SIDON
Inhabited
from about 4000 BC (and perhaps as early as the Neolithic age in
6000 BC), the name of this coastal city means 'fishery'. Claimed
by many to be the oldest of the Canaanite or Phoenician cities,
it vies with Gebal for that honour.
Sidon
is located in modern Lebanon, about 40km (25 miles) north of Tyre
and the same distance south of Biruta,
and is now its third-largest city, a busy port called Saydah. For
the reason that it is still occupied, archaeological research of
the Canaanite city is very difficult, so its history is pieced together
from what records remain, plus what digs can be carried out during
any rebuilding or construction projects.
c.2000
- 1800 BC :
Egypt maintains a trading presence in the region.
18th
cent BC :
Zimrida
1453
BC :
The Egyptians conquer the Levant and Syria and establish three provinces
in their conquered territories which are named Amurru (in southern
Syria), Upe (in the northern Levant), and Canaan (in the southern
Levant). Each one is governed by an Egyptian official. Native dynasts
are allowed to continue their rule over the small states, but have
to provide annual tribute. The city of Sarepta is a vassal of Sidon
by this time.
1300s
BC :
Zimr-Hadda
/ Zimrida II
1300s
BC :
Iab-nilud
c.1200
BC :
There is general collapse in the region as instability grips the
Mediterranean coast and the Hittite empire is destroyed by the Sea
Peoples and other various groups. Arvad, Gebal, Sidon, and Tyre,
all with prominent harbours, manage to survive unscathed, although
the wealthy customers disappear for a time.
Phoenician
Sidon :
Claimed by many to be the oldest of the Canaanite or Phoenician
cities, the city of Sidon vies with Gebal for that honour. Its name
means 'fishery', making pretty obvious the original reason for settlement
here. Sidon was for a long time highly influential, but was later
surpassed in this respect by its colony at Tyre. Descended from
the Canaanites who formerly inhabited the entire Levant region,
Phoenicians still thought of themselves as Canaanites even after
their greatest days were behind them, and their language was very
closely related to ancient Hebrew. It was the Greeks who coined
the name Phoenicia ('phoinikes', meaning 'purple people', from the
famed purple dye they produced from the shells of the Murex shellfish).
Unfortunately, one technological advance during the city's greatest
independent period was the use of parchment and papyrus instead
of clay tablets for record-keeping. These are highly perishable,
and few have survived.
In the first millennium BC, Sidon, on the long coastal strip of
modern Lebanon, was one of the most important Canaanite cities in
Phoenicia. It was partly responsible for creating the great commercial
empire which operated from the Lebanese coast. It was also from
Sidon that a party went out to found the city of Tyre, and the two
later became rivals, with each of them claiming to be the mother
city of Phoenicia.
The Greeks knew Sidon as the home of the Princess Europa, whom Zeus
supposedly abducted while disguised as a white bull. Sidon's most
important industry was glass-making, which was conducted on a vast
scale, and the production of valuable purple dye. All of the Phoenician
cities were great seafaring merchants with technically improved
ships that had a large loading capacity. They sailed the length
of the Mediterranean and beyond, establishing colonies in North
Africa and Spain from the tenth century onwards.
(Additional information from External Link: An Updated
Chronology of the Reigns of Phoenician Kings during the Persian
Period (539-333 BC), Josette Elayi (Trans 32, 2007, available
in English at DigitOrient).)
c.1050
BC :
A weakened Egypt loses its remaining imperial possessions in Canaan.
c.955
BC :
According
to the Old Testament, the First Temple of Jerusalem is completed
in Israel, apparently by craftsmen from Sidon. Soloman also enters
into a matrimonial alliance with Sidon, but Sidon's influence is
already waning as Tyre gains pre-eminence in Phoenicia, and it may
well be that it is already controlled by Tyre. Any list of rulers
for the city in this period invariably shows names of kings who
are based in Tyre.
853
BC :
An
alliance of states is formed which includes Ammon, Arvad, Byblos,
Damas, Edom, Egypt, Hamath, Kedar, and Samaria (seemingly despite
recent conflict between Damas and Samaria). Together they fight
Shalmaneser III of Assyria at the Battle of Qarqar which consists
of the largest known number of combatants in a single battle to
date, and is the first historical mention of the Arabs from the
southern deserts. Despite claims to the contrary, the Assyrians
are defeated, since they do not press on to their nearest target,
Hamath, and do not resume their attacks on Hamath and Damas for
about six years.
738
BC :
All of the Phoenician states become vassals of Assyria, but local
arrangements for governance are left in place.
722
BC :
Shalmaneser's invasion allows Tyre to gain possession of Sarepta.
704
- 701 BC :
With the death of Sargon II of Assyria, many of the former subject
states rebel. It takes the Assyrians until 701 BC to get around
to quelling the Phoenician states. Tyre and Sidon fall without a
fight, and the cities in their orbit surrender.
![Port of Sidon](Sidon_Port01_full.jpg)
The
port of Sidon, one of the principal ports on the Phoenician coastline
c.685
- 677 BC :
Abdi-Milkuti
: Last-known Sidonian king, under Assyria.
676
- 612 BC :
Assyria conquers all of Phoenicia. In Sidon, subject kings may be
allowed to remain in power, at least during the later stages of
Assyrian rule, although their names are unknown. However, as Tyre
appears to lose its ability to control events in the city, it seems
likely that the two cities no longer share the same rulers.
600s
- 573 BC :
Tyre regains control over Sidon.
573
- 539 BC :
Babylonia conquers Phoenicia including Sidon.
539
BC :
Sidon and all of Phoenicia is submerged within the Persian empire.
Vassal kings are allowed to remain in charge in the city.
Persian
& Greek Vassal Kings of Sidon :
Like the other Phoenician cities, at its height Sidon had founded
colonies along the western Mediterranean coastline, especially in
North Africa and Spain from the tenth century BC onwards. The city
lies about forty kilometres north of Tyre and the same distance
south of Biruta. Independence ended in 738 BC when Assyria invaded
and conquered the Levant. Local arrangements for governance were
generally allowed to continue, however, setting a pattern for subsequent
domination by Babylonia, Achaemenid Persia, and the Greek empire
of Alexander the Great. One of the main reasons for this, especially
under the Persians, was that it was the Phoenicians who made up
much of the empire's naval forces, both building and manning the
ships.
As part of the Achaemenid empire Sidon was one of the four Phoenician
vassal 'kingdoms' to be established and controlled by sub-kings
in the name of the Persian king. This took it out of the control
of the shoftim of Tyre (if that city had been able to apply
any control after 573 BC), and gave it more independence and influence
than it had enjoyed for centuries. Sidon became prominent in the
region until the revolt of 358 BC, although not to the point at
which it could dominate the other major Phoenician cities. It did
command some smaller ones though, such as Dor and Sarepta. Overall,
Achaemenid-era Phoenicia formed part of a large satrapy which was
commanded from Babirush (Babylon) and which included Ebir-nāri
(Syria). Later Achaemenid Syria and Phoenicia seem to have been
established as a single satrapy in their own right, away from oversight
by Babylon. Ebir-nāri dominated this arrangement, with a capital
that was probably at Damascus or Sidon.
The
political system for the cities under Persian rule can only be reconstructed
at its most basic level, so there are still many unanswered questions
about this period. Even the chronology for the city's kings has
undergone much rewriting in the past few decades as new evidence
has been unearthed. Previously, King Eshmun'azar II was placed around
the 490s BC, while now a date around 525 BC seems more realistic.
Sidon's kings kings dressed in Persian style, issued coins with
the head of the Persian king on them, and rebuilt the royal palace
in the Persian style. They also supplied the Persian navy in various
campaigns, along with Egyptians, Cypriots and Ionians, especially
for campaigns in Mudrāya (Egypt) and Greece. When Greek domination
of the region arrived in 332 BC in the form of Alexander the Great,
Sidon welcomed him without offering any resistance.
Today's Sidon lies in Lebanon, its third-largest city, and is now
a busy port called Saydah (the same ancient name filtered through
post-Islamic
Arabic). As it is still occupied, archaeological research of the
early Canaanite city is very difficult. Instead its history has
to be pieced together from what records remain, plus those archaeological
digs that can be carried out during any rebuilding or construction
projects.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from
The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), from The Histories,
Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from The Cambridge Ancient History,
John Boardman, N G L Hammond, D M Lewis, & M Ostwald (Eds),
from Alexander the Great, Krzysztof Nawotka (Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2009), from Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus,
from Alexander the Great, I Worthington (Routledge, 2004),
and from External Links: Encyclopćdia Britannica, and the
Nabonidus Chronicle, contained within Assyrian and Babylonian
Chronicles, A K Grayson (Translation, 1975 & 2000, and now
available via Livius in an improved version), and Encyclopaedia
Iranica, and Ancient History Encyclopaedia, and The Role of the
Phoenician Kings at the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), Josette
Elayi (Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol 126,
No 3 (Jul-Sep 2006), pp 411-418, available via JSTOR), and An
Updated Chronology of the Reigns of Phoenician Kings during the
Persian Period (539-333 BC), Josette Elayi (Trans 32, 2007,
available in English at DigitOrient).)
c.575
- 550 BC :
Eshmunazzar
/ Eshmun'azar I : Dynasty founder.
c.549
- 539 BC :
Tabnit
I : Son. Married sister, Amoashtart. Predeceased son's
birth.
c.530s
BC :
Amastoreth
/ Anysus : Son? A brief reign is suggested.
c.530s
BC :
Some modern lists place Amastoreth here without supplying possible
dates. However, prevailing understanding is that Tabnit rules for
a relatively short time, dying before the birth of his son, Eshmun'azar
II. His sister-wife then supplies a short regency period in which
she rules alone prior to her son's arrival, and then acts as his
regent until he reaches majority. Therefore the Amastoreth shown
here could in fact be Amoashtart, the queen and regent.
![Cyrus the Great](Persia_CyrusGreat_01_full.jpg)
Cyrus
the Great freed the Indo-Iranian Parsua people from Median domination
to establish an empire which included the Phoenician coastal towns
of today's Lebanon (from 539 BC)
c.530s - c.525 BC :
Eshmun'azar / Eshmun'azar II : Brother. 'King of the Sidonians'.
Vassal to Persia.
c.530s
- c.525 BC :
Amoashtart / Amashtart / Amastarte : Queen mother and regent
during Eshmun'azar II's minority.
c.525
BC :
An otherwise unknown ruler of Sidon in this period, amongst a series
of almost entirely obscure kings, the (originally Egyptian) sarcophagus
of Eshmun'azar II is discovered in AD 1855, with the inscription
'King of the Sidonians' on the lid and a comment that his mother
had been a priestess of Ashtart, 'the goddess of the Sidonians'.
The inscription also confirms that both his parents are the offspring
of his grandfather. He is around fourteen years of age at his death
(during the reign of Cambyses of Persia), ruling almost entirely
under the regency supplied by his mother.
The
Persians conquer Mudrāya (Egypt) in 525 BC, creating the 27th
Dynasty (the Behistun inscription of Darius the Great uses the name
Mudrāya). With a navy that has been bolstered with Phoenician
vessels, they add Cyprus to the empire in the same year, along with
a host of Greek islands which are known collectively to the Persians
(as recorded on the Behistun inscription) as Yauna (Ionia to the
Greeks).
c.525
- 515 BC :
Bodashtart
/ Bodastart (I) : Cousin to Eshmun'azar II.
c.520
BC :
As a prolific builder and restorer of existing buildings in Sidon,
Bodashtart leaves at least thirty inscriptions. Later examples in
his reign carry the name of his son and chosen heir, Yaton Melik.
c.515
- 486 BC :
Yaton
Melik / Yatonmilk : Son.
c.486
- 480 BC :
Anysos
: Generally unknown apart from at Salamis in 480 BC. Killed?
480
BC :
Invading
Greece in 480 BC, the Persians subdue the Macedonians and the Thracian
tribes (except for the Satrai, precursors to the Bessoi). Then the
vast army of Xerxes makes its way southwards and is swiftly engaged
by Athens and Sparta in the Vale of Tempe. The Persian army is held
up long enough for the Athenians to prepare their navy for a seaborne
engagement with the Persian fleet.
![Battle of Thermopylae](Sparta_Thermopylae01_full.jpg)
The
Spartan stand at Thermopylae in 480 BC, along with some Greek allies,
stopped the Persian advance in its tracks and provided a rallying
call for the rest of the free Greek cities to oppose the Persians
Athens, as the leader of the coalition of city states known as the
Delian League, fights the Persian navy at the battles of Artemisium
and Salamis, the latter being a resounding Greek victory. Tetramnestus,
son of Anysos is present - along with Anysos himself (the Greek
form of his name - the Phoenician form is unknown), and other leading
Phoenicians such as Mattan IV of Tyre and Merbalos of Arvad - but
the battle leaves much of the Persian navy destroyed and Xerxes
is forced to retreat to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius.
The fate of Anysos is unknown, but it is possible that he is killed
in one of the battles.
c.480
- 479 BC :
Tetramnestus
/ Tetramnestos : Son. Also at Salamis in 480 BC. Removed?
Died?
c.479
- 450 BC :
There is an important gap here in the succession that cannot be
rectified by adjusting the dates for either Tetramnestus or Ba'al
Sillem (the same gap exists in Tyre's chronology). Sidon starts
minting its coinage shortly after 450 BC (the Group III coinage
of archaeological finds), while a new king appears roughly around
the same time in the form of Ba'al Sillem (or Baalshillem). Group
I and II coinage cannot be assigned to any king or kings with any
certainty, but they do seem to represent two earlier dynasties.
Presumably (but not proven) these cover Eshmunazzar I to Yaton Melik,
and Anysos to Tetramnestus respectively.
Who rules Sidon in between the first two groups and the third is
still a puzzle. A possible solution is provided by the fact that
Sidon seems to serve for at least part of the Persian period as
the capital of Ebir-nāri. With the satrap based here, the need
for a king of Sidon may be seen as irrelevant, and seemingly so
for the course of an entire generation.
![Sidon coin of the mid-fifth century BC](Sidon_Coins01_full.jpg)
Shown
here are two sides of a coin which was minted in the mid-fifth century
BC, which would make it one of the first such mints, under the reign
of Ba'al Sillem I, first king of a new dynasty following a period
of interregnum
c.450
- 423 BC :
Ba'al
Sillem I : His reign begins a different genealogy. In Tyre
too?
fl
c.423? BC :
Abdamon
/ Avdimon : Son. In Salamis (c.415 BC), Sidon & Tyre.
c.423
- 401? BC :
Baana
: Son. Known from numismatic evidence.
401 BC :
Cyrus, satrap of Asia Minor, attempts to revolt, mobilising an army
and ten thousand Greek mercenaries to attack his brother the Persian
king. The king of Sidon is one of those who is responsible for mobilising
naval forces for the subsequent campaign. Defeat for Cyrus leads
to his death in October 401 BC at the Battle of Cunaxa. Fortunately
Ba'al Sillem II begins dating his coinage from year thirty of his
reign, in 372 BC, making the timeline here much more certain.
401
- 366 BC :
Ba'al
Sillem II 'The Ship-Owner' : Son. With a nickname coined
by Greeks.
c.415 BC :
The Phoenician ruler of Salamis is killed by Abdemon, who subsequently
rules both Salamis and Tyre. Evagoras, who is a Cyprian Greek, is
forced to leave the island at the same time, heading into exile
on Soloi. Abdemon's role in Sidon seems brief, although the dates
are far from conclusive. Possibly he hands the throne to his son
in exchange for his own larger domain across the eastern Mediterranean.
365
- 352 BC :
Abdashtart
/ Abdiashirta / Straton I : Son. Related in some way to
Eshmun'azar II. In Tyre?
after c.365 BC :
Justinus gives an account regarding a revolt of Tyrian slaves who
seize power and then establish a King Abdashtart (Greek Straton)
on the throne there. It is tempting to relate this event to the
monetary series bearing Ṣ- / ṢR- for Tyre and the ☾
initial of the name Abdashtart (☾BD☾ŠTRT), the king
chosen by the slaves. It cannot be a coincidence that Sidon already
has a King Abdashtart (I) at this time.
359
BC :
At the end of a long revolt against Artaxerxes II, mainly by Phrygia,
Khilakku, and Katpatuka, Abdashtart decides to rebel himself. He
is supported by Takhôs, pharaoh of Egypt, who has already sent substantial
support to the other rebels only to see them fail with the final
Persian suppression of the satrapal revolt in this very year, 359
BC. The outcome of Abdashtart's own efforts is unclear, but they
are probably minor as he remains on the throne.
![Archers of the Royal Guard of Darious](Parthians_Soldier03_full.jpg)
These
archers of Darius' Royal Guard were on display in the Hall of Artaxerxes
II, whose continued efforts to break a long-running rebellion against
him involved attempts to re-invade Egypt
351
- 347 BC :
Tabnit
II / Tennes : Son or relative? Rebelled against Persia.
Put to death.
346 BC :
Satraps Mazaeus of Khilakku and Bēlsunu of Ebir-nāri lead
fresh contingents of Greek mercenaries to put down the revolt in
the Levant. Phoenicia is attacked first (principally involving Sidon),
but both satraps are repulsed. The Persian king himself is forced
to follow up with a more direct intervention.
Tabnit
(or Tennes to the Greeks) is leading the rebellion in Sidon - which
includes the use of the city's naval fleet, which is normally at
the disposal of the empire for external actions - but it is crushed
in the same year and the city razed, partially thanks to Tabnit
taking fright at the Persian response and betraying his own city
(a stray Babylonian tablet speaks of the arrival in Babylon and
Susa in late 345 BC
of Sidonian captives and women for the palace). A replacement king
in the form of Abdashtart has to rebuild the city, but it loses
its regional pre-eminence and is militarily occupied for four years.
c.346
- 343 BC :
Bodashtart
/ Bodastart II : Invented through a misinterpretation of
an inscription.
c.346
- 343 BC :
Evagoras
(II) : Former king of Salamis. Persian vassal ruler.
c.346 BC :
The appearance here of Evagoras II former king of Salamis, is due
to the abbreviation used on new coins in this period. The presence
of Bodashtart II has been established as a misreading of an inscription
by a single scholar and the name dismissed. Assigning Evagoras as
the issuer of the new coins is far from certain at present, but
he seems a very likely candidate. Presumably he is brought in by
the Persians to act as military governor following the execution
of Tabnit II for rebellion (Satrap Mazaeus of Khilakku and Ebir-nāri
mints his own coins in Sidon during 353-333 BC).
342
- 333 BC :
Abdashtart
/ Abdiashirta / Straton II : Son of Ba'al Sillem II. Deposed
for being a friend to Persia.
333 - 332 BC :
In 334 BC Alexander of Macedon launches his campaign into the Persian
empire by crossing the Dardanelles. Much of Anatolia falls by 333
BC and Alexander proceeds into Syria during 333-332 BC to receive
the submission of Ebir-nāri, which also gains him Harran, Judah,
and Phoenicia (principally Byblos and Sidon, with Tyre holding out
until it can be taken by force).
![Map of Central Asia & Eastern Mediterranean 334-323 BC](Map_Bactria-&-India-334-324BC_full.jpg)
![Alexander the Great crosses the River Graneikos](Macedonia_Alexander03_full.jpg)
Alexander
the Great crossed the River Graneikos (or Granicus) in 334 BC to
spark a direct face-off with the Persians that had been brewing
for generations, while above that is a map showing the route of
Alexander's ongoing campaigns, leading him from Europe to Egypt,
into Persia, and across the vastness of eastern Iran
The people of Sidon remove Abdashtart II (Straton to the Greeks)
from power themselves as he is a friend of Darius. Athura, Gaza,
and Egypt also capitulate (not without a struggle in Gaza's case).
Sidon accepts Alexander, probably with some relief as the Persian
retaliation of a dozen years earlier will still be an open wound.
With Phoenicia having been taken, the region is governed from Tyre.
332 - 329? BC :
Abdalonymus / Abdalonim : King of Byblos, Sidon, &
Tyre under the Greek empire.
329? BC :
The cities of Arados, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre are incorporated into
the satrapy of Syria within the Greek empire. Following the death
of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, the latter three are largely dominated
by Ptolemaic Egypt until 219-217 BC. The fate of Abdalonymus is
unknown, with him not being mentioned after 329 BC.
c.316
- 287 BC :
Little is known about Sidon in this period, or about its ruler.
One Philokles, son of Apollodorus, seemingly provides staunch service
to Ptolemaic Egypt, always appearing amongst forces that are arrayed
in the region against the Antigonids during the Wars of the Diadochi.
Despite the Greek-sounding names, both are almost certainly Phoenicians.
Philokles is attested as the 'King of the Sidonians' in an Athenian
inscription of 286 or 285 BC. He is also listed as a benefactor
- possibly in the late 310s - who has donated very generously towards
the rebuilding of the city of Thebes following its having been razed
by Alexander. The rebuilding is initiated by Cassander of Macedon
in 316 BC. Such availability of funds makes him very important in
terms of the Phoenician cities, possible a relative of at least
one of the recent rulers.
![Battle of Ipsus](Macedonia_Ipsus01_full.jpg)
The
Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC ended the drawn-out and destructive Wars
of the Diadochi which decided how Alexander's empire would be divided
It may be this Philokles who is responsible for capturing the city
of Kaunos in 309 BC for Ptolemy, by treachery, according to the
second century AD writer, Polyaenus. The writer also refers to him
as a 'general of Ptolemy'. The city is very soon lost again to the
Antigonids but is again held, now by Philokles as king, from about
286 BC. His career (and reign) would appear to be in their twilight
years by the time of his last mention in 279 BC. No details are
known of any potential successor.
287? - 279? BC :
Philokles / Philocles : King of Sidon & Kaunos under
Ptolemaic Egypt.
279 BC :
Phoenicia remains largely dominated by Ptolemaic Egypt until 219-217
BC, when the Fourth Syrian War sees Seleucid ruler Antiochus
III fighting Ptolemy IV for control of their mutual border. Antiochus
recaptures Seleucia Pieria, Tyre, and other important Phoenician
cities and their Mediterranean ports, but is fought to a draw at
Raphia on Syria's southernmost edge. The subsequent peace treaty
sees all the gains other than Seleucia Pieria relinquished. Seleucid
control is probably reconfirmed more permanently in 195 BC and remains
in place until the mid-first century BC Roman takeover of the region.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsMiddEast/CanaanSidon.htm
#Persians