The Assyrian Province of Samerina: New Archaeological and Historical Aspects

The Samaria region at the period after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and the conquest by Assyria hasn`t been much discussed. Some scholars, based mainly on literary and historical sources, described the province of Samerina established after the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians, as part of the wealthy era of the `Pax Assyria` in the land of Israel. However, others mentioned the destruction levels excavated at some of the sites in Samaria.

Both from historical and archaeological sources one can learn that the province of Samerina have been established on the foundations of the Northern Kingdom. Nevertheless, following the Assyrian conquest, its settlements suffered a great decline. Many sites were destroyed or abandoned, and only few remained intact. From a new analysis of the results of the new archaeological surveys, I would like to show that the rural sector in the southern areas experienced a significant drop in settlements during the Assyrian period, while sites on the northern areas continued to be inhabited until the Persian era. It seems that the establishment of provincial administration and the importing of foreign population into Samaria affected mainly the northern areas, those close to the capital – Samaria, as can be seen likewise in the province of Megiddo. These areas suffered less destruction in comparison with the southern parts of Samaria.

These observations shed lite on the historical processes at the region and on the understanding of the Northern Bounday of the Kingdom of Judah at the 7th century B.C.E.