Samaria
a city and country of Palestine; situated toward the N. of Judea. Samaria was the country in which SAMARITANS the 10 revolted tribes raised their independent state and formed the kingdom properly denominated Israel, in contradistinction to that of Judah, embracing the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, from which the other 10 had seceded when, refusing the authority of Rehoboam, they established a dynasty of their own, at the head of which they placed Jeroboam, the first king of the nation of Israel. So deadly was the animosity and so implacable the hatred that existed between these two nations of Jews, that, from the time of their severance to the destruction of their capital and the captivity of Israel, an almost perpetual state of warfare existed between Judah and Israel; and the term of Samaritan was one of the bitterest contempt and reproach that could be applied to any one. The antipathy borne by the people of Judah for those of Israel or Samaria was not only political, but religious. Theological dissensions were, however, in time greatly modified by the return of the Samaritans to the ancient form of worship, and by the erection of a temple in the capital, an event that was celebrated soon after the passage of Alexander the Great through the land of Syria. The city of Samaria, and capital of the kingdom, was situated on a hill, Mount Sameron, was founded by Omri, and from that time till its overthrow by the Assyrians was the residence of all the Kings of Israel. It was subsequently rebuilt by Herod, who called it Sebaste (a Greek word signifying Augustus), in honor of Augustus Cæsar.
SAMOAN ISLANDS They avoid any connections with other sects and marry only among their own nation.