The name of the Northern Israelite capital and of the territory surrounding it. It was located on a hill 11 kilometers northwest of Shechem commanding the main trade routes through the Esdraelon plain.
King Menahem preserved the city from attack by paying tribute to Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria (2 Kings 15:17-20). Menahem's son Pekah, however, drew the Assyrian army back again by his attack on Judah, then a vassal-ally of Assyria.
Sargon II, a new king of Assyria, initiated a scheme of mass deportation for the whole area. According to his annals, Sargon carried off 27,270 captives, and the effect was to terminate the existence of the Northern kingdom of Israel as a homogeneous and independent state. The exiles were despatched to places in Syria, Assyria and Babylonia and replaced by colonists from other disturbed parts of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 17:24). [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary , Vol. 3, pp. 1375-1376 ] [See 2 Nephi 20:9]
2 Nephi 17:9 Samaria ([Illustration]): The location of Samaria. [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary , Vol. 3, p. 1572 ]
2 Nephi 17:9 Samaria ([Illustration]): The Tribes of Israel. [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary , Vol. 3, p. 1594]