Sidon

1. The firstborn son of Canaan, the progenitor of the Sidonians.

2. One of the most ancient Phoenician cities, situated in the narrow fertile plain between the mountains of Lebanon and the Mediterranean 25 miles (40 km) north of Tyre with which it had a close relationship and a frequent rivalry. Lying at the northern end of the plain, it was fortified by a strong wall, and had two harbors defended by a few small islands and a breakwater. Sidon is mentioned in the Babylonian sources of the late 3rd millennium. In Genesis (10:19) Sidon is referred to as the border of Canaan, and in Joshua (11:8) it is described as Greater Sidon.

Sidon was the first Phoenician city to send ships on to the open seas, and its navigators could find their way at night by the stars. The Sidonians were the first people in their region to establish contacts with the Greeks; they are mentioned several times by Homer. Sidon was famous at an early period for its artisans, its gold and silver, its coppersmiths and its weavers, who also undertook embroidery and dyeing. In the Hellenistic period it became one of the largest centers of glass production.

Sidon, like other Phoenician cities, was ruled by kings, and their sovereignty soon extended over the cities to the south of it. The Sidonians built Laish (Dan), but the Danites set it on fire (Judg 18:7, 27). The Sidonians also founded many commercial colonies along the shores of the Mediterranean.

The independence of Sidon was curtailed when the kings of Egypt conquered Palestine and Syria (16th –13th centuries B.C.), but the kings of Sidon were left free to administer their realm as long as tribute was paid. In the middle of the 12th century B.C. the city was destroyed and its inhabitants fled to Tyre, where they helped in the development of that city. But Sidon soon recovered from this crisis and it seems that it was at that time that the Sidonians exerted pressure over the Israelites (Judg 10:12).

With the rise of Assyria Sidon was subdued along with the other Phoenician towns, and was also required to pay tribute. Ahab, king of Israel, married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, who introduced her native cults into Israel. The Assyrian rulers Shalmaneser VI, Sennacherib and Esarhaddon conducted numerous campaigns to subdue Sidon. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Sidon on his way to Judah: during his siege half of the inhabitants of the city died of plague. After the fall of Babylon Sidon revived, however, and under Persian protection its domain extended over the Plain of Sharon, from Mount Carmel to Joppa.

Sidon was destroyed when it rebelled during the reign of Artaxerxes III (352 B.C.). When Alexander the Great besieged and conquered Tyre Sidon willingly opened its gates and benefited greatly from the fall of its rival. After Alexander's death the town was held by the Ptolemies of Egypt, but in 198 B.C. it was conquered by the Seleucids of Syria. In 64 B.C. Sidon was taken by Pompey, who acknowledged its autonomy and granted it the right to mint coins.

Jesus traveled through the region of Sidon and cured the daughter of a syro-Phoenician woman who showed faith in him (Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). On his way to rome as a prisoner Paul was allowed to visit his friends in the city (Acts 27:1, 3).