Samaria
Samaria (lat. / Engl. Samaria) referred mainly to the northern part of present-day West Bank ( territory of Nablus ). Samaria is also called Shomron ( שֹׁמְרוֹן, standard; Arab سامريون, DMG Sāmariyyūn or ألسامرة as- Samara, also known as Jibal Nablus / جبال نابلس / Ǧabāl Nablus; Greek: Σαμαρεία ) and is a geographical designation of the mountainous region between the more northern Galilee and the southern Judea.
The biblical Samaria
The biblical land of Samaria is the result of the elimination of the ten northern tribes of Israel from the house of David king 926 BC. Omri, the BC king of the northern kingdom was about 885-874, built the city of Samaria as the capital of the northern kingdom. Because of its syncretic religion politics he is strongly criticized in the Bible. Only a small group of believers in YHWH has survived the downfall of the kingdom.
Since these Samaritans rejected the temple cult in Jerusalem and own sacrificial sites preferred on Mount Gerizim, they were not recognized by the Israelites of the southern kingdom, and in Jerusalem, but particularly contemptuous considered (cf. also Jn to 4.1 to 41 EU; Jesus and the Samaritan woman ). That is the background, when the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus just represents a Samaritan as exemplary.
Samaria today
Samaria is attributed to the West Bank today.
Israel called the West Bank on the basis of biblical toponyms as Judea and Samaria, which can be reproduced in direct transliteration as Yehuda and Shomron.