Mt. Gerizim

Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim go hand in hand in the Bible, with Mt. Gerizim due north of Mt. Ebal and the biblical city of Shechem wedged between the two. Twice Moses mentions them in the same context, once in Deuteronomy 11:29 ["When the LORD your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses".] And again, when he lists the tribes of Israel that will bless the people from Mount Gerizim and those who will curse them from Mt. Ebal [Deuteronomy 7:11-13]. As a result, Mt. Gerizim came to represent the blessings bestowed upon the tribes of Israel if they follow the law given to Moses and Mt. Ebal the curses that would befall them if they did not.

In later generations, after the conquest and dispersion of the tribes that became "lost" to Israel, the Assyrian victors brought new settlers here. This new population accepted only the Written Law, and their interpretation of the Law placed the sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Gerizim. The people eventually became known as Samaritans. The Samaritan Center and Temple is on Mt. Gerizim, and to this day they carry out sacrificial ceremonies on its peak. After Christianity was declared as the official religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian built an octagonal church on Gerizim. From the peak you have a spectacular views of the entire region of Samaria and it's surroundings.