Editing Samaria (section)

=== 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=}}