The Cuthites is a name describing a people said by the Hebrew Bible and by the 1st-century historian Josephus to be living in Samaria around 500 BCE.
[1] The modern scholarly view is that Yahweh-worshippers in the north of Ancient Israel outnumbered post-722 BCE Assyrian settlers, who assimilated into the existing Yahwist population.
"[3] According to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Cuthites were to blame for the postponing of the construction of the Second Temple, during the reign of Cyrus the Great.
They did this after the Jewish people returned from Babylonian exile, and first agreed to help them, but after the Jews refused, they lied to king Cyrus who postponed the building process.
[citation needed] The Cuthites are mentioned in Josephus, Antiquities Book 11, Chapter 4, as "Cutheans", naming them as those who were brought from Media and Persia and "planted" in Samaria by the king of Assyria after he had conquered the Ten Tribes of Israel.