Saida (Sidon), on the coast 45 kilometers south of Beirut, is one of the famous names in ancient history. Of all of Lebanon's cities, this is the most mysterious, for its past has been tragically scattered and plundered. In the 19th century, treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists made off with many of its most beautiful and important objects, some of which can now be seen in foreign museums.

In this century too, ancient objects from Saida (Sidon) (Sidoon is the Phoenician name) have turned up on the world's antiquities markets. Other traces of its history lie beneath the concrete of modern constructions, perhaps buried forever. The challenge for today's visitor to Saida (Sidon) is to recapture a sense of this city's ancient glory from the intriguing elements that still survive.

The largest city in south Lebanon, Saida (Sidon) is a busy commercial center with the pleasant, conservative atmosphere of a small town. Since Persian times Saida (Sidon) was known as the city of gardens, and even today it is surrounded by citrus and banana plantations.

There is evidence that Saida (Sidon) was inhabited as long ago as 4000 B.C., and perhaps as early as Neolithic times (6000-4000 B.C.). The ancient city was built on a promontory facing an island, which sheltered its fleet from storms and served as a refuge during military incursions from the interior. In its wealth, commercial initiative, and religious significance, Saida (Sidon) is said to have surpassed all other Phoenician city states.

Saida's (Sidon's) Phoenician period began in the 12th-10th centuries B.C. and reached its height during the Persian Empire (555-333 B.C.). The city provided Persia, a great land power, with the ships and sea men to fight the Egyptians and Greeks, a role that gave it a highly favored position. The Persians maintained a royal park in Saida (Sidon), and it was during this time that the temple of Echmoun was built.

Glass manufacture, Saida's (Sidon's) most important enterprise in the Phoenician era, was conducted on a vast scale, and the production of purple dye was almost as important. The small shell of the Murex trunculus was broken in order to extract the pigment that was so rare it became the mark of royalty.

Like other Phoenician city states, Saida (Sidon) suffered from a succession of conquerors. At the end of the Persian era in 351 B.C., unable to resist the superior forces of the emperor Artaxerxes III, the desperate Sidonians locked their gates and set fire to their city rather submit to the invader. More than 40,000 died in the conflagration. After this disaster the city was too weak to oppose the triumphal march of Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. It sued for peace and the Hellenistic age of Saida (Sidon) began.

Under the successors of Alexander, Saida (Sidon), the “holy city” of Phoenicia, enjoyed relative freedom and organized games and competitions in which the greatest athletes of the region participated.

When Saida (Sidon), like the other cities of Phoenicia, fell under Roman domination, it continued to mint its own silver coins. The Romans also built a theater and other major monuments in the city. During the Byzantine period, when the great earthquake of 551 A.D. destroyed most of the cities of Phoenicia, Beirut's School of Law took refuge in Saida (Sidon). The town continued quietly for the next century, until it was conquered by the Moslems in 636 A.D. In 1111, Saida (Sidon) was besieged and stormed by the Crusader Baldwin, who was soon to become King of Jerusalem. Under Frankish rule, the city became the chief town of the Seigniory of Sagette and the second of the four baronies of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

Saida (Sidon) surrendered to Saladin in 1187, but it was re-occupied for a hundred years when the Crusader Templars recaptured it briefly. They abandoned it for good in 1291, after the fall of Acre to the Mamluke forces.

In the 15th century, Saida (Sidon) was one of the ports of Damascus, and it flourished once more during the 17th century when it was rebuilt by Fakhr ed-Dine II, then ruler of Lebanon. Under his protection and encouragement, French merchants set up profitable business enterprises in Saida (Sidon) for trade between France and Syria.

By the beginning of the 19th century, however, Saida (Sidon) was relatively obscure and remained so until the mid-20th century, when it developed into an important commercial and agricultural center.

Archaeological Excavations

Early French excavations led by Ernest Renan in the late 19th century uncovered the large necropolis of Magharat Abloun outside the city. The royal necropoli at nearby Ayaa and Am el Helwe were found shortly thereafter.

In 1937, Middle Bronze Age tombs were opened in several mountain villages overlooking Saida (Sidon), and at this time a number of archaeological surveys were conducted in and around the city.

Saida (Sidon) Today

The entrance to Saida (Sidon) from the north is on a wide divided highway lined with palm trees. As you approach, the landmark Crusader Sea Castle and modern port installations are immediately visible. The busy main street is full of small shops of every kind, including patisseries, whose oriental delicacies are stacked in little pyramids.

Saida (Sidon) is famous for a variety of local sweets which you can watch being made in the old souk or in shops on the main street. The particular specialty of Saida (Sidon) is known as “senioura,” a delicious crumbly cookie.

A growing city with a modern seaport, Saida (Sidon) is the South's commercial and financial center. In prewar days, it was a terminal and a refinery for Tapline, and now its huge storage tanks are used for the import and local distribution of fuel. The commercial port, the third largest in Lebanon, accommodates small freighters. Saida (Sidon) is also the seat of government for South Lebanon.