Shomron is an important part of both the Biblical heartland and the modern State of Israel. In the Bible, King Omri purchased the city of Shomron from a man named Shemer and made it the capital of the kingdom of Israel. During the Second Temple period, King Herod renamed the city Sebaste or Sebastia. 

The name Samaria/Shomron is also used for the central region of the Land of Israel which roughly corresponds to the lands of the tribes of Ephraim and the western part of Manasseh. Today, the area of Shomron plays a vital role in the spirituality, economics and security of the country.

Shechem is the first place Abraham stopped after leaving Haran and traveling to Canaan. There, God promised Abraham that the land would be given to his descendants. Jacob purchased part of the city and later gave it as a special gift to his son Joseph. When the Children of Israel entered the Land of Israel, they buried Joseph’s bones in Shechem.

Joshua brought the Tabernacle from Gilgal to Shiloh where it remained for 369 years, serving as the central point for Israelite service to God. It was at the Tabernacle in Shiloh that Hannah poured out her heart to God, begging for a child, and it was from Shilo that the Ark of the Covenant was taken to war and lost to the Philistines in battle.

The Land of Canaan was settled by Canaan, his sons, and their tribes. God promised the Land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, to be conquered and settled after leaving Egypt. The Israelites eventually conquered the land and renamed it Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel) after the patriarch Jacob, whose name was also Israel.