Sidon

Ancient city of the Phoenicians on the coast of Lebanon south of Beirut. It shared supremacy with Tyre but was greater importance under the Achaemenid (Persian) empire, 6th-4th centuries BC. It was destroyed by the Assyrians in 677 BC but rebuilt. Sidon was an important Mediterranean trading center from the Early or Middle Bronze Age. Because the site underlies the modern town, little excavation has taken place. However, a number of burials of various dates have been found both in and around the city, including Ahiram bearing a 10th-century BC inscription and Greco-Roman coffins of 5th and 4th centuries BC.

[modern Sarda]. Situated on the coast of Lebanon south of Beirut, Sidon was an important trading centre for Mediterranean trade from the Early or Middle Bronze Age and, with Tyre, one of the two most important Phoenician centres. It was partially destroyed by the Assyrians in 676 bc, but grew to importance again in the Achaemenid period. Although it was under Persian rule, the population was autonomous, producing its own coinage — the Persian shekel with a picture of a trireme on the reverse. Because the site underlies the modern town, little excavation has taken place. However, a number of burials of various dates from the 10th to the 4th century bc have been found both in and around the city.