Sidon

   One of the most important, and maybe the oldest, of the ancient Phoenician cities. Located on the Mediterranean coast about 25 miles (40 km) north of another major Phoenician port, Tyre, Sidon was Tyre's mother city as well as the founder of other Phoenician colonies. The famous Greek poet Homer praised Sidon for its talented craftsmen, including glassmakers and purple-dye makers; and there is no doubt that the city was a major commercial center in the first half of the first millennium b.c. Sidon also boasted a thriving bronze-making quarter and a community of scholars versed in mathematics, astronomy, and navigation. All of these qualities made the city a tempting prize for a long series of foreign conquerors, including several from Mesopotamia. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians all captured Sidon in the first millennium b.c., and other intruders included Philistines, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The city was frequently mentioned in the Bible: for its arts and commerce (1 Kings 5.6; 1 Chronicles 22.4; Ezekiel 27.8); relations with ancient Israel (Judges 10.12); and visits by Jesus (Matthew 15.21; Mark 7.24). Sidon survived ancient times only to be destroyed in the Middle Ages, first in 1249 during the Crusades and again in 1260 by the invading Mongols. Modern Sidon is one of Lebanon's three biggest cities.

   See also: Assyrian Empire; Bible; Phoenicians