The archaeological site of Sidon includes the ruins of what was an important city-state of the Iron Age civilization of Phoenicia also called Canaan, and the center port for trade between Assyria, Egypt, Cyprus and the Aegean Sea between the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Located on the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon, Sidon is today still a thriving city and port.
Sidon was founded during the Early Bronze Age of the third millennium BC, when it was settled by coastal populations in the natural anchorage. By the beginning of the early Iron Age (between about 1200-1000 BC), Sidon had become an important international trade center. The first artificial harbor at Sidon was begun with the placement of artificial quays built of sandstone ridges and reinforced sea walls.
Sidon's importance as a harbor continued throughout the Phoenician period and into the Roman and Byzantine period. During Phoenician times Sidon was known for glass making; and Sidon glassmakers were among the earliest innovators of the blown glass technique. During the first century BC, Sidon's glass workers opened workshops in Italy where working with Italian artisans they perfected blown glass. Also an important product of Sidon was the production of purple dyes from murex shell.
The modern city of Sidon still has numerous architectural remnants of its past, including Byzantine, Persian, and Medieval buildings, such as the 13th century AD Sea Castle, illustrated in the photograph.
Sidon and Archaeology
Archaeologists associated with Sidon include Ernest Renan, who excavated at the extensive necropolis, Georges Contenau, and Maurice Dunand, who worked at the Temple of Eshmun.
Although the focus of archaeological exploration for two centuries, Sidon was first extensively excavated fairly recently, by a team based at the British Museum and led by C. Doumet-Serhal. Part of the ancient harbor lies underwater, leading both to difficulties of excavation, but also to good preservation of artifacts. Recent investigations have led to a detailed description of the history of Sidon's harbor, which makes for fascinating reading.
Sources
An excellent source of information on Sidon is the website at the British Museum on Sidon Excavations; also see the numerous articles by Nick Marriner and colleagues on the geoarchaeological investigations at the harbor listed below.
Jidejian, Nina. 1971. Sidon through the Ages. Dar el-Machreq Publishers, Beirut.
Jigoulov, Vadim 2007 The Phoenician City-states of Tyre and Sidon in Ancient Jewish Texts: Of diachrony and ideology. Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 21(1):73-105.
Marriner, Nick and Christophe Morhange 2005 Under the city centre, the ancient harbour. Tyre and Sidon: heritages to preserve. Journal of Cultural Heritage 6(2):183-189.
Marriner, Nick, Christophe Morhange, Claude D. Serhal, and Pierre Carbonel 2006 Geoscience rediscovers Phoenicia's buried harbors. Geology 34(1):1-4.
Marriner, Nick, Christophe Morhange, and Claude Doumet-Serhal 2006 Geoarchaeology of Sidon’s ancient harbours, Phoenicia. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:1514-1535.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
