Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/563

* SAMAR. 505 SAMARITAN LANGUAGE. There are practically no roaJs in the ishind, and means of coninuinioation are conlineil wholly to the waterways alonj; the coasts and the rivers, niost of the latter being navigable for native • boats. All the towns and nearly all villages are situated on navigable water, and there is a con- siderable coasting trade. The inhabitants, whose number was estimated in I'JOl at 195,380, are almost of pure Visayan stock, and speak the Visayan language. The island with its dependent islets forms a single province, whose capital is Catbalogan (q.v. ). Samar w'as one of the last of the Visayan islands to remain in active insurrection against the L'nitcd States, and its pacification ])resented considerable difficulties, as the natives burned their villages and took refuge in the pathless wilderness of the interior. Xot till the begin- ning of 1902 did sufficient American forces arrive to begin active operations in the field,' and on February 18th Lukban, the chief leader of the Visayan insurgents, was captured. His successor, Gueverra, surrendered with all his followers to General Smith in April, and in .Tune, 1902, civil government was inaugurated in the island. Con- sult the authorities referred to under Philippine ISLAKD.S. SAMARA, sa-m:i'ra. A government of East- ern Russia (Map: Russia, H 4). Area, over 60,- 300 square miles. The rsgion is divided by the Samara, a tributarj- of the Volga, into two parts, of which the northern is largely hilly and abun- dantly watered, while the southern has the char- acter of a steppe with a slight elevation in the southeast. The principal river of Samara is the Volga, which forms its western boundary for a distance of over GOO miles. Samara has a fertile black soil, exhausted somewhat by wasteful methods. Agriculture is the principal occupation, and a considerable proportion of the product is ex- ported. There are over 10,000.000 acres under cultivation, chiefly under wheat, rye, oats, and potatoes. The German colonists cultivate tobac- co on an extensive scale. Famines are not in- frequent. The annual value of the manufactures is only about .$5,000,000. The population in 1897 was 2,763,478, of whom the Russians formed about 70 per cent, SAMARA. The capital of the government of the same name in Eastern Russia, situated at the junction of the Samara with the Volga, about 740 miles southeast of Moscow (Jlap: Rus- sia, H 4). It has an excellent port and im- mense grain storehouses. The chief industry is milling. There are a seminary for teachers, a seminary for priests, and a public library with a museum of antiquities. The trade in grain, flour, tallow, hides, wool, and horses is very ex- tensive. Samara was founded as a fort in 1586. Population, in 1897, 91,672. SAMARANG, sa'ma-rang'. The capital of the residency of the same name in .Java, situated on the northern coast, at the motith of the river of Samarang, and about 2.")0 miles east-southeast of Batavia (Map: East India Islands, DO). It is an important conunercial centre, although its harbor is very defective and practically in- accessible during the monsoon. Population, in 1897, 84,244, including 3355 Europeans. SAMA'RIA. The central division of ancient Palestine (q.v.). SAMARIA (lieb, iSImiiuiuii, probably watch or guard, .iainaic Sliamrayiii, Gk. Sayudpeio, SdiiKircid, Xeiiepuv, Hiiiicrun, Soiuipiiv, SomurOn, 2e/zap6(^i', *S'cM((/i*('(JH, Lat, Suinuriu) . A city of ancient Palestine (Map: Palestine, C 3), which, early in the ninth century h.c,, was made by Omri the capital of the kingdom of Israel. According to I. Ivings xvi. 23-24, after reigning six years at Tirzah, Omri bought the site from one Shemer, and named the city which he built there after the original owner. It was situated on a hill of more than 300 feet elevation, i.sohitcd on all sides except the east. It was about six miles northwest of Sliechcm an<l commanded the road northward to the |)lain of Ksdraelon and westward to the coast. It was thus well adapted for a fortified ca])ital. Under Ahab the city be- came a centre of Uaal worship. The Syrians laid siege to it during the reign of Ahab (I. Kings XX. 1), and again in the time of Joram (II. Kings vi. 24 et .se(i.). but did not capture it. It was invested by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, and, after a siege of three years, was taken by his successor, Sargon, in B.C. 722. (See SAitARiTANS.) Samaria was captured by Alexander the Great (is.c. 331), who killed many of the inhabitants and replaced them with Macedonian colonists. It was taken and completely destroyed by .lohn Hyrcanus (n.C. 120), but w-as soon rebuilt and remained in the possession of the Jews till Pompey restored it to the descendants of the expelled Samaritans. It was fortified by Gabinius. Augustus gave the town to Herod the Great, who rebuilt it with much splendor and called it Sebaste, after the Emperor (2e/3a(7T^, from Se/Saorij = Augustus), Philip the Evangelist preached Christianity in Samaria (Acts viii. 5), and in the third century it was an episcopal see. A Greek bishop still derives his title from Sebaste. After the Moham- medan conquest of Palestine the importance of Sebaste declined. It is now a small village (Se- bastiyeh), with but few relics of its former great- ness. SAMARITAN LANGUAGE AND LIT- ERATURE. The Samaritan belunus to the Semitic languages and may be grouped with the western Aramaic dialects, although it contains strong admixtures of Hebrew. It is no longer spoken, but is still studied by a few priests in the small Samaritan community (see Samari- tans) at Nabulus, where the common s])cech is now Arabic, The dialect is interesting from a philological point of view, both because of its antiquity and of its 'mixed' character. Its his- tory may be traced back to the fourth century B.C., but its beginnings belong to a still earlier date. That it survived the .Xrabic conquest is due to the sacred character which it acquired in the e'es of the Samaritans by virtue of the trans- lation of the Pentateuch into their dialect. The alphabet is a direct derivation of the Phoenician and more antique in character than the ordinary Hebrew letters. Its phonology presents .some peculiar characteristics, the nmst pronfuniced be- ing the practical loss of guttural sounds, which leads to considerable confusion in the writing of words containing guttural letters. Its morjihol- ogy presents no unique featiires, while its vocabu- lary contains many foreign words borrowed from Arabic, Latin, and Greek. The literature is of small extent and of little value. Besides the Samaritan Pentateuch and Targum (see Samabi-