The city had a long and bloody history. It was here that a Jewish prophet named Elijah had slaughtered two hundred Baal priests. Later the dynasty of King Ahab and his Phoenician wife, Jezebel, was overthrown by a man named Jehu, who slaughtered the worshipers of Baal and then turned the god’s temple into a latrine. But the bloodshed had not ended there.
Over the centuries, Samaria was conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Macedonians. Finally, a Hasmonean leader by the name of John Hyrcanus I made the city part of a Jewish kingdom again. But less than two centuries later, Pompey took the city for Rome. Caesar Augustus gave Samaria to Herod the Great as a gift, and the Jewish king promptly renamed it “Sebaste,” Greek for “Augustus.”
As Marcus rode through the gates into the city, he saw again the heavy stamp of Roman and Greek influence. The populace was a mingling of races: Roman, Greek, Arab, and Jew. He found an inn near the marketplace, or what was called an inn. Actually, it was little more than a protected courtyard with booths along the inner walls and a fire in the center. Still, it was shelter.
After a visit to the baths, he returned to the inn and asked questions of the proprietor, a thin, shrewd-eyed Greek named Malchus.
“You’re wasting your time looking for the Jews’ god. Even they dispute among themselves as to which mountain is the holy mount. Those in Sebaste say Mount Gerizim is where Abraham took his son to be sacrificed.”
“What do you mean ‘sacrificed’?”
“The race of Jews began with a man named Abraham, who was told by their god to sacrifice his only son, a son he had in his old age and who was promised him by this same god,” Malchus said, pouring wine into Marcus’ goblet.
Marcus gave a mirthless laugh. “So he killed his own from the beginning.”
“They don’t see it that way. The Jews believe their god was testing their patriarch’s faith. Would this Abraham choose to love God more than his only son? He passed the test, and his son was spared. It’s considered one of the most crucial events in their religious history. Abraham’s obedience to his god is what made his descendants ‘the chosen people.’ You’d think they’d know where it happened, but somewhere along the line the location came into dispute. It’s either Moriah to the south or Gerizim within walking distance of here. It didn’t help matters that the Jews in Jerusalem look upon those here in Samaria as a tainted race.”
“Tainted by what?”
“Intermarriage with Gentiles. You and I are Gentiles, my lord. In fact, anyone not born a direct descendant of this Abraham is a Gentile. They’re adamant about it. Even those who embrace their religion aren’t considered true Jews, not even after they’ve been circumcised.”
Marcus winced. He’d heard what circumcision entailed. “What man in full possession of his senses would agree to such a barbaric practice?”
“Anyone who wants to adhere to the Jewish Law,” Malchus said. “The problem is the Jews can’t even agree among themselves. And they hold grudges longer than any Roman. The Jews in the districts of Judea and Galilee hate those here in Samaria, and it’s got to do with whatever happened centuries ago,” he said. “There was a temple here once, but it was destroyed by a Hasmonean Jew named John Hyrcanus. The Samaritans haven’t forgotten that, either. They’ve got long memories. There’s a lot of bad blood between them, and the rift between them grows wider as time goes by.”
“I’d think worshiping one god would unite a people.”
“Ha! Jews are splintered into all kinds of factions and sects. You’ve got the Essenes, the Zealots, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. You’ve got Samaritans, who proclaim Mount Gerizim the holy mountain, and Jews in Judea who’re still praying at what remains of their temple walls. Then you’ve got new sects cropping up all the time. These Christians, for example. They’ve lasted longer than most, though the Jews have driven almost all of them out of Palestine. There are still a few determined to stay and save the rest. I’ll tell you, where there are Christians in Palestine, you can be sure there’ll be a riot and someone will get stoned.”
“Are there Christians here in Sebaste?” Marcus said.
“A few. I don’t have anything to do with them. It’s not good for business.”
“Where would I find them?”
“Don’t get anywhere near them. And if you do, don’t bring any into my inn. Jews hate Christians worse than they hate the Romans.”
“I thought they’d have a common ground. The same god.”