Seat of a Melchite and a Maronite see in Syria Sidon, the seat
of a Melchite and a Maronite see in Syria. Sidon is the oldest
city of the Phoenicians, and the metropolis of the great
colonial empire established by this people (Strabo, XVI, i, 22).
It is mentioned in the ethnological table of Genesis (x, 19);
the territory of the tribe of Zabulon reached even to the gates
of this city (Gen., xlix, 13), but the Hebrews never were its
masters (Jos. xi, 8; xiii, 3, 6; xix, 28; Judges, i, 31; iii, 3;
x, 12; xviii, 7). The supremacy of the Sidonians continued until
about 1252 B.C., when the Philistines, after partly destroying
Sidon, built on the old foundations the city of Dor, above
Jaffa. The Sidonians fled to Tyre, one of their colonies, which
then became the leading city. Sidon, called the mother of the
Phoenician cities, for Tyre, Carthage, Hippo were settled by
emigrants from there, was noted for its bronze, its commerce,
navigation, knowledge of mathematics and astronomy; it is
mentioned with great praise b