Sebastia (ancient Samaria, modern Sebastiyeh) was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel for over 200 years, from the time of King Omri (880 BCE) until the Assyrian conquest in 722 BCE. The city, built on a commanding hilltop in the Samarian mountains, was one of the most magnificent royal cities in the ancient Near East, and its ruins span the Israelite, Hellenistic, and Roman periods.
Capital of Israel
King Omri, the founder of one of the most powerful Israelite dynasties, purchased the hill of Samaria and built his capital there: “He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner” (1 Kings 16:24). Omri’s son Ahab, who married the Phoenician princess Jezebel, expanded the city and built the infamous “ivory house,” a palace decorated with carved ivory inlays: “As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory…” (1 Kings 22:39). Hundreds of ivory fragments were found in the excavations, confirming the biblical description.
Elijah and Ahab
Samaria was the setting for the confrontation between the prophet Elijah and King Ahab over the worship of Baal. It was in Samaria that Jezebel established her temple to Baal, and it was from Samaria that Elijah challenged the king to the contest at Muhraka on Mount Carmel. The story of Naboth’s vineyard, in which Ahab and Jezebel murdered a man to steal his property, took place in nearby Jezreel (1 Kings 21:1): “Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Let me have your vineyard…’ But Naboth replied, ‘The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors’” (1 Kings 21:2-3).
Assyrian Conquest
In 722 BCE, after a three-year siege, the Assyrians captured Samaria and exiled the population: “The king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria” (2 Kings 17:6). The Assyrians brought in foreign populations to replace the exiled Israelites, and the mixing of these populations with the remaining Israelites gave rise to the Samaritans.
Roman City
Herod the Great rebuilt Samaria as a Roman city and renamed it Sebastia (the Greek equivalent of Augustus, honoring the Roman emperor). Herod built a massive temple to Augustus, a colonnaded street, a forum, a theater, and defensive walls. The ruins of the Roman city, with their columns, walls, and monumental staircase leading to the Augustus temple, are the most visible remains at the site today.
Execution of Alexander and Aristobulus
Sebastia was also the site of one of the most notorious acts in Herod’s reign. According to Josephus, Herod had his own sons Alexander and Aristobulus, the sons of his Hasmonean wife Mariamne, brought to Sebaste and strangled there after a trial for treason. The choice of Sebaste was deliberate: it was the city where Herod had married Mariamne years earlier, and the execution of her sons in the same city was a grim closing of the circle. The murder of his own children horrified even the Roman emperor Augustus, who reportedly said, “I would rather be Herod’s pig than his son.”
Visit with Hoshen Tours
Sebastia tells the story of a capital that rivaled Jerusalem. Hoshen Tours visits the Israelite acropolis, the Roman colonnades, and tells the stories of Omri, Ahab, Jezebel, and the Assyrian exile that ended the Northern Kingdom.