jan 1, 740 BC - Fall of Samaria

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Picture: Prism containing Sennacherib's boast about his invasion of Judah.

In 742 B.C.E. Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria, laid siege to Samaria, but the city was able to hold out for nearly three years. When it finally fell in 740 B.C.E., many of the leading inhabitants were deported into exile and settled in Mesopotamia and Media. Whether credit for the ultimate capture of the city goes to Shalmaneser V or to his successor Sargon II is still not a settled question.​—2Ki 17:1-6, 22, 23; 18:9-12; see SARGON.

With the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians, the Bible’s detailed history of the city ends. Thereafter, mention of the city is often, though not always (2Ki 23:18; Ac 8:5), made by way of a reminder of what becomes of those who rebel against Jehovah. (2Ki 18:34; 21:13; Isa 10:9-11; 36:19)

Secular records relate some of Samaria’s history from and after the days of Alexander the Great. In Roman times its splendor was due to the building program of Herod the Great, who renamed the city Sebaste (a feminine Greek form for the Latin name Augustus), in honor of Augustus, the first emperor. Today the Arabic name Sabastiya preserves the name Herod gave it. It is therefore not surprising that excavations at this site have uncovered the remains of a number of different periods in its history; some of these remains are from the days of Israel’s kings.

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