Sebastia (town)

Sebastia (Arabic: سبسطية‎, Sebastiya; Greek: Σεβαστη, Sebastos Latin: Sebaste) is a Palestinian village of an estimated 2,900 inhabitants² located in the Nablus Governorate of the West Bank some 15 kilometers northwest of the city of Nablus.³ The village's total area is 4810 dunums, the built up area of which comprises 150 dunums.⁴ Much of the village lands (42%) are located in area C under the Oslo Accords.⁴

Sebastia is home to a number of important archaeological sites.⁵ The ancient site of Samaria-Sebaste is located just above the built up area of the modern day village on the eastern slope of the hill.⁶ The ruins dominate the hillside and comprise remains from six successive cultures dating back 10,000 years: Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine.⁷

The city was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and was destroyed again by John Hyrcanus in 108 BCE.⁸ Pompey rebuilt the town in the year 63 BCE. In 27 ACE, Augustus Caesar gave it to Herod the Great. Herod expanded and renovated the city, and named it "Sebaste", meaning "Augustus", in the Emperor's honor.⁸ Herod the Great had his sons Alexander and Aristobulus brought to Sebaste, and strangled in 7 BCE after a trial in Berytus and getting permission from Caesar.⁹

In modern-day Sebastia, the village's main mosque stands within the remains of a Crusader cathedral beside the public square.⁶ There are also Roman royal tombs,⁵ and a few medieval and many Ottoman era buildings which survive in a good state of preservation.⁶

References

^ Municipalities Nablus Municipality
^ Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. "Projected Mid-Year Population for Nablus Governorate by Locality 2004 - 2006". Palestinian National Authority. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
^ "Nablus". Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
^ ^a ^b "Shavei Shomron's buffer zone legalized by Israel's supreme court". Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (1 July 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
^ ^a ^b United Nations Development Programme (23 April 2003). "Spain helps restore Sebastia, Palestinian town with historic sites". United Nations. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c Michael Hamilton Burgoyne and Mahmoud Hawari (2005). "Bayt al-Hawwari, a hawsh House in Sabastiya". 'Levant' (Council for British Research in the Levant, London) Vol. 37: 57–80, http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17419792. Retrieved on 14 September 2007.
^ "Holy Land Blues". Al-Ahram Weekly (5 - 11 January 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
^ ^a ^b Sebaste, Holy Land Atlas Travel and Tourism Agency.
^ Josephus Flavius Antiquities book 16 chapter 11 para 7

References

External links