SIDON (Hebr. Sidhôn). — One of the oldest and most important maritime cities of Phoenicia, whose name, perpetuated in the modern Sajdā, 35 km north of Tyre, perhaps derived from the worship of the god Sid, attested in the texts of Rās Śamrah.
Its origin is obscure, but the designation of Sidhôn in the table of the nations as the firstborn of Canaan (Gen. 10, 15), and the usage adopted in the biblical texts (Jos. 13,6) and in the Homeric poems of calling the Phoenicians by the name Sidonians (Il., VI, 289; XXIII, 743; Odyss., XV, 415; XVII, 424), indicate the supremacy that S. had acquired among the cities of Phoenicia. Even when its powerful rival Tyre prevailed, the name Sidonians remained synonymous with Phoenicians (I Reg. 16, 31). In the Bible S. is mentioned both as a city (Iudc. 1,31; 18,28; Is. 23,2; Ez. 27,8) and as a territory that marked the northern frontier of Canaan (Gen. 10, 19) and bordered the tribes of Zabulon (ibid. 49,13) and Aser (Jos. 19, 28). It is called «great S.» (ibid. 11,8; 19,28), together with its suburbs and surrounding territory, in opposition to the primitive «small city», distinguished in the list of the cities conquered in Sennacherib’s glorious campaign. Having rebelled against Asarhaddon, it was again defeated and again plundered by Nabuchodonosor (Ez. 32,22), and in 356 by Artaxerxes Ochos. It surrendered to Alexander; in 197 it passed from the dominion of the Ptolemies to that of the Seleucids. In 64 B.C. it was declared by the Romans an autonomous city, but Augustus deprived it of this privilege. The inhabitants of S., attracted by the fame of the Savior’s miracles, went to Galilee to hear his teachings (Mc. 3,8); Jesus himself visited its territory (Mt. 15, 21; Mc. 7,24) and during the journey healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Mt. 15, 22-28; Mc. 7, 25-30). St. Paul stopped there on his journey from Caesarea to Rome (Act. 27,3). Christianity developed there very early, and the bishop of S. took part in the Council of Nicaea.
The excavations, carried out only partially since the city is densely populated, have revealed its ancient origins, with Paleolithic finds and Middle Bronze Age pottery in the citadel. The fine sarcophagi discovered in the nearby necropolis are attributed to the Hellenistic period.
2) Diocese of the Melkites: see already existing in the 3rd century. The Catholic succession resumes in 1683. Faithful: 16,000; churches: 55; secular priests: 13; religious: 12.