Archaeological Evidence for Samaritan Expansion after the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE)

The Samaritan community expanded from its heartland around Shechem (Neapolis) toward other parts of the country since early days. The process reached its height after the suppression of the Bar-Kokhba war (132-136 C.E.). Rural settlements that participated in the war were destroyed and their population was annihilated. The empty settlements were slowly repopulated under the supervision of the Roman Imperial authorities. Most of the new settlers were pagan gentiles, but also Samaritans participated in the process. The main expansion occurred through the 2nd-3rd centuries C.E., as attested by rabbinical sources and new discoveries by archaeologists.

The new evidence includes dozens of Jewish rural settlements that were deserted after the war, from lower Galilee to Idumea in the south. Since then the Jewish leadership referred to the Samaritans as gentiles. The Samaritan community which rebelled against the Byzantine Christian authorities was nearly annihilated in the 6th century C.E.