–73.</ref> Evidence implies that a large number of Samaritans converted under [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] and [[Tulunids|Tulunid]] rule, as a result of droughts, earthquakes, religious persecution, high taxes, and anarchy.<ref name="autogenerated257" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=לוי-רובין |first=מילכה |title=ספר השומרונים |publisher=יד יצחק בן צבי, רשות העתיקות, המנהל האזרחי ליהודה ושומרון: קצין מטה לארכיאולוגיה |year=2006 |isbn=978-965-217-202-0 |editor-last=שטרן |editor-first=אפרים |edition=2 |location=ירושלים |pages=562–586 |language=Hebrew |trans-title=Book of the Samaritans; The Continuation of the Samaritan Chronicle of Abu l-Fath |editor-last2=אשל |editor-first2=חנן}}</ref> By the mid-[[Middle Ages]], the Jewish writer and explorer [[Benjamin of Tudela]] estimated that only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Syria (region)|Syria]].<ref>Alan David Crown, Reinhard Pummer, Abraham Tal (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_iMnzhSSbowC&pg=PA70 ''A Companion to Samaritan Studies,''] Mohr Siebeck, 1993 pp.70-71.</ref>

==== Ottoman Period ====
During the [[Ottoman period|Ottoman Period]], the northern part of Samaria belonged to the
[[Turabay dynasty|Turabay]] Emirate (1517–1683), which encompassed also the [[Jezreel Valley]], [[Haifa]], [[Jenin]], [[Beit She'an Valley]], northern [[Jabal Nablus]], [[Manasseh Hills|Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe]], and the northern part of the [[Sharon plain]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=al-Bakhīt |first1=Muḥammad ʻAdnān |last2=al-Ḥamūd |first2=Nūfān Rajā |title=Daftar mufaṣṣal nāḥiyat Marj Banī ʻĀmir wa-tawābiʻihā wa-lawāḥiqihā allatī kānat fī taṣarruf al-Amīr Ṭarah Bāy sanat 945 ah |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/28579982 |access-date=15 May 2023 |website=www.worldcat.org |publisher=Jordanian University |pages=1–35 |language=en |publication-place=Amman |publication-date=1989}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |title=Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine |url=https://www.academia.edu/101515579 |journal=Levant |year=2023 |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=218–241 |doi=10.1080/00758914.2023.2202484 |s2cid=258602184 |access-date=2023-05-10 |archive-date=2023-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718032959/https://www.academia.edu/101515579 |url-status=live }}</ref> The areas south of Jenin, including [[Nablus]] itself and its hinterland up to the [[Yarkon River]], formed a separate district called the District of Nablus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doumani |first=Beshara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6QwDwAAQBAJ |title=Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700–1900 |date=12 October 1995 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-20370-9 |language=en |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510152920/https://books.google.com/books?id=K6QwDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===British Mandate===
During the [[Great War]], Palestine was wrested by the armies of the [[British Empire]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]] and in the [[aftermath of World War I|aftermath of the war]] it was entrusted to the [[United Kingdom]] to administer as a [[League of Nations]] [[Mandate for Palestine|mandated territory]]<ref>The Mandate for Palestine. (24 July 1922). League of Nations Council. Retrieved 23 June 2021 from [https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/the%20mandate%20for%20palestine.aspx the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203804/https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/the%20mandate%20for%20palestine.aspx |date=2021-06-24 }}</ref> Samaria was the name of one of the [[Districts of Mandatory Palestine|administrative districts]] of Palestine for part of this period. The [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|1947 UN partition plan]] called for the Arab state to consist of several parts, the largest of which was described as "the hill country of Samaria and Judea."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/res181.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061029150108/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/res181.htm |url-status=dead |title=UN partition resolution |archive-date=29 October 2006}}</ref>[[File:Samaria from the Minaret of Mosque (4879149239).jpg|thumb|250px|The village of Samaria, c. 1915]]

===Jordanian period===
As a result of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], most of the territory was unilaterally incorporated as [[Jordan]]ian-controlled territory, and was administered as part of the West Bank (west of the Jordan river).

===Israeli administration===
The Jordanian-held West Bank was captured and [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|has been occupied by Israel]] since the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. [[Jordan]] ceded its claims in the West Bank (except for certain prerogatives in Jerusalem) to the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] in November 1988, later confirmed by the [[Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace]] of 1994. In the 1994 [[Oslo accords]], the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]] was established and given responsibility for the administration over some of the territory of West Bank (Areas 'A' and 'B').

Samaria is one of several standard statistical districts utilized by the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/cw_usr_view_Folder?ID=141 |title=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204115550/http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/cw_usr_view_Folder?ID=141 |archive-date=4 February 2012}}</ref> "The Israeli CBS also collects statistics on the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza District. It has produced various basic statistical series on the territories, dealing with population, employment, wages, external trade, national accounts, and various other topics."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/1/Central%20Bureau%20of%20Statistics |title=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=2005-12-05 |archive-date=2005-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051208192804/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/1/Central%20Bureau%20of%20Statistics |url-status=live }}</ref> The Palestinian Authority however use [[Nablus]], [[Jenin]], [[Tulkarm]], [[Qalqilya]], [[Salfit]], [[Ramallah]] and [[Tubas (city)|Tubas]] [[Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority|governorates]] as administrative centers for the same region.

The [[Shomron Regional Council]] is the local municipal government that administers the smaller Israeli towns ([[Israeli settlement|settlements]]) throughout the area. The council is a member of the network of regional municipalities spread throughout Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mhh.org.il/680/288.htm |title=The Center for Regional Councils in Israel |website=Website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929092958/http://www.mhh.org.il/680/288.htm |archive-date=29 September 2008}}</ref> Elections for the head of the council are held every five years by Israel's ministry of interior, all residents over age 17 are eligible to vote. In special elections held in August 2015 [[Yossi Dagan]] was elected as head of the Shomron Regional Council.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://shomron.org.il/?CategoryID=1262&ArticleID=2082 |title=Shomron Regional Council Website |last=Hebrew |access-date=2015-12-28 |archive-date=2016-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106064618/http://shomron.org.il/?CategoryID=1262&ArticleID=2082 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Shomron map.png|thumb|200px|Map of [[Israeli settlement]]s administered by the [[Shomron Regional Council]] in the West Bank]]

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered by most [[International law and Israeli settlements|in the international community to be illegal under international law]], but others including the United States and Israeli governments dispute this.<ref name="BBC_GC4">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm |title=The Geneva Convention |work=BBC News |date=10 December 2009 |access-date=27 November 2010 |archive-date=12 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512075554/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2016, the Town Board of the [[United States|American]] [[Hempstead, New York|Town of Hempstead]] in the [[New York (state)|State of New York]], led by Councilman [[Bruce Blakeman]] entered into a partnership agreement with the [[Shomron Regional Council]], led by [[Yossi Dagan]], as part of an anti-[[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions]] campaign.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lazaroff |first1=Tovah |title=In anti-BDS stand, Hempstead New York signs sister city pact with settler council |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/In-anti-BDS-stand-Hempstead-New-York-signs-sister-city-pact-with-settler-council-467880 |access-date=24 July 2017 |date=16 September 2016 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316194950/https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/In-anti-BDS-stand-Hempstead-New-York-signs-sister-city-pact-with-settler-council-467880 |url-status=live }}</ref>